Give AVB credit for Bale form – Ardiles

by Robbie Pringle

28th June 2013 7:00am BST

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas deserves credit for Gareth Bale’s outstanding form last season, according to former Spurs player and manager Ossie Ardiles.
The 23-year-old picked up the PFA player of the year and young player of the year awards after a scintillating season with the north Londoners during which he scored 26 goals.
Ardiles, who won the FA Cup and Uefa Cup as a Tottenham player, thinks the club’s Portuguese manager should receive plaudits for his decision to give Bale more freedom in the Spurs line-up
He told SportsDirect News: “It’s very important [for Spurs to keep Gareth Bale this summer].
"He’s had a great season; he won the player of the year and the young player of the year so clearly it was a fantastic season for him.
“But a lot of credit has to go the AVB because he put him [Bale] in a kind of free role – one striker and Bale behind or sometimes he put Bale on the right whereas before he was just used as a left winger only.
“If Spurs lose him they will suffer. It’s not going to be easy to replace him.” -------------------- SPORTSDIRECT NEWS