Jose Mourinho reveals where Gareth Bale would prefer to play for Spurs

Jose Mourinho has revealed that one of the first questions which he asked Gareth Bale during their initial conversation.

The Portuguese asked the 31-year-old about what he considered to be his favourite position.

Bale has given managers the luxury of being able to play him in a variety of positions in the final third of the pitch.

The Welshman made the decision to return to North London following seven years at Real Madrid on a season long loan deal.

Mourinho revealed that Bale prefers to play on the right-hand side of the pitch which allows him the ability to cut back inside onto his stronger left foot which is certainly a transition from when he used to tear up and down the left flank during his first spell at the club.

Bale could be in line make his first appearance in his second spell with the lilywhites later today when they host rivals West Ham United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Mourinho told Football.London: “One of the first questions in my first conversation with Gareth – because the team is most important thing but the player is important too – was ‘what’s your favourite position’. I wanted to start from there and he answered the question,” said the Spurs boss.

“Does that mean he will always be used in that position? No, because the most important thing is the team, and he will play where the team needs him to play, but he was very clear by saying his favourite position is on the right.

“It’s not as a number 10, it’s not as a striker, it’s not any more on the left side like he did in the first years of his career at Southampton and Tottenham. His favourite position now is on the right side.

“So, that was a very good starting point of his development here. When he reaches his continuity and when he reaches his normal intensity and dynamic, I think he can be the player people saw being decisive when he went to Real Madrid, in a very similar position.

“Real Madrid was basically, Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo, with Bale playing fundamentally playing from the right and that’s the position he prefers.”

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