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Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach
- Thread starter Bale
- Start date
thfcsteff
George Hunt
Yes. You couldn't make it up. Although I have to say that it's not nearly as bad here as I thought it would be...AVb did everything right today IMHO. He got unlucky. And individual errors again cost us...
Today's kneejerking has been quite sensible I think. And with that I'm off to drink myself to death (not literally
)
Southcote Spur
Jason Dozzell
Today's kneejerking has been quite sensible I think. And with that I'm off to drink myself to death (not literally
I am half way down a bottle of Shiraz and the pain is slowly starting to dissipate.
CoolburyClub
Scott Houghton
We were close to going 2-0 up when Lennon went through too and we still played better being positive than we did playing negatively against City.
Hesitating only leads to awkwardness on the ball and a tendency to pass the ball sideways or backwards. In patches when we played with nothing to lose the players actually expressed themselves with more confidence. We looked the better side until the sending off. It is obvious we need a player to play behind Defoe and whether that player is 'officially' part of a 4-4-2 or an attacking midfielder linking midfield and attack is meaningless in my opinion. Teddy Sheringham played in many a 4-4-2 but would have played exactly the same role in 4-5-1.
I'm bemused at all this hankering for mediocre football. We have some of the best attacking players in the league and a very poor defence. So I am still perplexed by some of AVB's decisions this season because negativity breeds negativity and you can still see hesitancy amongst certain players to look for an incisive pass and go sideways or backwards instead of making the better ball when it is on.
The only way things will improve is by playing with confidence and we looked far better when we were attacking Arsenal and exposing the gaping holes through their defence.
Arsenal looked pretty poor too for the most part but there's no way we're going to be able to sit on leads until we get Kaboul back and also a player in midfield who is always available for the ball in the way Modric or Carrick was.
We miss VDV badly for creative passing just as we miss Modric for keeping momentum and dictating the pattern of play. Losing VDV was probably avoidable and Dempsey is just not good enough.
Huddlestone too looks like he's going to need to improve his fitness because he's not mobile enough and he doesn't make himself available often enough. Too much of a luxury passenger in the middle of the park and our biggest weakness along with Gallas who would struggle to get into most top half Premiership sides.
Hesitating only leads to awkwardness on the ball and a tendency to pass the ball sideways or backwards. In patches when we played with nothing to lose the players actually expressed themselves with more confidence. We looked the better side until the sending off. It is obvious we need a player to play behind Defoe and whether that player is 'officially' part of a 4-4-2 or an attacking midfielder linking midfield and attack is meaningless in my opinion. Teddy Sheringham played in many a 4-4-2 but would have played exactly the same role in 4-5-1.
I'm bemused at all this hankering for mediocre football. We have some of the best attacking players in the league and a very poor defence. So I am still perplexed by some of AVB's decisions this season because negativity breeds negativity and you can still see hesitancy amongst certain players to look for an incisive pass and go sideways or backwards instead of making the better ball when it is on.
The only way things will improve is by playing with confidence and we looked far better when we were attacking Arsenal and exposing the gaping holes through their defence.
Arsenal looked pretty poor too for the most part but there's no way we're going to be able to sit on leads until we get Kaboul back and also a player in midfield who is always available for the ball in the way Modric or Carrick was.
We miss VDV badly for creative passing just as we miss Modric for keeping momentum and dictating the pattern of play. Losing VDV was probably avoidable and Dempsey is just not good enough.
Huddlestone too looks like he's going to need to improve his fitness because he's not mobile enough and he doesn't make himself available often enough. Too much of a luxury passenger in the middle of the park and our biggest weakness along with Gallas who would struggle to get into most top half Premiership sides.
fudging whelkss with your fudging shiraz why don't ypou drink aman's drink fudging cabernetb sauvignoin.
Pirate55
The Last Man Standing 17/18
Cant blame AVB for today. He started with the right formation and for 15 minutes we looked okay. The Ade sending off was the turning point. He at least gave it a go in the second half and at 2-4 if Bale/Defoe had converted, who knows what might have happened. At least we didnt succumb to an even more humiliating defeat.
But - corners (brick as usual), no interplay between Walker and Lennon (our right side produces diddly squat at the moment), bringing all 11 (10 today) back to defend corners and conceding a goal in the last 10 minutes (again) are all things that can and must be remedied. These are down to the coaching staff
But - corners (brick as usual), no interplay between Walker and Lennon (our right side produces diddly squat at the moment), bringing all 11 (10 today) back to defend corners and conceding a goal in the last 10 minutes (again) are all things that can and must be remedied. These are down to the coaching staff
Leeds Spur
Banned
See earlier in this thread. I want 2 full seasons. Minimum. Truly departed comments on twitter and Facebook.
Leeds Spur
Banned
Do one.
Leeds Spur
Banned
I'd suggest a bottle of paracetamol in one go personally.
BrainOfLevy
Michael Carrick
Shock results happen all the time, there are no easy games in this league because every team is filled with quality players that can all do real damage on any given day.
Couple that with the fact that we've got an awkward squad, and are trying to bed them in with new ideas. And because he didn't get the players he needed he's now trying to make as many improvements as he can but can't go the whole way. You can still our performances, particularly at home are just confused and awkward, not necessarily bad because we are sliced apart every single attack that comes against us.
It's like the squad have learnt how to be solid in the way that he wants but haven't learnt how to transition that in to possession. And that will take time. He clearly hasn't tried to play the way he did at Porto or Chelsea. The high-line has come out only as a plan for specific games, not as a strategy we use to take our plan to the opposition. But because of that, he's trying to find a way of making it work with the players he has in this squad.
He's acknowledged in interviews that Defoe doesn't retain possession as well as Ade for example, so he knows full well that playing Defoe upfront alone requires more of a counter attacking game, even at home to inferior opposition. And that isn't ideal, but it's all he's been left with. So it's very tough for him, especially with Ade out for so long.
Naughton16
Clive Wilson
AVB wasn't brought in for instant results. Also I don't think it's making excuses to say we have a far weaker team than last season. That's just the reality of our situation. Harry had a starting XI of genuine CL quality. Take away King, Kaboul, Ekotto, Parker, Modric, and VdV then there's no reason to expect or demand that this team should be challenging the elite.
Never Red
milo
Jack L. Jones
What makes you think that? Levy is not rebound for his patience and whilst I full expect AVB to be given the full season, I think that Levy will have set a target of competing for a champions league place.
Rossi22
Pedro Mendes
Like a Boas.
Danishfurniturelover
the prettiest spice girl
yep levy will have in his head his own target for the season, i imagine any possible sacking would be performance based and if avb was to be sacked at the end of the season it would not cost much because he had not meet the target in his contract.
I will decide my own opinons on avb at end of the season, been unimpressed by him so far but at least he does not bitch in the press like redknapp. I like him using the youth a bit more and i like that side of the club at the moment. Think caulker should be starting ahead of gallas and i would give smith a run out instead of walker who needs a rest.
This
Bullet
Andy Thompson
Erm... why not focus on the facts today like losses for Cheat$ki, Newcash, Everton, Man Utd?!!
Jesus. The Arse have won 2 in 8.
We are having a bad patch without Dembele and Adebayor and Ekotto, but we will come good.
We are still close to the top 4, even with our poor results
Both Levy and AVB made comment at the start of the season about a longer term project and how it tied in with the new stadium. That's not to say Levy won't lose patience and make a snap decision, but the intent's clearly there.
