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Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

Mumorn said:
We press better. But it doesn't mean much if the players aren't fitter.
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I am not even sure that is right - I certainly havent noticed us pressing in pairs or as a team. Parker was best at doing this last year anyway.
 
ALtottenham_hotspur said:
Do you want a bet?

Im not saying its right, all I'm saying is if we are not close to 4th place come Xmas the pressure will be intense on AVB not only from Spurs fans but also the media who are just waiting to stick a knife in him as soon as they can.

We have had a decent start to the season and there is already pressure on him christ knows what it will be like come xmas is if are not close to 4th!!!
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its funny but the media have softened their stance on AVB. We are on a shocking run of form but they seem to be quite sympathetic, even the pro Redknapp hacks arent sticking their knives in
 
ArcspacE said:
Perhaps he's issuing the right tactics but inferior players and similar passengers are unable to carry those out on the field of play.

Similar to teaching a dumb dog a trick it can't comprehend
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Hugely patronising comment. Funny how Jol and Rodgers got the best out of Dempsey and Sigg. They dont even look like players for us. Moyes inspires average players to play above themselves. They are fit and fight for the cause to the end.

Anyway, a good manager would work with what he has - not try and force a system on those unsuited to it.
 
DHSF said:
I dont believe iTKs but I would believe that.

Think about it - Modric's replacement was to be Moutinho but Levy got Dembele im glad we got him. Vert was on our radar before AVB but im glad we actually Vert cos he is pretty damn good.

Sig/Demps? no way were they AVBs - they dont fit in with his team structure

Either way thats what? 40m worth of players that AVB (strong chance) didnt want.

Spursalot I agree but you can kind of decipher whether they are players he wanted (a chance we could be wrong)
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Your believing it because it already fits into the ideas you have :p


To be honest i can accept that Verts was not an AVB choice. We were in for him early before Avb was here.

Sig? I can honestly see him being an AVB buy, he's young and he's not playing anywhere near where he was last year.

Dembele? it wasn't Dembele or Moutinho, i firmly believe we were in for Moutinho but in the end we couldn't get it all right.

Adebayor? I am of the belief Avb was in on our financial situation and decided that he was a good way to go for a striker.


Dempsey is a panic buy, but that's not to say AVB wasn't on board.
 
Jurgen the German said:
Yep. I was under the impression that Harry was a dunce when it came to tactics and AVB was very good in this area. Apart from the United game, he looks a bit lacking also in this area so far.
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At least Harry knew that at home you attack opponents. Not sure AVB has learnt this particular lesson yet.
 
I am starting to get concerned, we haven't played free flowing football like we did under Harry for 90 minutes yet this season. Also, this trend of going up a goal and then sitting back and trying to just hold on is not working at all especially when we are playing lesser competition and not trying to kill games off.
 
Pirate55 said:
At least Harry knew that at home you attack opponents. Not sure AVB has learnt this particular lesson yet.
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hopefully the Maribor game is a sign of good things to come....that was a Redknapp style performance
 
galeforce said:
Harry was being judged based on it being his team, he'd had 3 1/2 years to get it to that state.

AVB has had 4 months, as have the players signed in the summer.
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In which case AVB's reputation is absolutely worthless, as it's built on the back of success on a team which he inherited and was successful right from the very start. It wasn't "his team." This is part of the reason I think the football he's played with us and Chelsea has shocked so many, as I think it was assumed he built a team in a particular style. But in reality he picked a formation from a squad of good players and this worked from the off. You could say things just clicked for him and Porto. It tells us nothing about his ability to build and mould a team.

Also Harry took over a team in far worse shape than the one AVB has and had the huge advantage of doing so in the middle of the season. Yet despite this he actually had a better return in his first 11 games. Martin Jol took over in worse conditions that either of them and he had better results in his first 11 games than both Harry and AVB.

As I said earlier, I actually think AVB has done alright, better than I expected. The football has been bad, but ultimately it's a results business and we are in 7th place, whilst not great, isn't the end of the world either. But I still think we all, especially AVB's biggest supporters, need to accept there is a high chance his reputation is built on success he may well have had far less to do with than many think. It's very, very possible and we've seen highly successful managers get found out loads of times.

It's dangerous to assume that AVB needs time to build his team, given his success came in a period in which he worked for a club with a history of building great teams and no time was needed. I think people forget just how inexperienced he is. The most he's ever had at a club is one season. He's only done that once. So the argument that he needs time to build his own team is totally flawed as we simply have no idea of his ability to do this. This doesn't meant to say that we don't give him the time, but that we have to keep a careful eye on him and not makes excuses if the bad times come sooner, rather than later. If we are really struggling at the start on Jan, which I doubt we will be, then it would be crazy to assume that he should be given money to spend to fix things. Serious questions would need to be asked about why we are struggling, despite having a very good squad. He has to show signs of being a top quality coach before he can be backed to turn things around, if things come to that. I don't think we will be in trouble, but it would only take a few bad results in a row and we'd find ourselves in the bottom half.
 
thfcsteff said:
Good questions...Numbers 1 & 2 don't bother me personally right now, especially as 2 is not strictly accurate (we are, at least, scoring from corners and set-pieces these days as opposed to, say, last year). 3, yes, I think there are times when he could be more adventurous but again, his first priority given the calibre of squad he has versus injuries is to be secure, thus why he sets up that way. i think he could certainly do with being a bit braver (personally I'd have started Carroll yesterday, doesn't mean I don't see what he's doing). 5 is a concern, and one I believe he will resolve in the next month or so. With regards to yesterday, we had our fill-in left back (who despite what anyone says is a wonderful CB not LB) tiring visibly after weeks on end of football with rest, and we made a defensive shuffle that I would question, yes. Of course I could go into how I wished Daws was better and Brad had not let another one go through his hands, but that's not the point. 6 relates a lot to Walker, who is struggling without Kaboul and the higher line idea AVB is trying to bring in where he actually often ends up as more of a wing-back. 7, well, we can debate the Wigan sub all we want (JD wasn't doing anything) but yesterday two of his subs were enforced by injury. 8. this is something new he is facing, and I suspect he will have sorted out a solution soon. 9, so you want us to simply be a 4-4-2 side? With our current midfield? 10. Ade has given him no choice for a while, I agree re: Brad and Lloris, I wish he'd just go Hugo.

Where has he improved us...I believe he IS improvING our ability to be a side that can play without relying on just one or two players (we are having to learn to do that) I believe he is improving Bale and there's no argument on Lennon, and I believe he has improved the levels of structure of the club on and off the pitch. he is building a framework which I believe will see long-term success as opposed to short time flash bang for the back.
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Steff, I really, really admire your positivity and really really hope you are right. I hope that it comes good for AVB, which of course means it comes good for all of us.

I just cant see any evidence of green shoots at the moment to cling onto. And in the meantime, I am being bored witless by the turgid football we are playing. Entertaining it is not.
 
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harry took over,second from bottom using someone else players,levy bit his lip and purse and bailed us out,AVB takes over 3/4 best team in england gets hoodwinked by levy saying he'll get one or two players he really wants ends up with no one.

common link,levy.

if he wanted AVB to succeed levy should have got him one of his targets at least. I hope AVB does turn it around,if we don't finish in the top 4, a trophy or a final must be a target at least.
 
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