When Spurs had something close to their first choice eleven, they won nearly all their games, and won at old Trafford, for the first time since madonna had a number one with Vogue. They were able to execute the game plan that villas boas had in mind, they were lethal on the counter attack, and won the ball back. The problem for spurs is that outside of that XI, he doesn't have that many players that can play that high line, pressing, fast counter attacking game. A player like Michael Dawson, who would be a decent enough premiership centre half at a slightly smaller club, is completely useless to Villas boas, because he's slower than a wet week. It's the same in other positions. once you start to move away from their strongest team, you start to introduce players who aren't very good at executing the system, so you wind up with some players pressing, and others staying back, and huge gaps appearing everywhere.
This is where dembele is already so important to them. He rampages around midfield, closing people down, winning tackles and making interceptions, before powering up the field and playing one twos. With him in their team, there is a much higher chance of Villas boas' system working, and spurs winning the game.
I heard Martin Lipton talking on the radio last night, and they were saying that the spurs hierarchy are very impressed with Villas-Boas, and are prepared to give him quite a lot of time to get it right. The players are also very impressed by how hard he works and his attention to detail, and the only real complaints about him so far are that he is a bit too intense. Levy even gave them a standing ovation at the end of that match at the weekend.
I think the issue boils down to finances. Spurs generate their own money for transfers, and keep a tight control of wages. (almost always 55% of turnover) They've turned a transfer profit of £32 million over the last two seasons, and Villas boas' efforts to sign players in the transfer market were severely hampered by levy dragging the sale of modric out to the end of the transfer window, when it was too late to sort out Moutinho's complicated ownership. They took too long to sign oscar, and chelsea nipped in while they were still negotiating, and he didn't really get the centre forward he wanted either, and plays Defoe instead of Adebayor.
Spurs have decided to appoint a manager with a very clear system and a way of playing, and are hoping to punch above their financial weight, by being able to sign players with potential, and turn them into stars within this system. They're looking to make the whole of their team much greater than the sum of their individual parts. They're hovering on the edge of the champions league places over the last couple of seasons. If they can make the step up and start to regularly qualify, they can build themselves up to the level where they can start to challenge for the title. It's all about gradual and solid growth.
Spurs will have a lot of money to spend in the summer. They will shift on the players who are either too old, or don't fit the system, and buy in players who are better suited, and that's when the spurs board will expect him to deliver.
Actually you could basically say that right now, spurs are kind of where we hope to be next season, with a better established system, of play, with a strong first eleven, and moving towards a strong squad. In fact pretty much everything I've written about spurs up there could be applied to us as well. They have a substantial headstart on us in a lot of respects, but our vastly greater cash generating capacity will help us catch up.
