Gareth Bale was always going to have a slow start, he’s not only 7 years older than when we last watched him for Tottenham, but he hadn’t played for months. So last night 66 minutes played ought to have given fans a sense of confidence.
This was the 31-year-old’s most involved showing for us, seeing much more of the ball than in his previous 4 games. Bale responded well and hit a passing accuracy of 96%, which for a forward position is excellent.
Bale shot pic.twitter.com/WFATuAEExG
— FootballingGenius ᵖᵃʳᵒᵈʸ (@BallingGenius) November 6, 2020
This spot kick was a thing of beauty and forced a great save from the Ludogorets keeper.
Bale long ball #coys pic.twitter.com/Ot5seyqN5u
— TheBoyHotspur (@TheBoyHotspur) November 6, 2020
This long ball was sensational, unfortunately Lucas Moura was made of old newspapers and fell apart when it landed on him.
Bale ball into the box pic.twitter.com/KtcGzdJ4Wv
— TheBoyHotspur (@TheBoyHotspur) November 6, 2020
This superb through ball led to Moura’s goal. Bale is on his way back. It’s official.
Seasoned baller.
He may have lost a yard but I’ll bet his all round play is much better than when he left.
I agree H. I thought Gareth looked sharper and fitter and was looking more dangerous in a fluid role across the front three. One or two sublime touches, including the slide rule pass to set up Harry for the cross for Moura’s goal. The quality of the opposition notwithstanding, it was an encouraging performance.
Having seen it, done it and won it Bale has nothing to prove.
Putting Bale’s own performance and rest of the team generally into perspective we beat a poor team last night. IMO how he does against tougher opposition is the true test!