Gareth Bale appeared to make a dig at recently sacked Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho after the Welshman scored in Spurs’ 2-1 win over Southampton on Wednesday.
Tottenham owner Daniel Levy relieved Mourinho of his Spurs duties on Monday morning after 17 months at the club and one win from their previous six matches in all competitions.
Spurs got back to winning ways with a comeback victory over the Saints under interim manager Ryan Mason, but Bale appeared to criticise Mourinho’s alleged negative style of play after the victory on Wednesday.
When asked how Spurs should improve after the Mourinho era, Bale told Sky Sports: ‘Maybe just to be on the front foot a bit more. We want to attack, we’re a big club, we want to attack and we did that today.’
Mourinho was slammed during his Spurs tenure for his defensive style of play in north London, especially during the big games against similar-reputation opposition.
The Portuguese coach’s sacking was not the only big news to come out of Tottenham this week as the club announced on Sunday that they would be part of the controversial European Super League project.
Spurs’ involvement in the breakaway tournament was rescinded by the club along with the five other ‘Big Six’ Premier League sides due to intense backlash from the football community.
Protests from Spurs fans about Levy’s decision to join the Super League continued into Wednesday as several fans held banners outside the Tottenham stadium before the Southampton game.
And Bale confirmed that Spurs were not focused on the off-field distractions and were focusing on helping interim coach Mason get off to a good start as Mourinho’s successor.
Bale added: ‘As players all we’ve all be focusing on trying to get the new manager to settle in. As far as I’m concerned, the matter’s closed – it’s not happening – and we carry on as normal.’
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