Gareth Bale has emerged as one of the most promising soccer players in recent times. The Tottenham Hotspur winger faces Inter Milan again on Thursday evening, with his manager maintaining he is a better all-round player compared to two seasons ago when he successfully overcome the Italian challenge almost single-handedly.
And fatherhood has arrived at the same time as maturity on the ground this season, with daughter Alba Violet Bale coincidentally sharing the same initials as his manager. “He has little AVB, little Alba,” says team-mate Jermain Defoe. “He came in the next day with all the pictures and he has loved it, and you can tell by how he’s playing.
“He’s a happy person. He has his daughter and that stability is important as a professional. He’s buzzing at the minute and I think it helps.”
The new superstardom has not spared Bale some gentle teasing about his giving his first-born the same initials as the man who picks the team.
The situation backs up Defoe’s claims of Bale being a better player since becoming a father. The Wales international had scored two Spurs goals this season before Alba’s birth, with 18 goals in 24 games since.
Villas-Boas has also played him in a more commanding role, adding to his view of the 23-year-old being a more accomplished player since following up his hat-trick at the San Siro by humbling Brazil full-back Maicon at White Hart Lane.
Villas-Boas said: “Gareth has evolved as player. He is even more threatening now. We are sure Inter Milan are aware of those strengths.
“We’re two years on from when he played against Inter. He plays in a different position and I think he’s become a different player: a bigger player and more complete.
“He’s the kind of player who can determine the outcome of a game, who we’ve seen in recent matches.
“He’s been involved with a lot of first-team football since he was 16 or 17 and now he’s developed in to a world-class player.”
Bale will run into Inter again, which will be the central attraction of the first leg of the Europa League last-16 clash this evening, although Villas-Boas provides a sub-plot.
He was at Inter during Jose Mourinho’s time at the club, scouting opponents and offering analysis for the ‘Special One’. The issue took place when Villas-Boas’s ambition was being stifled by Mourinho.
Villas-Boas said: “It was a difficult moment of my professional life. At that time I was scouting for Jose. We had conversations because I wanted to be a little bit more involved with first-team training.
“Jose had always seen me doing the job I was doing and we had a pact that my contract at Inter Milan would be the last one because, after that, I would be following on.
“It was a difficult step to go, bearing in mind I had all the things I had access to at Inter Milan: the knowledge and experience with Jose. But I decided to take the risk and left. Reflecting at that time it was probably the right decision but it was very, very difficult, at the time, to take it.”
