Gareth Bale Tottenham
Two games, eight goals score and two clean sheets, is this a boost for the team going forward into a busy period?
Especially this one, because midweek was, the game started 4-1, so the 4-0 doesn’t mean much but good performance from the boys. Today was more important, because of course we need the victory. We need three points. We need three points even scoring the winning goal in minute 94, but of course winning the way we did it is even better. Good performance, solid performance. Easy…not easy but when you score a goal in minute two or three the situation gets a bit easier. To be 3-0 at half-time also important but Burnley is the kind of team that demands the best from you until the last second, because it doesn’t matter the result, they go, they go and they go until the end. So I’m happy with the result, with the clean sheet, with the three points and the performance was very positive.
Gareth Bale was man of the match – the way you’ve handled him, despite noise from the outside, getting him right mentally and physically, has it all been worthwhile?
Gareth is a very experienced guy, he knows his body better than anyone. It would be very nice for me now to say that I handled the situation amazingly well. I’m not that kind of guy. He knows his body very well. He know that we are here to help him, help him especially to be a happy football player and I’m really happy for him, but he’s the one that has the feelings. Sometimes people write things, and sometimes, some of you like to imagine stories, you need to write stories and sometimes you like to say things that are not really true but there is not one single manager in the world that doesn’t play Gareth Bale if Gareth Bale is in very good condition. There is not one, but now he is better than ever. It’s not just about the two goals he scored, it’s fundamentally about his physical performance. Now he’s not flat. Now he has ups and downs in the speed he brings to his actions. Even in the area in which he plays, sometimes outside, sometimes inside. He played very well and his condition is very good. I’m just pleased for the team because he helped the team to win and that’s the most important thing. I’m happy for him.
Are you confident Gareth can play against both Fulham and Crystal Palace now?
Day after day, day after day, and as I was saying, he is experienced and his knowledge of his body and his feelings are going to be fundamental. A player that gives me this kind of performance of course I want to play him on Thursday and on Sunday, and I want to play him next week against Dinamo Zagreb but I don’t think I can. I don’t think I can. So this is a process that we have to manage day by day and see how he feels tomorrow and see how he feels after tomorrow. He’s a very important part of this decision-making because he has a lot of experience.
How excited are you by the potential of the front three?
I am a team coach. I love to speak individually about the players when the reasons are positive reasons. I have a squad. I am happy I have them back all of them and not just have them back fit or training, back to a certain level. We can say that against Wolfsberger, they are not Premier League level which is true but my team played well. Winks played well, Sissoko played well, Doherty played well, Dier played well, Ben Davies played well, Vinicius played well. This is important having so many matches to play.
How impressed were you with the defence and in particular Davinson Sanchez?
I think the team played well defensively, it was a good compromise from the team. The defensive line cannot play as high as we did if the midfield and attacking players do not press, especially the player with the ball. It was a collective performance, very positive collective performance with loads of effort. Even minute 92, 93 two corners, the team defended like it was 1-0 and not 4-0 and this compromise is fundamentally what the team news.Then Davinson played a very good game, very dominant, fresh, didn’t play the last match and he was very good.
