Jose Mourinho couldn’t resist a slight dig when talking about Gareth Bale’s involvement with the Welsh national set-up.Suggesting he wasn’t happy his star summer signing would be in the care of an Arsenal coach while away on international duty, the sight of the 31-year-old holding his ankle after coming off against West Brom on Sunday would have been another concern.However, Mourinho and Spurs in general have been handed a relative boost on that front.According to Phil Cadden of the Sun, Bale is likely to be rested for his country’s friendly against the USA on Thursday.The likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp recently spoke of how the compressed nature of this season following the COVID-19 pandemic was dangerous for players, so the fact he’s not likely to play in a friendly is obviously good news.Perhaps you can forgive international managers selecting star players for important UEFA Nations’ League games but friendlies do appear to be fairly meaningless and risking talents must infuriate club bosses.
Bale, in particular, is surely someone who needs managing on that front too.
Much was made about his situation at Real Madrid where he rarely featured towards the end and his return to Spurs has been managed accordingly, with the Europa League used to compliment his training schedule.
With that in mind, this early hint of Welsh team news is a good thing for Tottenham.