Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

[metalgear]

Re: AVB The Facts

So it transpires now that we were in for Moutinho but didn't have time due to legal issues. Then we're definitely a man (talent) short considering he was going to be our maquee signing. Moutinho for Jan then.

 

[mason]

Re: AVB The Facts

So it transpires now that we were in for Moutinho but didn't have time due to legal issues. Then we're definitely a man (talent) short considering he was going to be our maquee signing. Moutinho for Jan then.

I wouldn't count on it....

If Porto behaved how it is reported (changing the price etc..) which in the end caused the deal to fall through. They are obviously as difficult to negotiate with as Levy. Porto know that Levy at the last minute will be prepared to up his bid (as proven on Friday), they will hold out for as much if not more than what was offered on Friday. Levy on the other hand will demand a reduced fee for the deal not going through this time.... it's just going to be as complicated as before so I wouldn't believe that it's a done deal for Jan.
Lets also not forget that Zenit could still steal him before their window closes!!

 

[metalgear]

Re: AVB The Facts

takes to hands to clap

fact is we have recognized there is a big hole to fill.

if not moutinho then someone else.

oh well, doubt they are ever going to be world beaters like modric and vdv.

 

[africanspurs]

Re: AVB The Facts

AVB is 5-1 for the chop.
now is the time to bet that he is still here at christams at 5/6 and 2/1 to see out the season

 

[Parklaner81]

Re: AVB The Facts

Arsenal and Man Utd have won games and played some really good football. For me it is the performances that have annoyed me, bad results but good performances would lead me to praise the manager. Bad performances but winning games would lead me to praise the manager. But its 0 wins (from VERY winnable games) and brick performances.

Liverpool are different to us, because they dont have a squad as good as ours. They have had an away game and then Emirates Marketing Project and Arsenal at home. Rogers wont last long either though if they dont win games, for a manager who has a whole pre-season it would be fair to expect instant results or signs of good things to come. The key these days is to win games while implementing a new system (another point could be that the system we have played so far is not one that looks like it will ever win games).

If you had to analyse which team has made the worst start taking into account squad, fixtures, results and performances - then there isn't 1 team worse than us.

In your opinion, what would it take for you to sack AVB ? what is your minimum requirements at 10 matches played, 20 / 30 and 38 ?

I remember I asked someone that question when Harry took over, they didnt like Harry so I asked what position do you think we should finish and would you like him if he does? The poster told me come 8th and he would be impressed. We came 8th, he still didnt like Harry.

I think that's harsh for two out of the three games (the first two).

 

[Mr Gogolak]

Re: AVB The Facts

I really don't see what the fuss is all about myself.

New manager + new system + half a team bought after the league began - two creative players = poor start to the season.

That was to be expected, really. If anything, we've been unlucky to start against lesser teams. Regardless of the individual quality of players, an ungelled team is always going to struggle against a team with a well-drilled plan. I don't know whether Villas Boas will eventually turn things around or not but expecting a smooth transition from Redknapp (notwithstanding the past six months) was probably a little too much to ask for.

 

[africanspurs]

Re: AVB The Facts

I really don't see what the fuss is all about myself.

New manager + new system + half a team bought after the league began - two creative players = poor start to the season.

That was to be expected, really. If anything, we've been unlucky to start against lesser teams. Regardless of the individual quality of players, an ungelled team is always going to struggle against a team with a well-drilled plan. I don't know whether Villas Boas will eventually turn things around or not but expecting a smooth transition from Redknapp (notwithstanding the past six months) was probably a little too much to ask for.

i dont know, expected an adjustment period but not a struggling one....although 'period' is slighlty exagerrating it abit. I basically expected performances much like the first game of the season and the first half of the next game.

its one thing winning games , doing that is the real problem, its anoter looking distinctly outplayed, out matched, out hustled, and out thought against another team that are likely going to relegation candidates

what i saw looked liked a team that had no pre-season at all.

hahahaaaaaa....saturday's game was bad all over, no excuse for that.

IMHO

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

Re: AVB The Facts

Didnt see Saturdays game at all but from what I can gather it wasnt good in the slightest.

Watched the WBA game with great interest and over all felt positive afterwards.

Watched highlights and read as much as I could on Saudi Sportswashing Machine and again felt positive.

Now that we have a fixed squad and players in who (in theory!) fit the mould it appears we are targetting Im inclined to look for positives more.

Ade getting fit, Dembele offering central creativity, Dempsey offering a goal threat and good experience from AMC... I think these are missing components from what I have seen that would have tipped the scales in the performances to date.

Im also thinking that perhaps its an "all or nothing" thing with adopting the new system, rather than it being something to creep in incrementally. Could be that until everyone understands it it will be disjointed but once it clicks all round it will take off perfectly well. My hope is that the introduction of the above players will expedite that

 

[africanspurs]

Re: AVB The Facts

Didnt see Saturdays game at all but from what I can gather it wasnt good in the slightest.

Watched the WBA game with great interest and over all felt positive afterwards.

Watched highlights and read as much as I could on Saudi Sportswashing Machine and again felt positive.

Now that we have a fixed squad and players in who (in theory!) fit the mould it appears we are targetting Im inclined to look for positives more.

Ade getting fit, Dembele offering central creativity, Dempsey offering a goal threat and good experience from AMC... I think these are missing components from what I have seen that would have tipped the scales in the performances to date.

Im also thinking that perhaps its an "all or nothing" thing with adopting the new system, rather than it being something to creep in incrementally. Could be that until everyone understands it it will be disjointed but once it clicks all round it will take off perfectly well. My hope is that the introduction of the above players will expedite that

no way it can be a full or empty situation..mainly cause we saw differences in the fist two games to what to overall Harry approach. so there is obvioulsy an interim or half way point. last satuday was nothing close to half way......it was the kind of thing you'd expect when people just looked totally lost and had no real spirit or verve as to what they wanted to do next.

 

[Mr Gogolak]

Re: AVB The Facts

i dont know, expected an adjustment period but not a struggling one....although 'period' is slighlty exagerrating it abit. I basically expected performances much like the first game of the season and the first half of the next game.

its one thing winning games , doing that is the real problem, its anoter looking distinctly outplayed, out matched, out hustled, and out thought against another team that are likely going to relegation candidates

what i saw looked liked a team that had no pre-season at all.

hahahaaaaaa....saturday's game was bad all over, no excuse for that.

IMHO

I'm not really surprised about what happened against Norwich. Van der Vaart was our main creative outlet against WBA (didn't see the Saudi Sportswashing Machine game) so it's hardly a surprise we struggled like we did. That's not to say things will eventually get better but a slow start was to be expected, considering the way we conduct our business during transfer windows.

What bothers me more is the fact that we have already conceded three goals in the last ten minutes and that they have cost us 5 points. A couple of decades ago, that would indicate a strong emphasis on stamina during preseason but I thought Magath was the last manager to work that way.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

Re: AVB The Facts

Last Saturday was apparently just a flat out terrible performance, is it reflective of an all or nothing situation? I dont think so. It was a bad day is all.

Saudi Sportswashing Machine and WBA I saw definite changes in the movements of many players, but felt that until all of them understand what they should be doing in a given situation it wasnt quite working. I think there are changes to all aspects of the team, and that these aspects are so co-dependant that it is shaping up as an "all or nothing" situation. I dont see where an "in between" situation can be settled upon at this point. Which says to me there will be flashes of it working, flashes of it not all the way up to a point where everyone actually gets it.

Against Norwich someone pointed out how Sigurdsson wasnt being utilised (in the AVB Tactic thread). Essentially he and a few others were all in place, but the man with the ball wasnt on the same page at all. Result? Sigurdsson doesnt see the ball despite doing the right things. Not until the ball holder (or "all the compenents") are all on the same level of understanding will this change.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

Re: AVB The Facts

I'm not really surprised about what happened against Norwich. Van der Vaart was our main creative outlet against WBA (didn't see the Saudi Sportswashing Machine game) so it's hardly a surprise we struggled like we did. That's not to say things will eventually get better but a slow start was to be expected, considering the way we conduct our business during transfer windows.

Very reasonable conclusion IMO, VDV leaving the field against WBA was the catalyst for their getting back into the game.

We need someone able to use space in those areas. I do believe Dempsey and Dembele can provide that (albeit in a different fashion to VDV)

What bothers me more is the fact that we have already conceded three goals in the last ten minutes and that they have cost us 5 points. A couple of decades ago, that would indicate a strong emphasis on stamina during preseason but I thought Magath was the last manager to work that way.

I think this is more organisation than anything. If we keep our shape and concentration (and creative/ball playing bodies on the field) it will be less of an issue IMO. Teething issues compounded by a lack of personel.

 

[Libero]

Re: AVB The Facts

Im a little concerned at the changes that he has made during the games tbh but overall, I am quite prepared to give him time and allow the signings to bed in and get used to news ways of working both on the pitch and the training ground. I won't be overly concerned if we are not looking like real challengers by Christmas, i think he needs time to get his ideas across and after 4-6 months of doing that, I feel we will be in a better place.

If I am wrong then AVB will pay the price and possibly rightly so given his history in this country. But I think he will redouble his eforts ensure a Chelsea-esque scenario is not repeated.

 

[mattls]

Re: AVB The Facts

I personally thought selling VDV was a massive mistake as all over play goes through him and you could see how badly we missed him on saturday. The Dempsey buy for me was a last minute punt to cover this position but he's such a different player from VDV.. The Ukraine and Russian transfer windows are still open. Why didnt Levy wait and just go back in for Willian? I think he would give us more creativity which we were sadly lacking on Saturday.. thoughts?

 

[africanspurs]

Re: AVB The Facts

I'm not really surprised about what happened against Norwich. Van der Vaart was our main creative outlet against WBA (didn't see the Saudi Sportswashing Machine game) so it's hardly a surprise we struggled like we did. That's not to say things will eventually get better but a slow start was to be expected, considering the way we conduct our business during transfer windows.

What bothers me more is the fact that we have already conceded three goals in the last ten minutes and that they have cost us 5 points. A couple of decades ago, that would indicate a strong emphasis on stamina during preseason but I thought Magath was the last manager to work that way.

In which case i think i might be expecting too much then

i wouldnt have thought that VDV was the difference between dominating norwhich and them outplaying us. i would ask how we managed without him in the first half of the Saudi Sportswashing Machine game where we were very impressive and actually outplayed them

I have to be honest i dont agree, obviolsy losing VDV was ablow but thats not enough for what happened against norwich , we arent a one man team ....or in VDV's case half a man (when you cont injury)...you could then mention modric gone but even when dembele came on we still couldnt stop norwhich playing and we found it hard to even make them worried

like i said, expected it to be hard to seamlessly get points like we did under harry but not to struggle against norwich

i do agree with us dying out in the end of games, i am not sure what that was about either

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

Re: AVB The Facts

Pretty severe view :

Many people have said that all AVB had to do to succeed was continue the good work done by Redknapp and build upon healthy foundations. But that’s just not the case. Totally ignoring the players we’ve lost for a moment, AVB’s having to repair rotten foundations, re-build the soul of the team, boost confidence and morale, get a losing team back to winning ways.

Our form now is a hangover from our form at the end of last season. AVB was given a team that was rock bottom in so many respects. We may have finished fourth, but that did not adequately represent just how truly awful we’d been in 2012.

If you take the second half of our season – the second set of 19 games – we won just seven matches. A win percentage of just 36%...and three of those wins (none of which were convincing) came in our final four games. If the league existed just over that period of time we’d have been in 9th position, behind Wigan, Fulham, Everton and the usual suspects.

Those figures include an additional game for us compared to all the other sides (the postponed Everton match @ WHL, because of the riots). If those three points are discounted, we drop to 11th place.

There’s been lots of people saying “mid-table here we come” and such, well mid-table’s been beckoning for a while. We’ve had the form of a mid-table side for 5 months prior to AVB’s arrival. This isn’t his fault, our poor early season form isn’t exclusively of his doing.

If you look at the nine game run from the 5-2 loss at the Emirates in February until the 1-0 loss to QPR in April – a period that represents almost a quarter of the season – we were 19th in the form guide. Played 9, won 1, drew 3, lost 5. 6 points from a possible 27. Goals scored = 9, goals conceded = 14. 0.67 ppg. Only Wolves were worse off. Only two sides (Wolves and Norwich) conceded more goals.

Five teams conceded five goals twice or more in a single game in the league last year, and we were one of them. Norwich, QPR, Bolton and ourselves conceded five goals twice, Wolves conceded five goals three times. Two of the five teams are now in the Championship.

We’ve been crap for a while. Not only is AVB having to prepare for life after King, Modric and van der Vaart, he’s also having to turn around the fortunes of a club that has been in a six month slump. Frankly, given the form of the side it’s easy to see why AVB is happy to undertake wholesale changes to the squad. And it’s also clear that it will take time for AVB to mend a broken team. And that's what AVB inherited: a broken team, not a title-challenger.

Not mine I should add, just picked it up somewhere else

 

[Mr Gogolak]

Re: AVB The Facts

In which case i think i might be expecting too much then

i wouldnt have thought that VDV was the difference between dominating norwhich and them outplaying us. i would ask how we managed without him in the first half of the Saudi Sportswashing Machine game where we were very impressive and actually outplayed them

I have to be honest i dont agree, obviolsy losing VDV was ablow but thats not enough for what happened against norwich , we arent a one man team ....or in VDV's case half a man (when you cont injury)...you could then mention modric gone but even when dembele came on we still couldnt stop norwhich playing and we found it hard to even make them worried

like i said, expected it to be hard to seamlessly get points like we did under harry but not to struggle against norwich

i do agree with us dying out in the end of games, i am not sure what that was about either

I don't claim to be an expert on Villas Boas but it's also quite possible that the contrast between Redknapp's rather loose approach to tactics as opposed to Villas Boas' stricter philosophy (judging from his Porto days) has made things even more difficult. Signing a lot of important players after preseason hardly helps either.

I don't take any more pleasure than the next guy in watching 'performances' such as Saturday's but considering we're missing one important player in every line, again, what can you expect?

There's no doubt that on an individual basis, our players are much better than West Brom's or Norwich's. Then again, if football was all about individual quality and nothing else, Emirates Marketing Project would have won the league last season. Oh wait...

 

[DHSF]

Re: AVB The Facts

Pretty severe view :



Not mine I should add, just picked it up somewhere else

Some of the report was true but most of it is brick. I mean if we 'discount the three points from the Everton game' err ok well how about if my Auntie had gonads? or does that mean we were actually better than Manure or whoever because we were third having played 17 games instead of everyone elses 18 games?

People are still failing to see that Harry didnt get the cash to bring in the players. Infact didnt the rebuild of the squad actually start last summer? which has allowed us to bring in players this time round? We loaned out players, we sold players and we cancelled contracts last summer. We failed to bring in players so we brought in stop gaps - better than bringing in players for money and not really sold on them.

Anyways not about Harry but that report is a slating on Harry when in fact we should be now looking to see how we can progress.

Im not sold on AVB but not because I liked Harry that has nothing to do with it now im now judging AVB based on his own merits and performances. It is too early to judge but its been fairly boring football thus far. I dont mind a transitional season and have gotten to deal with that idea so results arent on the top of my agenda but my GHod lets play some decent football whilst we are transitioning.

 

[Poker Boy]

Re: AVB The Facts

.. The Ukraine and Russian transfer windows are still open. Why didnt Levy wait and just go back in for Willian? I think he would give us more creativity which we were sadly lacking on Saturday.. thoughts?

It's only open for them to buy we couldn't sign anyone after Friday 11pm.

So we could still sell Bentley to a Russian club [-o<

 

[hodsgod]

Re: AVB The Facts

He inherited a team that got 5 points from 8 games at the back of the season.

Since then we have sold our best player an another one of our best.

All the other teams have strengthened. We bought 3 players in the last 3 days leaving no time to bed them in for the starting line up.

We got 1 more point in this figure than we did last season despite having a weakened starting line up.

And finally, shut the fck up with the sack avb nonsense already. We are going to talk ourselves into a relegation battle.

He also inherited a team that finished fourth. It's impossible for fans on this forum to talk themselves into a relegation battle.

We also have a manager that was judged to have been a failure in his first and only season in England.

There are so many ways to look at our poor start to the season. Why not just wait and see what happens when we have the full squad available to play. AVB may turn out to be the next Gross or the next Bill Nich, he will probably be somewhere in between, only time will tell.