The Tottenham faithfuls were exuberantly singing the praises of Daniel Levy in the summer after the chairman secured Gareth Bale’s return to the club on loan, but Darren Bent doesn’t think it has worked out although Spurs are currently joint-top of the Premier League after 10 games with a number of players performing well under Jose Mourinho.<\/p>\n
The wily Portuegese coach with the proven tactical nous and gamesmanship has made a habit of winning trophies in his second season at every club he’s managed in his career dating back to his first managerial job.<\/p>\n
Tottenham are currrently his biggest project to date with the club not having won a major trophy since 2008 despite coming close under Mauricio Pochettino, having finished second in the league during Leicester’s title-winning campaign and lost to Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final.<\/p>\n
Mourinho comes armed with his trophy-winning pedigree and his side are currently looking good to mount a title challenge to the big boys Liverpool and Manchester City.<\/p>\n
Seven new signings were made in the summer with the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojberg and Sergio Reguilon all impressing. Additional reinforcements Joe Hart, Carlos Vinicius and Joe Rodon were also signed to bolster Mourinho’s formidable squad.<\/p>\n
However, Gareth Bale was the marquee signing with fans hoping to see the winger rediscover his best form in north London, which hasn’t happened yet with the 31-year-old making just three Premier League appearances, although he did score the winner against Brighton.<\/p>\n
And Bent believes Mourinho could soon run out of patience if Bale doesn’t start to make more of an impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a gradual process but at the same time it\u2019s a year loan,” he told\u00a0talkSPORT.<\/p>\n
“For me, the question you\u2019ve got to ask is how long is Mourinho prepared to give him before he goes ‘this is not working’.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the talk has been about [Heung-min] Son and [Harry] Kane being superb, but when they get Bale back, when Bale gets back to himself, Bale this and Bale that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut right now he\u2019s nowhere near the Bale we can remember.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not played consistently for about three years and he\u2019s had big injuries as well, so that Bale may never come back.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the former Tottenham striker believes Bale’s current form could see Spurs cut his loan short.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you think there\u2019s a point in the season where he could become a distraction? They have to make a decision,” Bent added.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s a year loan and if it continues like this what do Spurs do? Send him back to Madrid or keep him?<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for me how long are they going to give him and how long are the fans going to give him before they go \u2018listen, we can\u2019t keep waiting on him to come back’\u2026 [Steven] Bergwijn needs to be playing and Lucas Moura need to be playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a strange one, but at the minute the signs don\u2019t look great.\u201d<\/p>\n
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