Paul Merson has suggested that Gareth Bale showed glimpses of being one of the best players in the world during the win against Burnley last weekend.
Spurs returned to winning ways with a comfortable victory over Burnley where Bale arguably produced his best performance since re-joining the club in the summer on loan from Real Madrid.
The Welshman netted a brace and provided an assist, and Merson was wowed by his pace and overall display.
Bale has struggled for game time this season with Jose Mourinho not entirely convinced with his fitness level. However, after strong performances in previous weeks (against Wolfsberger and West Ham), Mourinho opted to start Bale from the off.
Merson has suggested that Bale is “of course” not the best player at the moment, but he has predicted that the 31-year-old will get a lot better than everybody else.
During one moment against Burnley, Bale got past Charlie Taylor and raced away from him at a “lightning pace.”
Merson was impressed with that “turn of pace” from Bale.
“He showed glimpses of being one of the best players in the world. He’s not now, of course he’s not,” said Merson to Sky Sports.
“But he’s still going to be a lot better than everybody else, a lot of other people. The one thing I liked about him, when he got the ball on the right side and knocked it past Charlie Taylor like he was just standing there, I thought ‘wow, that was Gareth Bale’.
“He was lightning quick, not just a good player but he had that turn of pace.”
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If Bale can improve on his form and fitness, Tottenham can still expect to end the season on a high. Spurs can still put up a strong fight and get into the top-four while they can win the League Cup and the Europa League as well.
Mourinho has confirmed in the press conference today that he is impressed with Bale’s application in training and that the Welshman will feature tomorrow against Fulham.
With some big games coming up, both in the Premier League and in Europe, Spurs fans will want to see the trio of Bale, Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min in full flow.
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