Where Will Tottenham Finish This Season?

The opening day of the 2013-14 Premier League season brings the pundits predictions of how every team will get on over the next ten months. Having seen Tottenham’s preseason preparations and followed all the transfer dealings, how do you think Spurs will do this year?

Pre-match Huddle. [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Putting Previous Disappointments Behind Us!

The past two seasons have finished in disappointment for Tottenham, missing out on a Champions League finish in the most unfortunate of circumstances on both occasions. Last year they finished 5th with a record number of points for Spurs. In any previous season, 72 points would have secured a place in the top 4 and a guaranteed place in UEFA’s top competition. Well, that is, unless you are Tottenham who twelve months earlier finished fourth but became the first club to lose their place due to Chelsea unexpectedly winning the trophy, having finished outside the top 4. As winners of the trophy, the Stamford Bridge club snatched Spurs’ Champions League place from them.

New Season – New Optimism

So, a new season begins with optimism flowing from every pore. Spurs have invested heavily in four new players to strengthen the team and Gareth Bale is still a Tottenham player, even though he’s not playing. Can this be Tottenham’s year to set aside previous failures and disappointments and make a breakthrough under Andre Villas-Boas.

AVB impressed in his first season at White Hart Lane and built bridges which had been washed away during his turbulent nine months with Chelsea. He conducted himself with dignity, developed a good rapport with the players and a growing relationship with the fans, some of whom were quick to criticise in the early matches last season. How will the Tottenham 2013-14 team designed and created by AVB get on over the next ten months? Villas-Boas spoke of him ambitions for the season saying, reported in a tweet by @HotspurRelated.

"If we manage to complete all the things we have in mind our objective is to get into the Champions League and to establish ourselves in the top four."

With the signings that have been made this summer I could see Tottenham breaking into the top 4 which must be their aim. They could possibly even finish 3rd. Manchester City and Chelsea look like the clubs to claim the top two places but after that it could be a much more open contest. United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton and Spurs will all be wanting to stake a claim for those final Champions League places and Spurs with their investment in quality players have as good an opportunity as they’ve had in many years. This could be their year but they’ll need the new players to gel quickly into the team and hit the ground running with some early success to avoid having to play Tottenham’s regular game of catch-up. Spurs will also need some good fortune where injuries are concerned and avoid losing any of their top players to serious injury as happened last year with Younes Kaboul, Scott Parker and Sandro.

The opening game is a step into the unknown with a further 37 games to go. How it will end, nobody knows. In August, 1984 Tottenham opened the season with a 4 – 1 win at Goodison Park and their new striker, Clive Allen, scored twice. That must have caused anguish to the Everton fans but come the following May, Everton were crowned Champions while Spurs were 3rd. In 1950-51 Spurs lost their opening match at home to Blackpool by the same score but won the 1st Division title for the first time in the club’s history. As those two games illustrate, the opening day result isn’t everything but it would be good to get off to a positive start against Crystal Palace on Sunday, to keep the feel-good factor alive for as long as possible.

Where Will Tottenham Finish in 2013-14?

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