Spurs boss frustrated by summer-long Bale saga.
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Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas says he feels his side are further from silverware now that Gareth Bale has left the club for Real Madrid, according to the Daily Express.
The Welshman was a star performer for Spurs last season, putting in some sensational individual displays that earned him both the PFA and FWA Player of the Year awards, although he ultimately could not guide Villas-Boas’ side to a top four spot and Champions League qualification.
The lack of Champions League football on offer at White Hart Lane made it all the more likely that Bale would leave the club, and although his £85m sale has allowed Spurs to revamp almost their entire squad, their manager is not convinced they are a stronger team now without the winger.
He said: “When a bigger club come in it is hard to persuade a player to stay, even at a club that wants to get better — we want to win trophies, the path would have been shorter with him and it might be longer now but we have players who want to achieve things.”
The Portuguese coach also called for changes to be made in the timing of the summer transfer window, as he lamented starting the season with such an obviously unsettled player in his squad.
Villas-Boas feels that the pressure from Real Madrid was so high that Tottenham were ultimately forced to sell him, as they couldn’t have gone on with the disruptive presence around at the club.
“In the end, as you saw our chairman say, the pressure we were under from the player has been intense, the influence of Madrid on the mental state of the player has been very great, you reach a point where if you don’t accept [the offer] can you go forward with the player in that mental state,” he added.