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Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach
- Thread starter Bale
- Start date
braineclipse
Garth Crooks
I think that is a bit harsh. Crouch helped us get CL football, formed a good partnership with Defoe and in the end we got our money back when we sold him. Pretty decent signing.
Keane was a terrible signing.
Palacios was a very good and important signing at the time. He never seemed to recover after what happened to his brother, I find it very hard to criticize him or the signing when that is taken into consideration.
All in all Redknapp did well in the transfer market, but not much more than well. So far AVB has done better imo, but it's obviously early to say.
Jurgen the German
Steve Sedgley
The first two are more important, but would also be nice to get cover for Lennon.
Jurgen the German
Steve Sedgley
Credit where it's due, our home performances have been much better. The last bad one was Wigan. We didn't panic even after going behind early.
africanspurs
Justin Edinburgh
are you being serious here? or just playing devil's advocate. i'm asking just so i know how much to put into this line of discussion
one manager was brought in to save the club, that was bottom at Christmas and the board took equivalent action to ensure that we stayed up. the twenty million outlay definitely must have been recouped alot in players sales and wage cuts..no? it must have been.
and who did he buy that year he spent 20 million ?
the other guy has a more settled and ready made team which is hard to build on without the major 25 to 30 million RECORD signing....if you dont take player sales into account for Harry in the first two windows then you shouldnt take player sales for avb
lloris.....10million, vert 8 to 10 mill, siggy about 8 million, dembele ...about 15 to 16 million...ade...5 million. this brick starts to add up..and thats not to mention if we had bought (if we truly were really in for) moutinho
do you see where i am going with this? still i see AVB getting close to record breaking transfer fees more regular than Harry..
JerusalemMan
Christian Ziege
F365 take a more sympathetic line to AVB than many other media outlets, but it is still encouraging to see some perception of how we could be very close to something big.
http://www.football365.com/f365-says/8376072/F365-Says
Football does strange things to people, particularly on the internet. This week one F365 reader, for example, asked what the Portuguese for 'w*nker' was, in response to Sandro having the temerity to suggest that Spurs should be looking a little higher than just sneaking a top four slot.
"Everybody talks about United, City and Chelsea, but never Spurs," said Sandro.
"We have just won a hard game at Sunderland and Emirates Marketing Project could not beat them here. We are not content to be just a top-four side. We are looking up the table.
"But no-one is talking about Spurs as champions and that suits us. I hope it carries on like that until the end of the season and then bang! We are there. We believe we are as good as the top teams."
And you know what? He might be right. Sandro, not our friend the commenter. Maybe not this season, but perhaps next. Because Spurs are a truly impressive team, and if they improve in one or two easily identifiable areas, they could be truly special.
The first and probably most obvious issue is their lack of depth in the attacking third. Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor are obviously both exceptional strikers (when the mood takes the latter), but they have little beyond them. Clint Dempsey was presumably signed as a utility forward, able to fill-in as a striker, a winger or attacking midfielder, but a top-class side should not have a Jack-Of-All-Trades as their first reserve - another genuine striker would be handy.
Dempsey's presence also exposes another weakness - a lack of back-up for Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale. Gylfi Sigurdsson filled-in for gravity-enthusiast Bale against Reading, but while the big Icelander can be a real goal-threat, a winger he is not. Spurs were sometimes so narrow it was ridiculous, especially with right-footed Kyle Naughton at left-back. Spurs are at their best when attacking with pace down both flanks, as it's too easy for teams to concentrate on just stopping one winger when either Lennon or Bale are absent.
Again, they basically have nothing in reserve in this area. Sigurdsson and Dempsey are not wide men, while Andros Townsend is raw, at best. Tottenham's current success (they have won seven of their last nine) relies to an extent on the continued health of Defoe and their wingers.
While their win over Reading was pretty comfortable in the end, it did highlight the second main problem in Tottenham's side. 3-1 is a perfectly acceptable scoreline, but - and I cannot understate this - Reading are utterly rotten. Spurs were so dominant that 3-1 was actually slightly disappointing, and nowhere near as emphatic as it could/should have been. Really, on the balance of play, the final score should've required brackets.
This is largely because they struggle (and have done for a while now) to break down sides worse than them, intent on trying to contain Spurs. They had 34 shots on goal against Reading, but 24 of those were from outside the area, something that is only slightly more exaggerated than their ratio over the season - 55% of their attempts have been from 18-yards or more, which is the highest in the Premier League. This indicates that they're either a bunch of show-ponies who crave the spectacular, or they have to rely on long-rangers due to not slicing sides open. The latter is the more likely theory.
Mousa Dembele does his best in trying to pass through defences, but he often looks rather lonely in that respect. As has been evident since the start of the season, Spurs could do with/need another creative presence in midfield, preferably one comfortable playing just behind a striker. They basically need a slightly quicker version of Rafa van der Vaart.
It doesn't look like that will happen soon, mind. Andre Villas-Boas indicated after the game that January would be a quiet month at White Hart Lane, with few coming in or going out. While it's true that the mid-season transfer window is not always the best time to pick up a bargain, if they want to push on from their already excellent position, a man to cut open defences would be more than useful.
The basis of an excellent team is there, mind. Spurs have a largely young, exciting squad with a similarly-minded manager. They're just one or two players from being really quite special.
http://www.football365.com/f365-says/8376072/F365-Says
Football does strange things to people, particularly on the internet. This week one F365 reader, for example, asked what the Portuguese for 'w*nker' was, in response to Sandro having the temerity to suggest that Spurs should be looking a little higher than just sneaking a top four slot.
"Everybody talks about United, City and Chelsea, but never Spurs," said Sandro.
"We have just won a hard game at Sunderland and Emirates Marketing Project could not beat them here. We are not content to be just a top-four side. We are looking up the table.
"But no-one is talking about Spurs as champions and that suits us. I hope it carries on like that until the end of the season and then bang! We are there. We believe we are as good as the top teams."
And you know what? He might be right. Sandro, not our friend the commenter. Maybe not this season, but perhaps next. Because Spurs are a truly impressive team, and if they improve in one or two easily identifiable areas, they could be truly special.
The first and probably most obvious issue is their lack of depth in the attacking third. Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor are obviously both exceptional strikers (when the mood takes the latter), but they have little beyond them. Clint Dempsey was presumably signed as a utility forward, able to fill-in as a striker, a winger or attacking midfielder, but a top-class side should not have a Jack-Of-All-Trades as their first reserve - another genuine striker would be handy.
Dempsey's presence also exposes another weakness - a lack of back-up for Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale. Gylfi Sigurdsson filled-in for gravity-enthusiast Bale against Reading, but while the big Icelander can be a real goal-threat, a winger he is not. Spurs were sometimes so narrow it was ridiculous, especially with right-footed Kyle Naughton at left-back. Spurs are at their best when attacking with pace down both flanks, as it's too easy for teams to concentrate on just stopping one winger when either Lennon or Bale are absent.
Again, they basically have nothing in reserve in this area. Sigurdsson and Dempsey are not wide men, while Andros Townsend is raw, at best. Tottenham's current success (they have won seven of their last nine) relies to an extent on the continued health of Defoe and their wingers.
While their win over Reading was pretty comfortable in the end, it did highlight the second main problem in Tottenham's side. 3-1 is a perfectly acceptable scoreline, but - and I cannot understate this - Reading are utterly rotten. Spurs were so dominant that 3-1 was actually slightly disappointing, and nowhere near as emphatic as it could/should have been. Really, on the balance of play, the final score should've required brackets.
This is largely because they struggle (and have done for a while now) to break down sides worse than them, intent on trying to contain Spurs. They had 34 shots on goal against Reading, but 24 of those were from outside the area, something that is only slightly more exaggerated than their ratio over the season - 55% of their attempts have been from 18-yards or more, which is the highest in the Premier League. This indicates that they're either a bunch of show-ponies who crave the spectacular, or they have to rely on long-rangers due to not slicing sides open. The latter is the more likely theory.
Mousa Dembele does his best in trying to pass through defences, but he often looks rather lonely in that respect. As has been evident since the start of the season, Spurs could do with/need another creative presence in midfield, preferably one comfortable playing just behind a striker. They basically need a slightly quicker version of Rafa van der Vaart.
It doesn't look like that will happen soon, mind. Andre Villas-Boas indicated after the game that January would be a quiet month at White Hart Lane, with few coming in or going out. While it's true that the mid-season transfer window is not always the best time to pick up a bargain, if they want to push on from their already excellent position, a man to cut open defences would be more than useful.
The basis of an excellent team is there, mind. Spurs have a largely young, exciting squad with a similarly-minded manager. They're just one or two players from being really quite special.
africanspurs
Justin Edinburgh
okay, in here comes a matter of opinion...the real madrid game aside i thought crouch performed well for us. you think terrible...the difference in opinion between us seems to be THAT vast it would benefit either of us going into what he brought to the team or what he didnt bring to the team
keane..was indeed not the greatest signing. i would chalk that one down to a not so good buy especially whens considering outlay
i thought palacious was a GOOD buy, a very good one...EXACTLY what we needed at the time and was more often than not one of our most dedicated and consistent performers...who only lost his form when his brother was kidnapped and murdered(coincidence i think not on that guy. i think or would assume it affected him and his game badly)...
did palacious really cost 15 million pounds?
Park Lane James
Andy Sinton
Crouch a terible signing? I won't have that sorry. He was frustrating at times, but he was arguably our best performer in Europe and provided worked well with Defoe when he was in the team. I wouldn't have him back, but I thought he was a relatively good signing at the time. We sold him for around the same price we bought him for.
Now Keane's re-signing was terrible.
Now Keane's re-signing was terrible.
Jurgen the German
Steve Sedgley
I don't get why we get every player back to defend corners. You should always have a man on the halfway line.
braineclipse
Garth Crooks
Yes I'm serious. The numbers are the numbers, how much they spent is surely just a matter of fact, not opinion.
They were in different positions when they came in, but considering AVB lost arguably our best player in Modric, King had just retired and we also had to replace VdV it wasn't like he was walking into the Barca job and just had to keep them going. The number of signings you list and how important they've all been for us this season surely illustrates this as well as anything.
In his second transfer window Redknapp signed Crouch, Bassong and Kranjcar. Combined they cost us around £20m. In the January window that same season he also signed Kaboul as well as Naughton and Walker. Not wishing to be a dingdonghead, but I don't really understand why you're arguing based on how much money they spent without having looked this up yourself first.
You say it adds up and of course it does, that still doesn't change the fact that even if we had signed Moutinho (say for £22m) our net spend in the first window with AVB wouldn't have been significantly higher (if higher at all) than the net spend in the first window under Redknapp even if you include the £31m fee received for Berbatov in the window before Redknapp arrived.
This also means that we could sign Moutinho this January and still have a net spend of a bit more and still only match what Redknapp spent in his first two windows (when including the Berba money once again).
Redknapp was seemingly cut off in the last year and a half with the club and not given as much money to spend. We can always speculate on reasons for this (like for example publicly stating his wish to leave the club for the England job) and we can speculate if AVB will similarly be given money early on and then later expected to make a net profit in the market. None of this changes the discussion about the claim you made, one of AVB being supported financially more than Redknapp. Personally I would love to see that, knowing that Levy will only spend the money if we can afford to. But so far I can't see how that statement can be supported.
braineclipse
Garth Crooks
Knowing AVB I'm guessing he has his reasons. Wouldn't be surprised if he has some stat showing that teams don't actually score many more goals at all from the counter attacks when leaving a man on the halfway line. The extra man to cover one of the posts, win the ball outside the box etc could be better.
Also we were vulnerable at set pieces last season and we have chopped and changed a bit. Maybe he's taking the safety first approach for now and planning to leave someone up there as we get more settled.
It's been sung before.
Jurgen the German
Steve Sedgley
I just don't see what difference it makes having Lennon come back too, he's not going to win a header. It's not a question of scoring from the counter attack, it's that you have no outlet up front and you don't have anyone to pressure the last defender if the ball gets cleared to him.
braineclipse
Garth Crooks
It's not only about winning headers though. Typically the shorter players are asked to either cover one of the posts, close down opponents that come short for the corners or stay at the edge of the box to win clearances or put a block in if opponents pick the ball up.
Having an outlet is obviously a good thing, but having another player around the box to pick up a clearance is also a good thing so I don't think it's as obvious as "must have a man at the halfway line".
Ok
First I've heard it personally
Kingdawson
Banned
It's actually becoming quite scary the number of AVB acolytes their are on here now....it's like some scary cult following.
So far AVB has improved the games of
* Defoe
* Bale
* Scott Parker (apparently AVB has made him pass better)
* Lennon (despite him having a run of bad games where he doesn't even try and beat a player....2 good games and it's AVB apparently who has made him cross better...i mean wtf)
Replies to his very odd decision to getting every player back to defend corners is met with "Knowing AVB i'm guessing he has his reasons"
When it's questioning something negative the response is that he needs time, his own players, time to implement tactics but these same people are so so quick to praise him for absolutely everything. Hell he even gets more praise than the players who have apparently improved their game:lol:
He's doing well for sure but praising him for everything? give me a break.
So far AVB has improved the games of
* Defoe
* Bale
* Scott Parker (apparently AVB has made him pass better)
* Lennon (despite him having a run of bad games where he doesn't even try and beat a player....2 good games and it's AVB apparently who has made him cross better...i mean wtf)
Replies to his very odd decision to getting every player back to defend corners is met with "Knowing AVB i'm guessing he has his reasons"
When it's questioning something negative the response is that he needs time, his own players, time to implement tactics but these same people are so so quick to praise him for absolutely everything. Hell he even gets more praise than the players who have apparently improved their game:lol:
He's doing well for sure but praising him for everything? give me a break.
Jurgen the German
Steve Sedgley
You can do all the things you mention i.e. cover the posts and you'll still have more men to defend the box as the other team will always leave at least one defender and obviously their keeper, unless it's the last minute of course. And you can do that without bringing every man back.