Gareth Bale and Sergio Reguilon will give Tottenham the attacking balance Jose Mourinho craves

Incoming: Gareth Bale and Sergio Reguilon
AFP via Getty Images
Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP18 September 2020

Jose Mourinho remained tight-lipped on Gareth Bale’s return to Tottenham following their Europa League win in Bulgaria, even when told by one reporter that Spurs fans “are dancing in the streets” at news of the Welshman’s homecoming.

Bale’s reunion with Spurs, where he established himself as a hero between 2007 and 2013, has captured the imaginations of a usually world-weary fanbase, turning them giddy with excitement.

In terms of profile, he is the club’s biggest signing, for the men’s team, at least, since Rafa van der Vaart in 2010 — and the Dutchman arrived with no previous attachment to the club.

There is already frenzied discussion about the 31-year-old’s potentially transformative effect on Mourinho’s side, with many supporters who were eyeing the season with trepidation after the deflating opening-day defeat to Everton now looking ahead with optimism.

When up to speed, Bale will form a front three with Harry Kane and Heung-min Son which ranks as one of the most devastating in Europe.

The problem for Mourinho’s Spurs against Everton and for much of last season, however, has not been firepower but creativity — and specifically the team’s ability to get Kane and Son into scoring positions.

In this respect, today’s other new signing from Real Madrid, left-back Sergio Reguilon, could prove every bit as transformative as Bale.

How Spurs could line up

The Spain international, 23, has been relegated to an afterthought this week, but his arrival has the potential to completely change the way Mourinho’s side plays.

In the last few seasons, Tottenham’s full-backs have regressed from one of the club’s biggest strengths to one of their most glaring weakness and it is little surprise that Mourinho has moved for both Reguilon and right-back Matt Doherty this summer.

On arriving at Spurs last November, the Portuguese made a point of using right-back Serge Aurier as an auxiliary winger, while instructing left-back Ben Davies to tuck inside to form a back three while his side were in possession.

The approach was pragmatic, playing to the strengths of Aurier and Davies, but it left Spurs unbalanced and has become easy to predict and exploit, as Everton attempted to do on Sunday.

Liverpool’s success has shown the importance of two consistent, attacking full-backs and the absence of the same twin threat down the flanks has been the cause of much of Tottenham’s turgid and predictable play under Mourinho.

Davies, Bale’s Wales team-mate, won a decisive penalty in last night’s 2-1 Europa League win over Lokomotiv Plovdiv but is limited as an attacker, while Mourinho does not yet trust Ryan Sessegnon.

By contrast, Reguilon is an attacking full-back, whose pace and directness made him the standout left-back in LaLiga last season.

In Pictures | Gareth Bale at Real Madrid

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His arrival will allow Mourinho to shift to a 3-4-3 system, with Davies joining a more traditional and balanced back-three, while Doherty and the Spaniard operate as wing-backs. The Spurs manager could also continue with a back-four but instruct Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to drop between the centre-backs, releasing Reguilon and Doherty to attack.

While the return of Bale is understandably exciting, he would only have been able to change so much while Spurs continue to lack proper thrust and balance down the left flank. Reguilon could, therefore, prove the key to unlocking Mourinho’s side.

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