Tottenham were embroiled in a last day scrap for a spot in the top four, against North London rivals Arsenal. Andre Villas-Boas' side eventually fell one point short, as a 1-0 win over Sunderland courtesy of Gareth Bale's 21st goal of the season, was not enough as Arsenal beat relegated Wigan 4-1. That was Gareth Bale's final game at White Hart Lane, before his Galactico move to Real Madrid. In tribute, to the Welsh wonder who recently announced his retirement from the game, we look back at the Tottenham line-up in that game and where they are now.
GK: Hugo Lloris – A 25-year-old Hugo Lloris was in his first season at White Hart Lane in 2013, after his £8m arrival from Lyon. He played 27 games in his debut Premier League season, after being brought to the club by Andre Villas-Boas to be the long-term successor to Brad Friedel. What a bargain it turned out to be, he has gone on to make 353 Premier League appearances for the club and has made 125 clean sheets. Currently his contract expires in 2024, and at the age of 36, it looks like Spurs are keen to bring in a replacement for their number one-shot stopper. He also recently retired from the French national team, after making 145 caps and historically winning the World Cup in 2018.
RB: Kyle Walker – The England international went on to spend four more seasons at Tottenham, reaching the EFL Cup final in 2015 against Chelsea… They lost of course. In 2017, the Sheffield born right-back was targeted by new Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and subsequently joined them in a £50m deal. What a decision that proved to be; the 32-year-old has gone on to win four Premier League titles, the FA Cup, four EFL Cups and the community shield four times. Meanwhile, Tottenham are enduring a 15-year barren spell with silverware so I don’t think Walker will be looking back on the move. As well, he reached the 2020 European final with England and finished fourth at the 2018 World Cup. At 32, he is still very much Guardiola’s first choice right-back as he targets a fifth Premier League title and that elusive Champions league trophy this season. Meanwhile, as the elder statesman of Gareth Southgate’s three lions squad, he might not make the next tournament, but who knows.
CB: Michael Dawson – After 27 appearances for Spurs in 2012-13, he was only at the London club for another year before joining Hull City on a three-year contract. It did not go to plan, after a decade in the top flight at Spurs he endured a torrid season with the Tigers resulting in relegation. He did stay with the club for the duration of his contract and managed to get promoted straight back to the Premier League the following year. In 2017, he joined his boyhood club Nottingham Forest in the Championship until the age of 37 where he retired. He has since, become a club ambassador and presenter for Sky Sports, starring on soccer Saturday with Jeff Sterling.
CB: Jan Vertonghen – The centre-back cost the Lilywhites £10m in the summer of 2012 from Ajax. He became a mainstay in their backline for eight years, where he formed a solid partnership with fellow countryman Toby Alderweireld. During his time, he guided Spurs to the 2015 EFL Cup final and the Champions League final in 2019 under Mauricio Pochettino. After 353 appearances, he left the club in 2020 as a free agent joining Portuguese giants Benfica. He has been a part of the underachieving golden generation for Belgium, where the highest they ever finished was fourth at the 2018 World Cup. This winter he crashed out in the group stage with the Red Devils at the Qatar World Cup and signed with Anderlecht on a free transfer in August.
LB: Benoit Assou-Ekotto – The full-back was in and out of Villas-Boas’ side in the 2012-13 season, making just 12 starts. He faced competition from young prospect Kyle Naughton and shortly afterwards made the switch across London to QPR. Re-uniting with former manager Harry Redknapp in the Championship, he gained promotion ,during his loan stint, back to the top flight via the play-offs. He became surplus to requirements at Tottenham, following his return and joined Saint Etienne in 2015 before a move to Metz. The Cameroonian became renowned for saying that football was “not his passion”, but now in his retirement aged 38, he says he has found his love for football again. He plays for amateur side SC Saint Nicolas-Lez-Arras mainly as a hobby.
CM: Tom Huddlestone – After 20 league appearances under Villas-Boas, surprisingly the midfielder opted to follow in the footsteps of fellow academy prospects Livermore and Taabrat in leaving the club. He joined Hull City for around £5m, with the ambition to be their star player, and helped the Tigers push for European football under Steve Bruce. The following season saw relegation, but he secured promotion with Hull in 2016. The four-time capped England international struggled to find consistency and stability in the top flight and in 2017 joined Derby County. After 90 appearances, he was forced to leave after the two parties failed to agree on contract negotiations. Last season he made his return to KC Stadium with Hull, but was released as a free agent after one year. He is now an academy coach at Manchester United.
CM: Scott Parker – The 42-year-old only made 63 appearances for Spurs in his two-year spell, before joining the fifth club of his career in Fulham. At the end of the 2015-16 season, the former Hammers midfielder suffered the first relegation of his career as Fulham finished 20th. He shortly retired from football in 2017, aged 36 to become a Under 18 coach at Tottenham. In February 2019, he took his first managerial role with relegated Fulham in the Premier League and went on to earn them promotion back to the top flight. After similarly, earning promotion with Bournemouth last season to the Premier League he was sacked in August following a cut-throat attack on his players display. Bizarrely, the tank top specialist is currently managing Belgian Pro league side Club Brugge.
RW: Aaron Lennon – The electric winger was in his fifth season at Tottenham in 2013 and went on to make 322 appearances for the club. However, he lost his place under Mauricio Pochettino and was shipped out on loan to Everton in February 2015. That summer he made a permanent move to Merseyside and went on to make 63 appearances for the Toffees. The England attacker eventually joined Sean Dyche’s Burnley, where he played a rotational role with the odd cameo. While, at Turf Moor the 35-year-old suffered from severe depression and struggled with his mental health. After experiencing the Turkish league with Kayserispor he returned to Burnley last season, but couldn’t prevent them from getting relegated.
LW: Gareth Bale: The 22-year-old experienced a break-out season in 2012-13 scoring 21 Premier League goals and steering Tottenham to within a point of the top four. His incredible form earnt him a prestigious £86m transfer to Real Madrid. What followed was unbelievable he went on to win five Champions League trophies, three La Liga titles, a Copa Del Rey, four Club World Cups… The list goes on. Not to mention his montage of sublime goals, the overhead kick in the 2018 Champions League final and his of field sprint around Marc Bartra to score a last-gasp winner in the El Clasico. His relationship with the Madrid fans did turn sour towards the end of his nine years, and he eventually returned to Spurs on loan, before joining MLS side LAFC. Meanwhile, he captained Wales to their first World Cup in 36 years and became his countries all-time leading goal scorer (44gls) and appearances maker (111 caps). Last week, he announced his retirement from football aged just 33 years.
CF: Clint Dempsey: The American only spent a single year at Tottenham following his £9m arrival from Fulham. He finished 2012-13 with seven goals, before returning to Craven Cottage on loan. He became the highest scoring American in the Premier League with 72 goals and returned to his homeland in 2013 at Seattle Sounders. He starred for his country at the 2014 World Cup and became the first player to score seven goals in the Gold Cup. He retired from national duty in 2017, making 141 appearances and became the joint-record goal scorer alongside Landon Donovan with 57 goals. In 2018 he retired unexpectantly aged 34, which later said was as a result of feeling “burned out”.
ST: Emmanuel Adebayor: The 38-year-old experienced a resurrection in form under Tim Sherwood in 2013-14, scoring 11 goals. Although, in the 2014-15 season the emergence of Harry Kane side-lined the 6ft 3 striker and he made just nine starts. He became a free agent in 2015, and eventually joined Crystal Palace four months later. However, he struggled to find form and was questioned over his fitness and temperament. In the final chapter of his career, he played in the Turkish league for Istanbul and Kayserispor. After a year he temporarily joined Paraguayan side Olympia, but was axed after just four appearances.
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