Mourinho says Bale's social media post a 'contradiction'

Call it a raised-eyebrow emoji by Jose Mourinho.

The Tottenham manager said Gareth Bale's recent Instagram post — an encouraging fitness update from the player complete with a flexed bicep emoji — was a "contradiction."

Bale missed the FA Cup game on Wednesday against Everton after reporting an unspecified injury.

Mourinho addressed Bale's status again on Friday, a day before Spurs visit English Premier League leader Manchester City.

"I hope that the press conference is about the game and not about individuals," Mourinho began, "but I have to admit that his post created a need of being addressed because (there) was a contradiction between the post and the reality."

Mourinho added, "I try to be very private ... but I felt that I needed to address the situation.

"Probably the post was not even his responsibility, I don't know. But the post was showing that 'training session great so I'm ready' and was totally wrong."

Bale's post said: "Good session today."

The Wales international's second spell at Tottenham has been underwhelming.

Bale has appeared in only six of Tottenham's 22 games in the Premier League after securing a season-long loan in September from Real Madrid, where he had become an outcast. Just two of those have been starts.

The manager said Bale asked for and received a scan, which "didn't show an injury."

"We have a training session in the afternoon to see if he feels ready or not," Mourinho said on Friday.