Bale yet to hit top form, says Bond

Gareth Bale has been in devastating form this season but he is yet to hit the peak of his powers, according to Tottenham assistant manager Kevin Bond.

Bale set the Champions League alight by helping Tottenham destroy Inter Milan last season and has kicked on this term, scoring 11 goals and providing countless assists to help transform Spurs into genuine title contenders.

Bale has been in particularly good form over the last month and has scored three in his last two games to help him pick up the Barclays Premier League player of the Month award for January.

The Welshman now operates as effectively on the right flank as he does in his natural position on the left and has recently started venturing inside a lot more, allowing him to score more.

Bond has kept a close eye on Bale’s progress since he first saw the winger come through Southampton’s youth ranks and has been impressed with his performances over the last 18 months.

“He’s on top of his form, you can see he is full of confidence at the moment,” Bond said.

“He is improving, he has done terrific and I think there is still more to come from him and he wants to improve as well.

“We were with him when he was at Southampton and we always thought he was a fantastic prospect.

“Then he had a difficult period when he first came here. He found it difficult to get in the side. He tried to get in at left-back but couldn’t get a game there and now he seems to have evolved.

“Now he has a little bit more freedom.

“He has added to his game. He has a bit of variation, he comes inside a bit. It helps him and makes it difficult for opponents to pin him down.

“He has always been a good player, he has kicked on in the last year or so.”

As a result, Liverpool know their patchy home form will again come under the microscope — but manager Kenny Dalglish does not believe there is much wrong with his side’s methods, only results.

Spurs are the only side to have beaten the Reds at Anfield since the Scot took over for a second spell in charge last January, winning 2-0 in the penultimate fixture of last season.

However, this campaign, a number of clubs have left Merseyside more than happy with a point as the likes of newcomers Norwich and Swansea, as well as relegation candidates Blackburn, have contributed to seven draws in 11 games.

It is to their credit, after dropping 14 points at home, that Liverpool still remain in contention for a top-four finish.

And with Anfield having recently seen Dalglish’s team hold off Manchester City to reach the Carling Cup final and then knock Manchester United out of the FA Cup, there is a feeling that their fortunes may be changing.

“We could have — and I think we deserve — a lot more points than what we have got,” said Dalglish.

“I think the performances have deserved it but we haven’t got them.

“We’ll just keep plugging away. We believe in what we’re doing and the way we’re going about our work has, in the main, been in the right way, so we’ll just continue to do that.

“Whether you’re at home or whether you’re away, when you’re playing for Liverpool football club, you’re expected to do the best you can and you’re expected to get as much as you can from every game.

“There are a lot of games we’ve drawn at Anfield that maybe we could have won, and even if we’d taken four more wins from the seven draws we’d have eight more points.

“We’re not too far away.”

Striker Luis Suarez is set to return to the squad having served his eight-match man after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

His comeback adds competition to a forward line which has started to find form in recent matches with Andy Carroll scoring his first league goal since October against Wolves and Dirk Kuyt, who previously only had one Carling Cup goal, hitting the net in successive matches.