Glenn Hoddle wants to see ‘more aggression’ from summer Tottenham signing

Glenn Hoddle is convinced that there is more to come from Gareth Bale this season but admits that he wants the Welshman to show more aggression when he gets the opportunity to play

While Bale has taken some time to build up his match fitness since returning to Spurs, there have been signs in his last few outings in the Europa League that the Welshman is getting his sharpness back.

The 31-year-old was the architect of Tottenham’s second goal in their 2-0 win over Royal Antwerp last Thursday as he produced a trademark free-kick which forced the goalkeeper into full-stretch save, only for Carlos Vinicius to tap the ball into an empty net.

After being an unused substitute against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, some Spurs fans would have hoped that Bale would get some minutes against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

However, the winger was forced out of the trip to Selhurst Park due to an illness, with Steven Bergwijn once again getting the nod to start alongside Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in attack.

Hoddle believes that Bale can elevate Tottenham’s performances once he finds his feet.

The Spurs legend told BT Sport at 10:10pm, 12 December: “I think there is still more to come [from Bale] which will elevate Tottenham’s performances as well, which is good for Jose, good for the fans, good for everyone.

“It just looks like he’s on the back foot. I’d like to see him have a bit more intent, bit more aggression in his own mind to go out and say ‘right I’m now going to prove to Jose I need to be in this first-team for the Premier League’. I don’t see that at the moment.”

Spurs Web Opinion

It was a shame that Bale was ruled out for the clash against Palace with an illness. Even if he had not started, I believe Mourinho would have at least brought him on in the final stages of the game when we were chasing a winner. While I do not expect Bale to be involved against Liverpool as our wide players would have to put in a major defensive shift at Anfield, I think he could have a part to play against Leicester next week.

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