Mourinho looks to lift Gareth Bale after responding to Instagram post

Gareth Bale TEAMtalk

Jose Mourinho has opened up on Gareth Bale’s Instagram post prior to the FA Cup game at Everton and confirmed the winger will be selected for Tottenham’s game at Man City, if he is fit.

The Wales star has struggled to make his mark in his second spell at the club after arriving on loan from Real Madrid in September.

He had been expected to start the midweek loss to the Toffees but was omitted from the squad completely.

Mourinho revealed after the tie on Merseyside that the 31-year-old had asked for a scan on a muscle issue on Monday.

He then trained with the team the following day, before later requesting to work with the club’s sport science people for a couple of days.

However, before the game at Goodison he uploaded an image to his Instagram account of him training with the caption “Good session today”.

That led to speculation that Bale had been dropped by Mourinho after his lacklustre display at Brighton.

However, at his pre-match press conference for Saturday’s tough trip to Manchester City, Mourinho commented on the Instagram post.

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Man City v Tottenham Match Preview, February 13, 2021

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He said: “I have to admit that his post created a need of being addressed. There was a contradiction between the post and the reality.

“Since the beginning of the season, in relation to everything, I’ve tried to be very private and keep everything indoors but I felt that I needed to address the situation.


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Mourinho dealing in reality

“Probably the post was not even his responsibility. But it was showing that training session was great and I’m ready which was totally wrong. So when questioned I had to give the reality of things.

“I repeat for the last time. Bale was not feeling good. He asked for a scan. He had a scan. The scan did not show an injury but his feelings were still there. But as coaches, medical people we can never go against the player feelings. So he was not ready for the game. It’s as simple as that.

“If he’s ready for tomorrow he’s selected for tomorrow.”

If Bale is ready for the game at The Etihad, the best he can hope for is a bench spot.

Mourinho has often preferred a front three of Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min and Steven Bergwijn for the bigger games this season.

READ MORE: Tottenham face triple Prem competition for in-demand Serie A winger