managed to pull a priceless victory out of the bag against Cardiff at the weekend with a last minute goal from one of their summer signings – Paulinho.
Much of the focus of Tottenham’s summer was related to the inevitable sale of Gareth Bale for a world record fee to Real Madrid. This process was extremely long and drawn out and had threatened to overshadow Tottenham’s preparation for the season ahead, one which feels like it could determine the long term direction of the club.
After selling undoubtedly one of the world’s best players and one of the best to ever play for Tottenham, there is immense pressure for Spurs to shed their reputation as a selling club to the truly biggest stages of world football. The sales of Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United are prime examples of this even before the sale of the Welshman went through.
After narrowly missing out on qualification for the Champions League yet again last season, it would have been easy to assume that with other teams recruiting and the imminent departure of Bale that Tottenham would be further away from that promised land as this season progressed. However, Chairman Daniel Levy, always a shrewd negotiator, was able to put in stringently effective measures to stem the negativity that could have been overpowering. Going back on your word to the fans after Andre Villas-Boas promised that Bale would not be sold at any price could have consumed the minds of Tottenham fans. Instead, Levy’s quick actions have replaced what could have easily been a feeling of loss with a feeling of gain.
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Following the continental style of running a club, Levy’s best piece of recruitment was undoubtedly new Director of Football Franco Baldini. His contact list is endless and it seems to have paid dividends for Tottenham in replacing Gareth Bale. The Italian’s impact has been so great that Tottenham’s psychological position has been strengthened in addition to their footballing talent. While Tottenham were going about their rapid and effective business, two of their main rivals in the higher echelons of the Premier League were seen to be blundering about from transfer failure to transfer failure, and the media showed no remorse in picking up on this.
Manchester United have new men running their club replacing the old guard whose departure took a wealth of experience away from Old Trafford, not only from winning things on the pitch but also in how to bring in the type of player needed to win multiple titles, year after year. One thing is clear: Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign of glory will never be repeated and this is much to the benefit of Tottenham and every other club in the Premier League. While David Moyes desperately tried to add an attacking midfielder to his armoury, Tottenham’s Baldini was able to focus on wooing players to White Hart Lane while Andre Villas-Boas rallied the troops for the long season ahead.
More importantly for die-hard Spurs fans, the pressure on Arsenal to make world-renowned signings was arguable even greater than at Manchester United. The frustration culminated with Arsenal’s opening day loss to Aston Villa. Retrospectively, both teams did manage to make last minute sole additions but their lack of activity and loyalty to the traditional role of a manager – managing both the team and transfers – was questioned by many. Tottenham was even mentioned in some circles as the model both clubs would need to adopt in order to keep pace with the demands of the modern game – a public relations coup for the Lillywhites, and some degree of embarrassment for their adversaries.
If we throw Chelsea into the mix too, they hardly look like the Mourinho side of old. Experienced but ageing players and a lack of recruitment on the scale of the Portuguese’s previous tenure led many to question whether the West Londoners had the ingredients needed to serve up a title. Liverpool are probably the only team to have improved apart from Tottenham, but Brendan Rodgers has to get closer to Champions League qualification before he gets silly with expectations. The conclusion from this – the title race will be one of the most wide open since the foundation of the Premier League.
This conclusion comes in conjunction with Tottenham doing more than their fair share with the Bale money. Seven players have arrived from a diverse range of football backgrounds. Their quality is unquestionable, with the circa £12million signing of Christian Eriksen looking like a particular highlight. The only thing stopping them from success will be how long they take to bed in as a unit. Yet, the win against Cardiff at the weekend was indicative of a team challenging for the title. In the dying moments of the game, all arrows point to a draw until one moment changes the memories of the entire 90 minutes that preceded it. What’s more is that the goal was provided by substitute Erik Lamela – let’s repeat that word- substitute.
Tottenham now have brilliant strength in depth and a manager with an impressive record of success even for his relatively young age. All the ingredients are there for Tottenham to challenge this season. It could be even more though, we could be seeing the start of a new era of glory at the Lane.
Do Tottenham fans fancy their chances this year?
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