Tottenham’s Gareth Bale has refused to comment on Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam after the two clashed in Saturday’s pre season friendly Baltimore.
The players have a history as it was Adam who prematurely ended the Welshman’s 2010-11 season following a reckless lunge which saw Bale injured for three months.
A second aggressive challenge by Scotsman Adam in Saturday’s exhibition resulted in Bale again being stretchered off; once again concerned that injury could keep him out of action for an extended period.
Following that challenge, which Bale considered a deliberate attempt to cause injury, the Welsh winger branded Adam “a bit of a coward”, saying “I was surprised to see a challenge like that in a friendly. We’re all over here to build our fitness and get a good workout and what he did was over the top, to be honest. But some people are like that and it’s just wrong.”
These comments sparked a war of words with Adam and his representatives, with Kenny Moyes, agent of the former Blackpool man, responding angrily to the quotes:
“Everyone in football knows he has no malice or anything like that in him. For someone to have a go like that is outrageous. It was schoolboyish for them to come out and say that”
It would seem that Bale is keen to move on from the incident, but is not yet ready to forgive and forget. He was asked about Adam during a press conference following his side’s most recent game of their American tour, to which he responded:
“People like that are not worth commenting on, to be honest. He knows what he’s done wrong himself, so we’ll just leave it.”
It is unclear whether or not these comments will draw a line under this particular spat, but Tottenham will be relieved that their star man has not been badly injured as first feared and should be fully fit for the start of the new season.