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Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach
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Enter the Pitbull
Luke Young
[h=1]André Villas-Boas's no-favours policy wins plaudits at Tottenham Hotspur[/h] In continuing to select Steven Caulker and Jermain Defoe the manager has introduced a meritocracy to great effect
Jermain Defoe, left, and Steven Caulker have benefited from André Villas-Boas's eagerness to stick with players in form. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA
No favourites; no favours based on reputation. It is the policy that has characterised André Villas-Boas's early weeks at Tottenham Hotspur and the one that has enabled the club to generate encouraging momentum. They enter the international break on a run of four successive Premier League wins and with the manager considering the visit of Chelsea on Saturday week as the chance to "join the top-four elite".
Football management can be made to sound painfully simple. Play the players that train well and are in form – except that it is not always possible, as Villas-Boas found out during his ill-fated tenure at Chelsea last season. At White Hart Lane, though, he has stuck to his guns and prioritised a culture of meritocracy, where the players can sense the reward for the effort they put in.
Brad Friedel might not agree at present, having been dropped for Sunday's home win over Aston Villa and replaced by Hugo Lloris, on the back of doing very little wrong in his previous Premier League starts. Yet the fact that Villas-Boas preferred Friedel to the France captain and £13m deadline-day signing against Reading, Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United was itself significant.
Lloris has had to battle and bide his time before winning a starting place in the Premier League. It always felt inevitable that he would become the club's No1 but Villas-Boas has made him work up a sweat, while repeatedly singing Friedel's praises. He even said after the Villa game that he would reassess Friedel's starting claims before Chelsea, even if it would be difficult to see him dropping Lloris now. The message has been clear: nobody walks into the team, not even a talent as expensive and highly rated as Lloris.
In attack Jermain Defoe started the season brightly and, despite the return of Emmanuel Adebayor on a permanent transfer on 21 August, he has kept his place. Adebayor was the main man last season but it has not influenced Villas-Boas. The Togolese was out for two weeks with a minor injury yet he was available for the Villa game. Villas-Boas persisted with Defoe.
The clearest example, though, of Villas-Boas' new dawn comes in the imposing figure of Steven Caulker. The 20-year-old centre-half impressed during his season-long loan at Swansea City last campaign and, when he returned to White Hart Lane, he did so as the fourth-choice in his position. But injuries offered him an opening, Villas-Boas put his trust in him and Caulker has not looked back.
It is possible to trace the turning point of Villas-Boas' early tenure at the club to Caulker's breakthrough game. Tottenham trailed 1-0 to QPR at half-time and they had been booed off when Villas-Boas sent on Caulker in central defence and moved Jan Vertonghen to left-back, where the options have been restricted due to the injuries to Benoît Assou-Ekotto and Kyle Naughton. Tottenham rallied to win 2-1 and the following weekend they beat United at Old Trafford. Vertonghen has been outstanding at left-back while Caulker has not since missed a minute, confining Michael Dawson to the sidelines.
"You want to know that, if you are playing well and you are training well, you will be in the team," Caulker said. "I think AVB has brought that in and I am happy. It's not nice when there are favourites. It's a fantastic squad. The manager has come in, he's brought a few youngsters in, myself included, and he has pushed a few of us forward. It's a good mood amongst the camp and I hope that continues. We are full of confidence."
Caulker is a popular member of the squad, largely because he has not allowed his emerging star status to go to his head. He has shown respect to his seniors, particularly William Gallas, whom he has played alongside; Gallas is one of several players to have taken Caulker under his wing. "There are about 15 years between us, so he talks me through the games and beforehand he settles my nerves as well," Caulker said.
The spirit at Tottenham is excellent and Lloris has fitted in well. "Hugo has been very humble and a good character amongst the boys," Caulker said.
"He has had to be patient, with Brad playing so fantastically well but the gaffer gave him the nod for his first Premier League start and he did really well. He is learning English and he is coming along really well."
Lloris might feel as though his career in England is finally up and running. "When you sign at the last minute, it's never easy," he said. "The negotiations were protracted. Normally you have the pre-season to get to know each other, you have time to play friendlies but I started straight away in the competition.
"I still need a few games to find my rhythm. But I have not been worried about my situation. From the moment I signed it was to put in 200 per cent. I show it every day in training because this is all new to me."
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- David Hytner
- guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 October 2012 22.34 BST
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- David Hytner
No favourites; no favours based on reputation. It is the policy that has characterised André Villas-Boas's early weeks at Tottenham Hotspur and the one that has enabled the club to generate encouraging momentum. They enter the international break on a run of four successive Premier League wins and with the manager considering the visit of Chelsea on Saturday week as the chance to "join the top-four elite".
Football management can be made to sound painfully simple. Play the players that train well and are in form – except that it is not always possible, as Villas-Boas found out during his ill-fated tenure at Chelsea last season. At White Hart Lane, though, he has stuck to his guns and prioritised a culture of meritocracy, where the players can sense the reward for the effort they put in.
Brad Friedel might not agree at present, having been dropped for Sunday's home win over Aston Villa and replaced by Hugo Lloris, on the back of doing very little wrong in his previous Premier League starts. Yet the fact that Villas-Boas preferred Friedel to the France captain and £13m deadline-day signing against Reading, Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United was itself significant.
Lloris has had to battle and bide his time before winning a starting place in the Premier League. It always felt inevitable that he would become the club's No1 but Villas-Boas has made him work up a sweat, while repeatedly singing Friedel's praises. He even said after the Villa game that he would reassess Friedel's starting claims before Chelsea, even if it would be difficult to see him dropping Lloris now. The message has been clear: nobody walks into the team, not even a talent as expensive and highly rated as Lloris.
In attack Jermain Defoe started the season brightly and, despite the return of Emmanuel Adebayor on a permanent transfer on 21 August, he has kept his place. Adebayor was the main man last season but it has not influenced Villas-Boas. The Togolese was out for two weeks with a minor injury yet he was available for the Villa game. Villas-Boas persisted with Defoe.
The clearest example, though, of Villas-Boas' new dawn comes in the imposing figure of Steven Caulker. The 20-year-old centre-half impressed during his season-long loan at Swansea City last campaign and, when he returned to White Hart Lane, he did so as the fourth-choice in his position. But injuries offered him an opening, Villas-Boas put his trust in him and Caulker has not looked back.
It is possible to trace the turning point of Villas-Boas' early tenure at the club to Caulker's breakthrough game. Tottenham trailed 1-0 to QPR at half-time and they had been booed off when Villas-Boas sent on Caulker in central defence and moved Jan Vertonghen to left-back, where the options have been restricted due to the injuries to Benoît Assou-Ekotto and Kyle Naughton. Tottenham rallied to win 2-1 and the following weekend they beat United at Old Trafford. Vertonghen has been outstanding at left-back while Caulker has not since missed a minute, confining Michael Dawson to the sidelines.
"You want to know that, if you are playing well and you are training well, you will be in the team," Caulker said. "I think AVB has brought that in and I am happy. It's not nice when there are favourites. It's a fantastic squad. The manager has come in, he's brought a few youngsters in, myself included, and he has pushed a few of us forward. It's a good mood amongst the camp and I hope that continues. We are full of confidence."
Caulker is a popular member of the squad, largely because he has not allowed his emerging star status to go to his head. He has shown respect to his seniors, particularly William Gallas, whom he has played alongside; Gallas is one of several players to have taken Caulker under his wing. "There are about 15 years between us, so he talks me through the games and beforehand he settles my nerves as well," Caulker said.
The spirit at Tottenham is excellent and Lloris has fitted in well. "Hugo has been very humble and a good character amongst the boys," Caulker said.
"He has had to be patient, with Brad playing so fantastically well but the gaffer gave him the nod for his first Premier League start and he did really well. He is learning English and he is coming along really well."
Lloris might feel as though his career in England is finally up and running. "When you sign at the last minute, it's never easy," he said. "The negotiations were protracted. Normally you have the pre-season to get to know each other, you have time to play friendlies but I started straight away in the competition.
"I still need a few games to find my rhythm. But I have not been worried about my situation. From the moment I signed it was to put in 200 per cent. I show it every day in training because this is all new to me."
thfcsteff
Terry Dyson
What I'd love to know is where all the "it's essentially the same team/set-up and nothing much has changed" people are?
Team Focus: André Villas-Boas' Tottenham
Ever since he assumed control of Tottenham in the summer, André Villas-Boas has been given relatively short shrift when making the assertion: "We are almost a new team."
The apparent reluctance to accept his claim is, in part, explicable from the perspective that the players most associated with his predecessor Harry Redknapp's style of play, wingers like Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon, remain as influential as before.
There's also the awareness that Tottenham failed to bring in João Moutinho, the playmaker so identifiable with Villas-Boas's philosophy and his own success at Porto.
The perception that nothing much had changed and that this was still the team of old, however, was misguided. As Villas-Boas pointed out after Tottenham's come-from-behind win against QPR, which, incidentally was their first of the season at White Hart Lane, he was without several players once considered key under Redknapp.
For instance, Emmanuel Adebayor, Scott Parker, Younes Kaboul and Benoit Assou-Ekotto were injured. Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart left the club and Ledley King had been forced to retire.
By anyone's standards that's a lot.
Of the six new players signed, only one - Gylfi Sigurdsson - did a full pre-season and it mustn't be forgotten how protracted Adebayor's permanent move from Emirates Marketing Project was either. Moussa Dembélé joined on August 28, followed by Hugo Lloris and Clint Dempsey on transfer deadline day, by which time the season was already two games old.
One of the themes of Villas-Boas's press conferences has been that the players need to get "reacquainted" or, in some cases, simply get to know each other in the first place. With that in mind, it was perfectly rational and only fair that Villas-Boas be given time to implement his ideas. A month or so after the transfer window closed, they appear to have been absorbed.
While Tottenham's first win away to Manchester United at Old Trafford since 1989 will understandably be the highlight of the season so far among the supporters, Sunday's 2-0 triumph at home to Aston Villa was, perhaps, their best all-round performance.
Earlier in the campaign, there was a pattern to Tottenham's games. They'd start well, then fade in the second half and concede a late goal. It proved to their cost against West Brom and Norwich, as Tottenham drew games which they should have won.
Villas-Boas touched upon this again after the Villa match in order to underline the progress that has been made since. He said: "We noted that we had the chance to start [the season] well and we didn't get the results we wanted in the beginning, but we're getting consistent now."
His biggest satisfaction was that, for the first time this season, Tottenham "managed to play both halves with the same intensity." That stems from improved fitness levels, but above all greater understanding.
Villas-Boas spoke of how "we welcomed the packing of the fixtures because it allowed the players [to] meet more often and more quickly get to know each other and we are benefiting from that fact."
It does seem that everyone is now beginning to grasp what their role is within the team.
The turning point can be traced back to the second half against QPR when Villas-Boas replaced Sigurdsson with centre-back Steven Caulker, moved Jan Vertonghen - who had been partnering William Gallas - to left-back and pushed Gareth Bale up on that wing. Clint Dempsey then shifted across to occupy the position Sigurdsson had relinquished behind striker Jermain Defoe.
After handing QPR the initiative in the first half, inviting their opponents onto them so space might be left in behind for a series of counter-attacks, Tottenham instead played higher up the pitch after the interval, were a lot more aggressive and overturned the 1-0 defeat in prospect to a 2-1 win. That second half may on reflection prove to be the foundation on which their season is built.
What was interesting after that match was how, rather than attribute it to a tactical shift, Villas-Boas spoke in terms that appealed to English stereotypes, highlighting how "the desire made a big, big difference."
Often harshly typecast in England as a coaching equivalent of Napoleon Dynamite, sketching out a Liger on one of his notepads or chalkboards to the incomprehension of those around him, the slightly geeky caricature of Villas-Boas shouldn't overshadow the Machismo he brings to the touchline.
When he's not wolf-whistling, as though participating in a sheepdog trial instead of a football match, he prowls the touchline, hands down by his side, unclenched as if poised to draw a pair of pistols from his belt.
To some, it's nervous tension and there's certainly an element of that, but to others it's the personification of the all-consumed, fully engrossed intensity with which he wants Tottenham to play. If Villas-Boas were on his own in acting like this there's a chance he might not be taken entirely seriously but in this regard he is complemented by his assistant, Steffen Freund.
Their shared mentality is worth discussing further. Villas-Boas has sometimes cut an isolated figure in England. Remember how Porto wouldn't allow his trusted assistant Vitor Pereira to follow him to Chelsea a year ago. He had to start afresh and form a new staff, convince the makeshift backroom that his ideas were valid and have faith that they would support him unreservedly.
The suspicion that this wasn't the case at Chelsea was further aroused when Villas-Boas was fired and replaced by his No.2, Roberto Di Matteo. Whether it was a betrayal or not, to some it was a stab in the back. "Personally I don't like it at all when the manager gets sacked and his assistant stays in charge," Gianluca Vialli told Talksport back in March. "I thought they were a partnership."
From the outside looking in, the unity of purpose between Villas-Boas and Freund appears total. Maybe that - in addition to the presence of first team coach Luis Martins, fitness coach Jose Mario Rocha and head of opposition scouting Daniel Sousa - is why his concepts have been accepted and are being applied with relative success.
Tottenham have stood out in a number of ways this season. As one might expect with Bale and Lennon in the side, they have been exceptional on the counter-attack, leading Europe's top five leagues in fashioning 16 attempts on goal from these situations. This owes a lot to their ability to win possession. Only Chelsea have recovered the ball on more occasions in their own defensive third than Tottenham (185 to 172) and it's perhaps no coincidence that these teams have scored the joint most Premier League goals on the counter this season (3).
But as we've already established, Villas-Boas isn't the kind to set his side out to sit back. He wants his team to play high up the pitch and win possession in their opponents half. No central midfield pairing has recovered possession more times than Sandro and Dembélé (a combined total of 91 times) in the Premier League this season, and the screen that they provide has contributed to Tottenham conceding the second fewest shots in the division too (71 to Emirates Marketing Project’s 68).
All of which doesn't completely explain why Villas-Boas has witnessed his team win their last five games in a row in domestic competition, but it does give a sense of what they're doing right.
There are a number of encouraging signs for him ahead of his first confrontation with former club Chelsea, which comes after the international break. "For us it will give us a chance to finally break into the top four and join the elite in the Premiership," he said. For Villas-Boas it will maybe bring final redemption and the acceptance in England that he by now deserves.
http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/9wpcc5rorkkkugnfcishkg/Show/Team-Focus-Andre-Villas-Boas-Tottenham
thfcsteff
Terry Dyson
So happy to see AVB and what he's been doing FINALLY getting some deeper analysis and recognition...not to mention the fact that finally, others are picking up on who ISN'T around and how much rebuilding the geezer has done...he is also the first manager to MOVE JENAS ON LOAN and sell Dos Santos. He doesn't bother keeping people around to clutter up the Lodge, he actively moves them on if they don't fit! Top man!
THFC6061
Paul Robinson
Didn't Harry ship Jenas out to Aston Villa last season?
He did, only for Jenas to get injured.
spurspinter1
Paul Stalteri
Jenas went to Villa, Dos Santos had the option of moving but turned it down, Udinese for fairly big money as well. We've still got Cudicini, Gomes and Bentley and Jenas to return.
Harry didn't intend to clutter the lodge, if there aren't any offers and Levy isn't going to release them on a free what could he do?
thfcsteff
Terry Dyson
I stand 110% corrected!!!! Apologies!!!
thfcsteff
Terry Dyson
A very fair point...to be clear, my initial (inaccurate!) comment was not just aimed at him, more a succession of managers who have allowed deadwood to stick around, but fair point, if Levy won't sell then they cannot go.
milo
Jack L. Jones
Obviously key personnel have changed but I do not think that the formation is significantly different from what we played in the first half of last season
thfcsteff
Terry Dyson
Whilst the formation might be somewhat similar (although i would even debate that) they deployment of it/what players are asked to do, is significantly different IMO...it's a very interesting debate this one Milo as there's clearly two different perspectives, and usually, I am pretty open to the idea of different perspectives offering different realities, whereas on this one I genuinely feel it's undeniable! I must be getting older and more belligerent LOL!!!!
braineclipse
Willie Hall
Might have to take this to the tactics thread
It really depends on what you mean by "formation" in my opinion. The formation so far has been quite similar to what we used last season. There have been some changes in style though.
Another question is how much of those style changes have been made because we have changed out quite a few players. Both Sig and Dempsey play differently from VdV with different strengths and weaknesses for example and that changes the style of the team a bit.
milo
Jack L. Jones
Might have to take this to the tactics thread
It really depends on what you mean by "formation" in my opinion. The formation so far has been quite similar to what we used last season. There have been some changes in style though.
Another question is how much of those style changes have been made because we have changed out quite a few players. Both Sig and Dempsey play differently from VdV with different strengths and weaknesses for example and that changes the style of the team a bit.
I agree. I think that the major changes so far have been as a result of replacing Modric, VdV and Ade with Dembele, Sig/Dempsey and Defoe. That is not a criticism of AVB, I am pleased that he is not changing too much too soon. We are still a work in progress.
BrainOfLevy
Michael Carrick
What I'd love to know is, if AVB's style is to win the ball high up the pitch and play with an all consuming intensity - which is what I assumed his style was before he came here - why did we play the Norwich and first half of QPR game giving them space and inviting them to come at us? We definitely weren't pressing Norwich high and the change against QPR was obvious...why did we do that? I understand the rationale of giving our players space to counter, but it seemed to be totally counter productive.
Against Saudi Sportswashing Machine we pressed high, against West Brom we had a good pressing game before getting nervous and not keeping the ball, which can be expected. But Norwich and QPR were very strange.
Against Saudi Sportswashing Machine we pressed high, against West Brom we had a good pressing game before getting nervous and not keeping the ball, which can be expected. But Norwich and QPR were very strange.
raboner
Banned
Andre Villas-Boas has warned his Spurs stars not to get carried away with their stunning run of form when they play Chelsea.
The fifth-placed north Londoners host the *European champions a week on Saturday.
It is a match that will see AVB take on the club which sacked him in March, after less than a season in charge.
Tottenham have shrugged off an opening-day defeat at Saudi Sportswashing Machine to go on a nine-match unbeaten streak, winning their last four.
But Chelsea are in even better form, having won more games and scored more goals than their hosts, to go four points clear at the top of the Premier League.
AVB said: “Our run is not better than Chelsea’s. Obviously, it’s a boost but Chelsea are in extremely good form.
“We have to understand also that they have a lot of international players.
“Both managers have to look into the recovery period to put out a fresh team. It will be a tremendous game for sure.”
And Villas-Boas has called on Spurs fans to help make White Hart Lane a difficult place for their west London rivals to come.
He added: “When this stadium rocks, it rocks. We have to make sure that we raise that intensity.”
WE WILL ROCK YOU MO FO'S!
The fifth-placed north Londoners host the *European champions a week on Saturday.
It is a match that will see AVB take on the club which sacked him in March, after less than a season in charge.
Tottenham have shrugged off an opening-day defeat at Saudi Sportswashing Machine to go on a nine-match unbeaten streak, winning their last four.
But Chelsea are in even better form, having won more games and scored more goals than their hosts, to go four points clear at the top of the Premier League.
AVB said: “Our run is not better than Chelsea’s. Obviously, it’s a boost but Chelsea are in extremely good form.
“We have to understand also that they have a lot of international players.
“Both managers have to look into the recovery period to put out a fresh team. It will be a tremendous game for sure.”
And Villas-Boas has called on Spurs fans to help make White Hart Lane a difficult place for their west London rivals to come.
He added: “When this stadium rocks, it rocks. We have to make sure that we raise that intensity.”
WE WILL ROCK YOU MO FO'S!
spasm
Gudni Bergsson
no sweeper keeper in place yet...:lol:
No, it's by James Horncastle. Like I said, one of the few journalists that actually write and don't just twist quotes into headlines.