James Maw has been speaking on the latest episode of The View from The Lane podcast, claiming Gareth Bale’s improved performances could transform Tottenham’s season.
The Real Madrid loanee struggled for form and fitness after re-joining the north London outfit in the summer, but four goals and three assists in his last four outings have showcased his world-class talent.
Jose Mourinho’s side have arguably been over-reliant on Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min this season, with the pair scoring and creating a significant portion of Tottenham’s goals.
However, with Bale seemingly getting back to his best, Spurs fans have reason to be optimistic that a challenge for Champions League football is still on the cards for the current campaign.
Maw said: “I mean, certainly the Bale that we’ve seen in the last two weeks, it’s probably been what we expected to be seeing from November, maybe. But if we do get it more often than not from now until the end of the season, you would fancy it would give Spurs a chance [of achieving European qualification].
“Suddenly you look at it, and these next two league games against Fulham and Palace – and those are those kinds of games where they dropped points; in fact, they dropped points against both of them in the last three months, four months. If they can get six points from those two games, suddenly they’ll be back in that conversation, won’t they, probably.
“And Bale, those performances, I think, in the last couple of games have totally transformed what the season can be.”
TIF Thoughts on Bale…
Big things may have been expected of the four-time European champion when he returned to English shores last summer, but things have not gone as everyone had hoped.
The 31-year-old looked way below his best in the opening months of the season, however, the last couple of weeks have shown a dramatic change in his fortunes.
Spurs currently sit in eighth position in the Premier League standings, six points behind West Ham, who occupy the final Champions League spot.
If Bale can keep up this kind of form in the remaining fixtures, then a place in Europe’s elite cup competition could await Mourinho’s men.