AVB backs Bale for Premier League player gong after West Ham wizardry

Tuesday, February 26, 2013
8:50 AM

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas believes Gareth Bale deserves to be named as the Premier League’s player of the year this season after seeing the Wales winger produce yet another match-winning display against West Ham United last night.

Bale scored a fantastic brace, including a stunning last-gasp winner, as Spurs moved up to third with a 3-2 win over their London rivals.

The 23-year-old opened the scoring before the Hammers hit back through an Andy Carroll penalty and a well-taken Joe Cole effort.

Substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson scored his first league goal to equalise for Spurs before Bale claimed the points for the visitors with a brilliant long-range effort.

Villas-Boas, who shared a celebratory embrace with Spurs’ two-goal hero at the final whistle, was left enthusing about Bale’s quality and reckons he is worthy of personal accolades come the end of the season.

When asked if he felt Bale could win the player of the year award he replied: “I think so, it would be truly deserved, but not up to me to make that consideration.

“But you have to recognise he’s having a tremendous season. So probably a contender, he is for us, hopefully he can get there.

“He is a great, great talent and to see him keep trying in the last minute exemplifies the talent that he is.

“Taking the ball, receiving it, getting fouled in between, getting up - he has got stick for staying down - but he gets up and gets on with business and managed to score a great goal.”

Spurs have scored important late goals recently with Mousa Dembele’s injury-time strike sealing Europa League progression at the expense of Lyon and Clint Dempsey hitting a late equaliser at home to league leaders Manchester United.

Villas-Boas could not put his finger on why his side had made a habit out of leaving it late but feels once a team knows they can grab a goal in the dying seconds it gives them belief they can repeat it.

“I’ve done nothing,” he said. “It is just the players who believe, the more often we score late the more often we score again.

“I think it has a knock-on effect, normally when you suffer late goals you suffer more because you believe and when you score you believe [you can do it again], we are enjoying it.”