Gareth Bale back in Wales squad for upcoming matches against the United States, the Republic of Ireland and Finland; Jose Mourinho wants Wales to keep Bale "safe"; He also questions presence of Arsenal coach Albert Stuivenberg on Wales coaching staff
Saturday 7 November 2020 13:13, UK
Jose Mourinho is calling on Wales to take care of Gareth Bale while he is on international duty and not "destroy" the work Tottenham have done with him.
Bale has returned to the Wales squad after missing October's international games because of a knee injury.
They face the United States in a friendly at the Liberty Stadium on November 12 before crucial Nations League games against the Republic of Ireland on November 15 and Finland on November 18, both at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Tottenham have been nurturing Bale back to full fitness after he rejoined the club on loan from Real Madrid in September.
He scored the winner against Brighton last Sunday and played over an hour in the 3-1 win over Ludogorets Razgrad in the Europa League on Thursday.
"I think he's getting better and better and better and today I felt that he could play 90 minutes but it's not about can or cannot," Mourinho said after the victory in Bulgaria.
"It's about managing the situation and keeping safe because he's a player that needs to be safe.
"He's a player that's had enough problems in the past. He's working so much and we all are working so much and so carefully with him that we don't want to destroy the work that everybody has been doing for the past couple of months.
"Wales have two matches in the Nations League and I expect him to play but if they care as much about him as we do they have to manage the recovering periods.
"They have to manage how many days difference between one match and another, they have to manage the minutes that he plays and they should not let him get into fatigue levels.
Wales will be without manager Ryan Giggs for all three matches, after he was arrested on suspicion of assault.
His assistant coach, former Watford and Sheffield United defender Robert Page, will instead take charge of the team for the next three games and will be supported by Arsenal coach Albert Stuivenberg.
"I think from what I'm reading that it is not (Ryan) Giggs that is responsible for these matches," added Mourinho. "I'm sorry about it because on the previous fixtures he called me, we spoke about Ben Davies - not Gareth because Gareth was not there - but we spoke about Ben Davies.
"We shared opinions about the situation which is probably not going to happen this time and the fact that one of the coaches is an Arsenal coach doesn't make me very comfortable.
"Honestly, it doesn't make me very comfortable. I think national teams should have coaches that work exclusively for them and not coaches that work for other clubs."
