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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
James Nursey & Daniel Blackham

Arsenal coach defended amid Jose Mourinho criticism over Gareth Bale

Arsenal’s assistant head coach Albert Stuivenberg was the subject of some choice words from Jose Mourinho last week.

The Tottenham manager admitted he was uncomfortable with the fact Stuivenberg is on the coaching team with the Wales national side.

Mourinho has three of his star players currently away with the Wales side – Gareth Bale, Joe Rodon and Ben Davies.

Giggs will not be involved in the Wales camp for their three games of the international break due to an off-pitch matter, leaving Robert Page in charge, supported by Stuivenberg.

And Mourinho admitted he is uneasy about the fact an Arsenal head coach will have the power to decide how many minutes his three players will be involved in.

Jose Mourinho was uneasy about one of Wales' assistant managers (PA)

He revealed that he spoke with Giggs before the last international break about concerns he had over Davies’ fitness, but said that won’t be the case with the current break due to Giggs’ absence.

Mourinho is believed to be concerned about the amount of game time his players are subject to due to the congested fixture schedule.

He has already raised concerns about Harry Kane playing for England, and is worried about the risk of injury.

However, Page was adamant that Suivenberg will not carry any club bias into his international duty.

Gareth Bale is currently away with the Wales national side (Action Images via Reuters)

He said: "Albert has been involved in the Welsh set-up for a couple of years and there have never been any issues.

“But I can empathise with what he’s (Jose's) saying.

“We’re borrowing his players to come and play for Wales so of course we’re going to look after them.

“We’re not going to undo any work that’s been done at club level. It’s elite sport and elite preparation for games.”

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