Gareth Bale produced arguably the best week of his loan return to Tottenham in the past seven days.

A promising cameo against Manchester City was followed up by a Europa League masterclass against Wolfsberger on Thursday.

Then he shone off the bench yesterday against West Ham, coming as close as any Spurs player to equalising when he hit the bar from long-range.

Tony Cascarino feels that as a result, Jose Mourinho needs to start playing the Welshman more often.

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“I was one of those people who was critical of Gareth Bale when he arrived at Tottenham and how little effort he appeared to be putting in to getting himself fit to play,” wrote Cascarino in the Times.

“Now, though, he looks ready. José Mourinho has to play him. Yesterday was the first time I saw something in Bale that said he still has what it takes to show why Spurs brought him back.

 

“There were flashes that proved he can turn his and Tottenham’s season around, but he needs a regular run of starts now, not an hour in one game or 20 minutes the next. For Mourinho not to play him now would be negligent.

“The manager has to start making some promises to the player that he will be given his chance from now until the end of the season to prove why they made that investment in him.”

Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League
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Mourinho said after the game that Bale was not able to start yesterday having played 65 minutes in midweek.

Bale has been carefully managed by Tottenham but at some point the time will come for him to try and put a run of games together.

It looks like the recent criticism has stung the Welshman because his last three performances have been a level up from most of what he’s produced this season.

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