Answered in bold within quote mate...
Agreed with everything...I would also say - I wanted him here since it became clear Harry needed to go too - that there has been clear improvement. The people that said during the shaky first few games 'stick with it, it will come good, there is a plan being put into action here' are being vindicated. I don't see how that can be argued. I know it was only Reading today, but the difference between this game and even the Villa home match for example (one of our better performances in the early days of his reign) is completely marked. So much better. Very clear improvements have been made.
We started off probably being a bit more safety first, but I think it was calculated. The way you build any team is to build from the back. He tried to make us solid at first - using double pivots even though he's stated before he doesn't like doing it as one example - and having us play a deeper defensive line than he would usually prefer. I think this is because he wanted us to not move too quickly from Harry's tactics, and also because of something he said while at Chelsea, that if you implement a new style too early and you hit bumpy results, the players lose confidence and revert to their old ways of playing anyway. So what he did, moving towards it gradually and slowly, meant that when he moved to his ideal style the players were probably actively wanting to do it, actively wanting to implement the new changes to add to what they can do, to help them. This is opposed to the Chelsea guys that tried at first to play his way, and then lost confidence and reverted back to Mourinho era style football. Which is fine, but it meant the forces of player and management were pulling in the opposite direction. A club is at it's best when everyone is pulling in the same, which we are.
I would say that the Everton game was probably the last one that happened before the transition to the style we are seeing now. AVB said that we would move up another level for the game against Swansea which was after a week's break and I think we have done. We fully deserved to win against a Swansea side that only a week or so previously won at Arsenal, and while we didn't break Stoke down, we have clearly played a style of football since then that more closely resembles what AVB was supposed to be known for. Pressing, patience in possession, intelligent movement. At the start of the season, the focus was on being solid, we had a more withdrawn pressing game. Then we moved on slightly with the introduction of Dembele and got some more improved performances, although I felt by that point we were adapting strategy game to game as opposed to imposing our own. But then, from Swansea onwards, I feel we are really playing what AVB intended us to play.
I feel that's a pretty fair summing up of the season so far - would anyone disagree? If people are apologising for AVB, it's because he received criticism 3 games in, and people were saying to give him a chance. Some people decided to be against him way too early IMO. We have seen clear improvements in terms of style and consistency. That will only get better once we sign players suited to this way of playing or our current ones learn it even better. It doesn't mean we will win every game, and we will have some bad luck and not win. We may have bad performances occasionally. But I think our chances of picking up points will be much improved in this second half of the season. We've gone to 4 of the hardest grounds in the first half and we are sitting in 4th if games go against us. Great achievement. We can push on from that with confidence now.
Another thing I would also say is that AVB has shown much more flexibility than people thought he would. They feared he would stick rigidly to his system and good players who didn't fit wouldn't get a look in. Well that hasn't been the case at all. He's shown himself to be adaptable, and has implemented his style within their strengths of our squad, and is improving players in the process. I really do believe Defoe has improved - I don't believe under Harry Defoe as a lone striker for the majority of the season would have seen us in 4th in January. But the early days of playing Defoe upfront by himself and getting through the hardship associated with that has seen us in a great position now, because if needs must Defoe can now do it again. But he's gone 4-4-2 because our current players are comfortable with it. And I really do think Bale and Lennon are making much more intelligent runs. Bale especially, still cuts in and swaps wings like under Harry, but I really think there is a process there now to doing it. It isn't as aimless as it was before. I can't really quantify that with anything, but it's the sense I get from watching the players. Everyone is playing to a plan and it's working well.
