‘I feel sorry’ – Sherwood offers reason why Gareth Bale has not been at his best

Tim Sherwood has claimed that Gareth Bale has simply not had enough minutes under his belt this season to get fully match fit.

Bale has been a major disappointment since arriving on loan from Real Madrid in the summer with the Welshman having looked a shadow of the player he was during his first spell at Tottenham.

Most of the Bale’s minutes so far have come in the Europa League and domestic cup competitions, with the 31-year-old struggling to make an impression on games when opportunities have come his way.

After showing some very positive signs in the 4-1 win over Wycombe, Mourinho handed the winger a start against Brighton on Sunday where he played alongside Son Heung-min and Steven Bergwijn in a front three in Harry Kane’s absence.

However, he never really managed to get into the game and was taken off just after the hour mark.

Jose Mourinho refused to criticise the experienced wide man in his post-match press conference but Sherwood believes that the Tottenham boss is to blame for Bale’s lack of sharpness.

He told Premier League Productions: “I feel sorry for Gareth. He’s not played games and it looks like he hasn’t played games.

“Now, Jose will come out and he will criticise them players. But they haven’t had a look in.

“They haven’t had the game time and there has been no rotation. It’s been one game plan. It’s been, Kane and Son. They play every minute of every game.

“Them other players, who he has asked to come in and play now, they haven’t sampled any game time. Only in the Europa League when they are playing against the pub teams and in the League Cup.

“You are asking Gareth in a game away at Wycombe to go and play then to go and play against a team, who are fighting for their life – it’s not going to happen.

“I am pleased he threw Gareth in, but he’s totally not ready. He’s not been conditioned to get ready.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Mourinho faces a double-edged squad regarding Gareth Bale. His performances so far have not merited more opportunities but one can make the case that the Welshman has not had a run of consecutive starts to build some momentum and get his sharpness and confidence back.

So does Mourinho commit to giving him a run of matches to help him rediscover his form knowing that results might suffer or does he play the players who are more likely to perform in each game and thus risk Bale never finding his feet?

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