Garteh Bale had a message for Jose Mourinho after Tottenham’s win over Southampton

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Speaking after Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 win over Southampton on Wednesday night, Gareth Bale has said he wants Spurs to be more attacking – in what is a sly dig towards Jose Mourinho and his defensive style of play.

Bale, 31, was handed a start by interim manager Ryan Mason against his old side Southampton. It was the Welshman’s first Premier League start since the North London derby defeat to Arsenal, over a month ago.

While the Real Madrid loanee’s fitness has been a tricky issue to manage, Bale has also struggled to get more regular game time due to Mourinho’s desire to play defensively. It saw Steven Bergwijn get the nod, more often than Bale.

Mason has stated that his side will play with more aggression and attacking – like Mauricio Pochettino’s style. Bale scored his 11th of the season as Spurs won late on – he is desperate for his side to play differently to Mourinho’s way.

“We need to be on the front foot a bit more, we’re a big team with great players and we need to attack more and stay higher up the pitch more,” Bale said in a post-match interview, as per BBC Live’s coverage of the win.

TBR’s view – Tottenham best suited to focus on attack

Mourinho’s style of play has been much criticised but it is a tactic that has worked at Inter Milan, Chelsea and even Real Madrid to a degree. Scoring, and then relying on the defence and midfield to hold out has worked for him.

But Spurs have a different set of players to the squads he has encountered before. Tottenham do have the quality of defenders necessary to allow other teams to come on to them, and then pick them off on the counter attack.

It meant mistakes have been made and goals conceded. Focusing on their strengths, their attack, will see Spurs improve and it looks as if Mason is to give his Spurs attackers freedom.