One major criticism of Jose Mourinho in his final few months at Tottenham was his decision not to release the handbrake and let his attacking players loose.
When he did that in the first few months of the season the goals flowed as a result as Spurs hit Southampton for five and Manchester United for six in the Premier League.
However, his plans changed after the late capitulation against West Ham as he went with a more defensive setup in order to ensure his side remained strong at the back to give themselves the best possible chance of winning games.
That unfortunately meant that Spurs fans didn't get to see the dream front three of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Gareth Bale as much as they would've liked.
With Kane and Son regulars in Mourinho's strongest XI, Bale had to make do with a bit-part role more often than not in the Premier League as the vast majority of his game time came in the Europa League.
Handed a run in the team from February onwards after a bright cameo off the bench at Man City, the loanee showed Mourinho why he should have featured more often with doubles against Burnley and Crystal Palace in fine displays.
However, a really poor performance at Arsenal, on a day when plenty of his teammates disappointed, changed the head coach's thinking once again as he dropped back down to the bench and was only called upon in the final few minutes to try and rescue the game in two of their next four league outings.
Following Daniel Levy's decision to part with Mourinho and appoint Ryan Mason for the remainder of the season, fans immediately expected the interim head coach to restore Bale to the team given he stated in his first press conference that he wanted his team to be "brave and aggressive" and "play like Tottenham Hotspur".
The 31-year-old did indeed find himself back in the side against Southampton and he repaid his former teammate with a piece of magic that helped the team come from behind to pick up three crucial points.
Although he wasn't given a start in the Carabao Cup final against Man City, he reminded everyone on Sunday evening of what exactly he still has to offer Spurs with a sublime hat-trick in the 4-0 drubbing of Sheffield United.
Making a lovely run to chip in the first beyond Aaron Ramsdale after Serge Aurier had picked him out, he emphatically netted a second on the hour mark as he finished off some great work from Son Heung-min.
Eight minutes later and his first hat-trick for the club since returning in September was in the bag after he arrowed in another Aurier pass.
He was just sensational on a night that Tottenham badly needed to up the pressure on their European rivals.
It was just like watching the Bale of old and once again it left so many wondering why on earth Mourinho didn't play him more often and opted against bringing him on in ten league fixtures.
Clearly still capable of having such an influence in games as the past 12 days have proved, the former head coach may in fact still be in a job had he played the Real Madrid loanee more frequently.
Asked about Bale's performance in his post-match press conference, Mason unsurprisingly was waxing lyrical about his player and labelled him as "outstanding".
"I thought he was outstanding. His goals were world class," said the former midfielder.
"No one should have doubted that ability he has in the final third because he's proved over a number of years that he's one of the best in those moments.
"I was very pleased with him tonight because I thought his performance was excellent as well. He showed real commitment and he fought for the team and the moments he produced were outstanding."
Then pressed on if having a happy Bale will mean he remains at the club next season, he added: "I think that is a conversation at the end of the season between Gareth, the club and his parent club, our main focus and priority should be the next game.
"It sounds a cliché but it is true. I am glad he is happy, he should be because he has another match ball to add to the collection. It was an excellent performance as well."
Clearly not seeing enough of Bale in the Premier League after playing a total of 724 minutes across 16 league fixtures this season, what matters now is that the player can still have a pivotal role to play in their remaining four league matches.
It is going to be a huge ask for the team to finish in the top four given the current five-point deficit but Leicester and Chelsea's final games give Spurs a glimmer of hope ahead of the final push.
Mason may have been in charge for only two league fixtures since taking on the job but the Wales international has demonstrated in that time that Mourinho may have made an almighty mistake in not playing him on a regular basis.
He's not done at Tottenham just yet and Bale may in fact hammer that point home even more over the next three weeks as Spurs look to cause a huge upset.
