Jose Mourinho is very happy with Gareth Bale as the Welsh international’s brace powered Tottenham Hotspur to a commanding 4-0 victory against Burnley on Sunday.
Mourinho handed Bale only his third start in the Premier League after he returned to the club on Loan from Real Madrid in September last year. The Tottenham boss hasn’t been sure about Bale’s match fitness and injury problems all this while.
However, Bale’s impactful performance after coming off the bench in the second half against West Ham United last week and his midweek performance against Wolfsberger convinced Mourinho to give him another start in this game, and Bale didn’t disappoint.
“I am very happy for him, very happy for the team because the team needs his talent,” Mourinho said after the match against Burnley.
Bale has now scored four goals in his last four appearances across all competitions and his return to form works well for Tottenham as they have a Europa League Round of 16 fixture, a League Cup final, and a top-four battle in the Premier League to play for.
“It was good, I have been building up a little bit to get fully fit — felt comfortable and my form is coming back, it’s nice to help the team,” Bale said. “I know you get criticism but I am experienced enough to keep my head down, not say anything stupid and keep plugging away.”
It was Heung-Min Son who set up both of Bale’s goals and the Welsh international also helped Harry Kane score his only goal in the game.
“Playing with them is why I came here and what I wanted to do — it’s great to be on the pitch and feeling good, hopefully we can kick on from this and get some confidence,” Bale said.
Tottenham now are only six points behind fourth-placed West Ham United and have played a game lesser than the Hammers as well. They are up and running in the top-four race once again.
“We needed three points for the table, for the players to have a smile. That is the most important thing. We needed a good victory in the Premier League,” Mourinho, whose team had lost five out of their last six games in the league, said.
“We need points, I believe lately in the Premier League we have had periods playing well and of course we need points. Today we got them in quite a solid way, we need that.”
“I am happy because when his condition is good he can do things like today — his game was very good, not just scoring, changing speeds, going inside. I am very happy for him.”
