Midpoint: The Season so Far

By Nathan Durec

The past six months have seen a significant number of changes at White Hart Lane. The 2013-2014 is now at its halfway point, with 19 matches played in the league. Tottenham also has positions in the FA Cup and the Europa League as well. So far, we have seen massive pre-season spending, the reintroduction of the technical director position, many new faces to the squad, and even a new manager.

Here is a look back at the last six months and where we have been as a club.

July 2013

Newly instituted technical director Franco Baldini and manager Andre Villas-Boas get to work right away in signing Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, the 2013 Confederations Cup Bronze Ball winner. Paulinho arrives on a transfer fee of just over £17 million. For players leaving the club, Steven Caulker moves on, going to newly promoted club Cardiff City. At the time, Caulker becomes Cardiff City’s largest transfer fee ever spent at just over £8 million.

July also saw the signing of Nacer Chadli from FC Twente for £7 million.

August 2013

This month brings the finalization of the Magnificent Seven and paves the way for the passing of an icon. In addition to Paulinho and Chadli, Spurs bring in Roberto Soldado and Étienne Capoue in the first half of the month and end it with a flurry of activity on 30 August 2013 with the trifecta signing of Vlad Chiriches, Christian Eriksen, and Érik Lamela. Combined, these five players cost over £80 million and see Tottenham’s record paid transfer fee broken twice. However, with so many new bodies in the middle of the pitch, it spells the end for Tom Huddlestone and Scott Parker who leave for Hull City and Fulham respectively.

At this point, it becomes anyone’s guess who will actually become a part of the starting XI. Only two matches are played in August, giving Spurs a win and a loss, but no goals yet from open play. However, the Europa League fares better, with an 8-0 aggregate win over Dinamo Tbilisi to qualify for the group stage.

September 2013

It would be impossible to talk about September without discussing Gareth Bale. The date all were expecting finally happens when Bale officially became a player for Real Madrid at the beginning of the month. While the deal was completed in August, it would take a few days to become official. A year-long saga finally over, it sparks former Spurs goalkeeper Erik Thorstvedt to remark that they had “sold Elvis and bought the Beatles.” In 146 Premier League matches, Bale scored 43 goals, many of them memorable. His departure nets Tottenham their largest ever transfer payment, over £80 million, making him the most expensive player in football history.

Four league matches are played in September, ending with a 2-1-1 record, including a loss to rivals Arsenal. There are wins in the League Cup and Europa League.

October 2013

October begins with a crisis of faith, a 3-goal loss at White Hart Lane to West Ham United. In typical Spurs fashion, fans begin questioning all of the summer’s moves. However, it does light a fire in the club as they go on to a win every other match of the month, a 5-game winning streak in all competitions. The two matches against Hull City, one in league play and the other in the League Cup do show just how difficult this season will be and that no match can be taken for granted.

November 2013

November is a month of opposites between league play and the Europa League. Tottenham play two good matches in Europe to clinch qualification out of the group stage of the Europa League, but at home in England, the situation is much different. Three matches in league play do not see the club win any, instead tying one and losing two, including a 6-0 drubbing from Manchester City at home. It marks Tottenham’s worst loss at home in the Premier League era and sees them fall to 9th in the table, their lowest position so far.

December 2013

AVB out, Tim Sherwood in. December is a busy month, with Spurs playing nine matches, including seven in the Premier League. Spurs began decent enough with a tie against Manchester United and wins against Fulham and Sunderland. However, a 5-goal loss to Liverpool on 15 December 2013 was a bridge too far for Daniel Levy. The next day, by mutual consent, AVB resigns from his position and club coach Tim Sherwood takes over as a caretaker manager.

Several names would be thrown about in who would take over the club managerial duties, but in the end, Sherwood is awarded the full time job. It is his first managerial job in football. Unfortunately, his first match in charge doesn’t give him much time to work and leads to an exit from the League Cup against West Ham United. However, the shift to using two strikers does elicit memories of the attacking Spurs of old.

In the Premier League, Sherwood’s new Spurs continue with their 4-4-2 and it does bring changes. The next three matches see two wins and a tie. Sherwood also reintroduces Emmanuel Adebayor to the lineup, who had been sidelined by AVB.

The end of December sees Spurs in 7th position in the table.

By the Numbers

At this time last year, Tottenham was in 4th place in the table with 36 points, 13 points behind the leaders, Manchester United. This year, Tottenham is currently in 7th place with 34 points, but only 8 points behind league leader, Arsenal. In addition they have played one less match than this point last year.

With all the movement of players and staff over the first half of the season, there hasn’t been much movement in terms of additional points. However, it is plainly obvious that this is a much harder season. A win or a loss means much more right now than last year; just ask Liverpool and what has happened to them since Christmas.

What Tottenham needs is consistency. That has been difficult to come by with the sheer number of new players and the amount of squad rotation. However, rotation is good, especially for being involved in so many different competitions.

The second half of the season gets started right away with a difficult match against Manchester United. While the halfway mark is where many begin to make predictions as to what the league table will look like at the end of the year, there are less than 10 points separating 1st and 8th place. The only prediction that can be made is that the show is not over yet!

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