Spurs manager Jose Mourinho has of late had a change of heart regarding Spurs stars Gareth Bale and Dele Alli after having been highly critical of the duo throughout the course of the season, but now the Portuguese boss has seemingly changed his approach with the possibility of the sack looming.<\/p>\n
Neither player had been featuring regularly for Spurs this season, with Dele having been restricted to just 17 appearances, 11 of which have come in the Europa League and FA Cup, while Bale has featured 19 times but has made only two Premier League starts so far.<\/p>\n
Mourinho\u2019s stance has softened undestandably as owner Daniel Levy is a believer in the pair\u2019s abilities and the former is bidding to hold onto his job following a poor run of form which has seen Spurs drop to ninth in the table.<\/p>\n
“When you have players performing like he did, it’s easy for the team to play well”, he said of Alli’s performance in the Europa League against Wolfsberger.<\/p>\n
He continued:<\/p>\n
“I’m happy with him after a difficult period. Sometimes small injuries in accumulation are more difficult than a big injury where after a few weeks or months you are back.<\/p>\n
“Small injuries are not good mentally…players get disappointed, have a lack of motivation, frustration. He went through all of that, he came back, we had good conversations, training well, playing minutes…we need him.”<\/p>\n
By the same token, Mourinho also extended the olive branch to Bale, who has underperformed since his highly-anticipated return to north London last summer.<\/p>\n
“Lately he has been fine,” said the Portuguese boss.<\/p>\n
He then added:<\/p>\n
“He looks confident. In training you can see he has his confidence back, the way he hits his shots.”<\/p>\n
“If a player feels great, if he is playing 100% and if the feelings are all good, there are no psychological problems or fears or barriers.<\/p>\n
“When you have little worries and especially when you have a recent history of injuries, it’s normal to have some fears and these fears have a consequence. But lately he has been fine.<\/p>\n
“It’s just a question of how many minutes he can play and how many days he needs to recover between matches. He looks happier than ever.”<\/p>\n
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