Why Steven Bergwijn has opened the door at Tottenham for Gareth Bale

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Tottenham lost out at Liverpool last night and Steven Bergwijn was among the players who will be having a bit of a look at themselves in the mirror this morning.

The Spurs winger, given the nod by Jose Mourinho once again in the Premier, missed a couple of golden chances to put the game to bed for the away side. Of course, Spurs would pay late on as Bobby Firmino headed in a late winner for the Reds.

Bergwijn, in fairness to him, has been one of the key players for Mourinho and Spurs this season. His pace on the break and threat in behind has been pivotal as Harry Kane has dropped deeper.

But, with Gareth Bale lying in wait and not involved last night, Bergwijn’s fluffing of those big chances at Anfield could have offered Jose Mourinho an easy decision heading into future games.

For a player who earns a reported £75k-a-week, you’d expect him to be able to gobble up big chances in big games.

Big moments need big players

Of course, the blame isn’t solely on Steven Bergwijn. It is a collective effort but Mourinho did make a point of highlighting the misses from the Dutchman in his post-match comments.

The big question is would Gareth Bale have taken those chances? He would, obviously, have had to have got into the positions to have those chances in the first place.

However, Bale is a world class talent who has produced on the biggest stage. Essentially, it’s why the Welshman has commanded such big fees and wages during his career. Big players produce when it matters.

Unfortunately for Bergwijn, he might have failed his big audition here and opened the door for Gareth Bale to become a more regular fixture in the Spurs XI going into the busy Christmas period.