José Mourinho has said he is uneasy that Gareth Bale will be under the jurisdiction of an Arsenal coach when the Tottenham winger returns to international duty next week. Bale is back in the Wales squad after missing the October internationals and, with Ryan Giggs absent after being arrested on suspicion of assault, they will be led by assistant coaches Robert Page and Albert Stuivenberg, who also works alongside Mikel Arteta for Spurs’ arch-rivals.
Giggs, who denies all allegations, agreed with the Football Assocation of Wales to stand aside for the matches against the United States, the Republic of Ireland and Finland. But Mourinho argues it is not fair that Stuivenberg, the Dutchman who previously worked alongside Giggs at Manchester United under Louis van Gaal, works in different guises. “The fact that one of the coaches is an Arsenal coach does not make me very comfortable,” Mourinho said. “Honestly, it doesn’t make me very comfortable. National team matches should have coaches that work exclusively for them, not coaches who work for other clubs.”
Bale lasted 65 minutes in Tottenham’s victory over Ludogorets on Thursday, the most he has played since returning to Spurs on a season-long loan deal from Real Madrid. Bale suffered a knee injury during Wales’s win over Bulgaria in September and has since been building his fitness at Tottenham. “He’s a player that needs to be safe, he’s a player that had enough problems in the past,” Mourinho added. “He’s working so much and we’re all working so carefully with him that we don’t want to destroy the work everybody is doing for the last couple of months. If they care as much about him as we do, they have to manage the recovery period.”
Tottenham return to action against in a televised midday kick-off at West Brom on Sunday, when Mourinho is hopeful Sergio Reguilón will be fit following flu. The Portuguese acknowledged the 72-hour turnaround after returning from Bulgaria is not ideal. “But we get big salaries and of course the broadcasters have [a] big responsibility for the big salaries we all get,” he said. “So they have the right to choose but if they could be a little bit more careful about the English teams in Europe, it would be good. In other countries, they do that.” – Guardian
