From a jinx to a charm – Gareth Bale’s meteoric rise

Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas congratulates Gareth Bale following their team’s 2-1 victory during the Barclays Premier League match against Stoke City at Britannia Stadium on May 12, 2013 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Getty Images)

They said he was a curse and he brought bad luck but time heals everything and one can see how Gareth Bale’s fortunes have taken a turn for the good. From the boy who hadn’t tasted victory in his first twenty four games for Tottenham Hotspur, he has become their go-to man this season, winning the PFA awards double and becoming one of the leading lights of the Premier League.

Bale had a decent start to his Spurs career scoring a few goals but his side never won whenever he played. Injury struck and limited him to just twelve appearances in his debut season, as another injury in 2009 coupled with Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s stellar performances subjected him to make sporadic appearances over the season. His big break-through came in the 2009-10 season when Assou-Ekotto was injured and manager Harry Redknapp gave him his chance and Bale hasn’t looked back ever since.

He scored three goals and provided eleven assists from left-back as Tottenham clinched the fourth and final Champions League spot that season. The 2010-11 season saw Bale play as a left-winger and it was then when he truly started to showcase his talent. He shot to prominence against Inter where he scored a hat-trick in a losing cause but tormented their right-back Maicon to such an extent that he has never recovered. A man-of-the-match display in the corresponding fixture at White Hart Lane followed as Spurs topped their CL group. Bale scored twelve goals that year as Spurs reached the Champions League quarter-finals and narrowly missed out on 4^th place but he was honoured with the PFA Footballer of the Year by his peers.

The new season saw Bale further improve his “star-value” as he plundered in the goals but unfortunately Spurs again had no Champions League football. Bale stayed, Andre Villas-Boas was their new manager and that’s when the beast was unleashed. AVB has employed Bale in a more central role this season with loads of freedom. As a play-maker (fantasisti in Italian), they can operate both in central, attacking midfield and wide positions on the wings. Michel Platini would describe this more advanced and attacking trequartista role (exemplified by Roberto Baggio), allowing players to make dribbling runs, and score many goals as well as assisting them, as a nine and a half, since it was half way between a the role of a forward and a trequartista.

Tottenham’s new #11 has notched up 29 goals in all competitions this season with a career best 20 in the Premier League. He is the complete package now and his lightening pace, great ball control, lethal finishing and a bullet left foot has seen him torment defenders left, right and centre. Another massive improvement has been his delivery from set-pieces. Hours of practice on the training pitch of the Ronaldo-esque technique has finally come good this season.

He has single-handedly won matches for his team this season against Aston Villa, West Ham and more recently Southampton, as they continue their pursuit for Champions League places. Such has been his all-round contribution that rival fans have labelled Tottenham as a one-man team. Comparisons with a certain Cristiano Ronaldo followed and grew stronger as he followed suit to become only the second player to win both the PFA awards (PotY and the Young PotY) in the same season.

It has been the dawn of a new era for the Lilywhites, one with youthful promise and exuberance with Bale being the star of the show. Spurs fans would surely be hoping that they get Champions League football next year; to ensure that the Welsh wizard continues to showcase his magic tricks at White Hart Lane and vindicate what he had said in an interview a few days ago – “We’re heading in the right direction. Hopefully there is still a lot more to come.”