Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

[thfcsteff]

Nah there has to be a balance tbh. You're moving into cult like territory if you're trying to praise him for every little thing whilst finding some sort of excuse for every criticism thrown at him.

Take the Scott Parker praise. Parker was deployed as a box to box midfielder for the Spammers and was regularly threading through balls/or attempting forward thinking passes. Arry bought him and deployed him as a defensive midfielder who's main job was to keep it simple. Scott Parker's defensive work was the main reason our attacking talent had so much time on the ball and looked so good....HE WON OUR PLAYER OF THE SEASON. Arry should have been praised over the hills for the decision to bring him here and the decision to deploy him in that role.

Fast forward today and posters are now saying Scott Parker has improved his passing and it's down to AVB :lol:. It's becoming tedious.

Cannot be sure who you're referring to here mate, but speaking for myself, I very clearly pointed out EXACTLY what you have said, furthermore, I clearly praised Harry Redknapp for signing him, not once,not twice, not three times but MANY TIMES! What AVB has done has helped him rediscover himself as a more progressive passing midfielder. And what's more, I made the point to show certain folk on this board went into cack-themselves mode over another 'poor AVB substitution' that he had, in fact, put on our player of the season last season and a player who is now being given the license (indeed ENCOURAGED TO TAKE THE LICENSE) to look forwards, advance and play positive attacking balls.

Dress it up all you want, Andre Villas Boas is doing a great job at this football club. What's actually becoming tedious is your repeated need to find an argument about it. Good grief! Is there ANY joy in this for you?

 

[thfcsteff]

Mate I'm not disagreeing with you at all. All I saying is that people are getting a bit carried away as we're on a good run of form and everything is looking on the up. Who cares? Let them big AvB up, much better than when he was being slated THREE games into his reign and being told that he's not fit to manage us!

I'm not geting carried away personally mate, I saw what he wanted to do early-doors. I'm excited that it's finally bearing substantial fruit. What's amusing to me are those who simply cannot hold their hands up in the air and say he has improved an awful lot of things at out football club!

 

[Raziel]

I'm not geting carried away personally mate, I saw what he wanted to do early-doors. I'm excited that it's finally bearing substantial fruit. What's amusing to me are those who simply cannot hold their hands up in the air and say he has improved an awful lot of things at out football club!

Steff, thought you had been around long enough ... people have their agendas, their spacegoats and how they "see" things, and very few are willing to reconsider/change, no matter the evidence.

Little quote for you "A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."

 

[Kingdawson]

Cannot be sure who you're referring to here mate, but speaking for myself, I very clearly pointed out EXACTLY what you have said, furthermore, I clearly praised Harry Redknapp for signing him, not once,not twice, not three times but MANY TIMES! What AVB has done has helped him rediscover himself as a more progressive passing midfielder. And what's more, I made the point to show certain folk on this board went into cack-themselves mode over another 'poor AVB substitution' that he had, in fact, put on our player of the season last season and a player who is now being given the license (indeed ENCOURAGED TO TAKE THE LICENSE) to look forwards, advance and play positive attacking balls.

Dress it up all you want, Andre Villas Boas is doing a great job at this football club. What's actually becoming tedious is your repeated need to find an argument about it. Good grief! Is there ANY joy in this for you?

Mate you're making it sound like he's made Parker do extra training sessions focused solely on his passing or his conjured up some tactical masterstroke that has got Parker doing this. In reality it's simply because he's coming on for our creative cm and not our defensive one meaning he has more licsence to push forward.

If he's coming on for Sandro do you think he would be doing that? the answer to that is that he wouldn't and he would be sitting just like he was doing last season. Last season i specifically remember Parker bombing forward and threading passes vs WBA away...do you think it's a coincidence that Modric didn't play that game and he partnered Sandro.

 

[Kingdawson]

I'm not geting carried away personally mate, I saw what he wanted to do early-doors. I'm excited that it's finally bearing substantial fruit. What's amusing to me are those who simply cannot hold their hands up in the air and say he has improved an awful lot of things at out football club!

He's improved:

* Jermain Defoe's game
* Our away performances and results


He hasn't improved Bale's game imo as Bale was already getting into premiership team of the seasons without AVB....hell he was getting into UEFA team of the seasons without him. He hasn't improved Scott Parker's game as explained above, he hasn't improved Lennon's game as before these last 2 games Lennon has not been his usual self this season imo.

So if he's improved all these players games like you and so many others are saying then how come i haven't seen 1 post blaming him for Walkers and Adebayors poor form? in reality i don't think he is to blame for that...much like i don't think you can praise him for players good form (except Defoe where you can actually see a noticeable change in his game for the positive).

 

[camspur]

I'm not geting carried away personally mate, I saw what he wanted to do early-doors. I'm excited that it's finally bearing substantial fruit. What's amusing to me are those who simply cannot hold their hands up in the air and say he has improved an awful lot of things at out football club!

What we're seeing here is what AVB would have done at Chelsea had the players listened to him instead of Terry, Lampard and Drogba.

We're half way through the season and now playing football as AVB wants us to play it, he has improved some of the players but more importantly I think he's improved the all round team play.

 

[braineclipse]

He's improved:

* Jermain Defoe's game
* Our away performances and results


He hasn't improved Bale's game imo as Bale was already getting into premiership team of the seasons without AVB....hell he was getting into UEFA team of the seasons without him. He hasn't improved Scott Parker's game as explained above, he hasn't improved Lennon's game as before these last 2 games Lennon has not been his usual self this season imo.

So if he's improved all these players games like you and so many others are saying then how come i haven't seen 1 post blaming him for Walkers and Adebayors poor form? in reality i don't think he is to blame for that...much like i don't think you can praise him for players good form (except Defoe where you can actually see a noticeable change in his game for the positive).

Your argument about Bale doesn't make any sense. Just because a player was getting into teams of the season doesn't mean they can't improve.

I don't see what the issue is. Redknapp got a lot of praise for improving Bale, Modric, Kaboul etc. What is so strange about AVB get similar praise when people see improvement?

Generally I don't think managers get the blame for players being out of form. How much blame did Redknapp get for players being out of form under him? Normally the managers are only blamed when they keep playing players that are out of form and we have seen that both under Redknapp and AVB. And they get blamed for signing players that aren't good enough, something we've also seen under AVB, although the players have pretty much proved the critics wrong.

 

[africanspurs]

bales game at this stage of the season is pretty much where he was at the same stage of last season. the problem started during the bad run when bale drifting into the middle wasnt doing anyone any good

but during the good ru we had bale coming infield was regular threatening and it was working

i think there is a better balance now than before though, but that could just be me displaying symptoms i accuse people of......only remembering what happened last week etc

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

What we're seeing here is what AVB would have done at Chelsea had the players listened to him instead of Terry, Lampard and Drogba.

We're half way through the season and now playing football as AVB wants us to play it, he has improved some of the players but more importantly I think he's improved the all round team play.

Until we play 4-5-1 with the players AVB wants we aren't seeing the way he wants to play. I'm pleased we are playing more attractive football but its only come since we've switched to the same system and style we played last year.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

bales game at this stage of the season is pretty much where he was at the same stage of last season. the problem started during the bad run when bale drifting into the middle wasnt doing anyone any good

but during the good ru we had bale coming infield was regular threatening and it was working

i think there is a better balance now than before though, but that could just be me displaying symptoms i accuse people of......only remembering what happened last week etc

Totally agree on Bale. We have been better balanced since we stopped playing Siggy in the centre and played two of Defoe, Dempsey or Ade up top.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Because rather than hoof a ball up to Lennon to either chase down or get knocked off, we now try to hold the ball a second, release the runners and play them in on the counter intelligently?

We won't agree of this. Sometimes you have no choice other than to "get rid", which means lumping it to the opposition half, which means we have no one to pressure the last man/keeper who can send the ball forward unchallenged.

 

[Jurgen the German]

He's improved:

* Jermain Defoe's game
* Our away performances and results


He hasn't improved Bale's game imo as Bale was already getting into premiership team of the seasons without AVB....hell he was getting into UEFA team of the seasons without him. He hasn't improved Scott Parker's game as explained above, he hasn't improved Lennon's game as before these last 2 games Lennon has not been his usual self this season imo.

So if he's improved all these players games like you and so many others are saying then how come i haven't seen 1 post blaming him for Walkers and Adebayors poor form? in reality i don't think he is to blame for that...much like i don't think you can praise him for players good form (except Defoe where you can actually see a noticeable change in his game for the positive).

Agree with this.

He deserves high praise for our away form, only team to score in every away game, the form of certain players and the handling of the Lloris/Friedel situation. But you're right, where is the blame for Walker's poor form or Adebayor's bad run?

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

We won't agree of this. Sometimes you have no choice other than to "get rid", which means lumping it to the opposition half, which means we have no one to pressure the last man/keeper who can send the ball forward unchallenged.

Agree with this and dare I say we play MORE direct under AVB than our previous two Managers.

What I give AVB massive praise for is not letting his tactical ego get the better of his tactical judgement. His preferred system wasn't working so he reverted to the system the previous management played and as a result the players are more comfortable, we are playing more attractive football and we are getting results.

 

[Dicko]

With his first real opportunity of a transfer window since arriving AND now having spent 6 months with the current squad I think it will be good chance to see what sort of signings he looks to make and if he tries to change our philosophy in any particular way?

It'll also be interesting to see if the return of Benny behind Bale (if it ever happens) changes the dynamics much over the next few games.

 

[braineclipse]

With his first real opportunity of a transfer window since arriving AND now having spent 6 months with the current squad I think it will be good chance to see what sort of signings he looks to make and if he tries to change our philosophy in any particular way?

It'll also be interesting to see if the return of Benny behind Bale (if it ever happens) changes the dynamics much over the next few games.

One thing that looked clear in the summer and I imagine will continue is that we will only sign players who are good on the ball, regardless of where they play.

I feel that Lloris and Vertonghen really have helped us to play out through pressure from the back and we're forced into fewer long balls than in previous seasons. Ekotto returning will help even further.

I'm genuinely curious about what AVB thinks about Walker and Sandro when it comes to their passing. Sandro is already a beast and Walker is very promising and already performing at a good level, but their passing isn't up to the level I imagine AVB wants from his players. I think they both have the ability to improve and reach an acceptable level, hopefully sooner rather than later.

 

[billyiddo]

Agree with this and dare I say we play MORE direct under AVB than our previous two Managers.

What I give AVB massive praise for is not letting his tactical ego get the better of his tactical judgement. His preferred system wasn't working so he reverted to the system the previous management played and as a result the players are more comfortable, we are playing more attractive football and we are getting results.

we might be lining up in a similar formation but the style of play is entirely different



the lengths some people go to not to give the manager credit is truly laughable yea we may be third in the league, improving every step of the way looking a good all round side but :
we have too many players back at corners
we played some bad games at the beginning of the season
he's deploying the previous managers tactics

 

[africanspurs]

we might be lining up in a similar formation but the style of play is entirely different



the lengths some people go to not to give the manager credit is truly laughable yea we may be third in the league, improving every step of the way looking a good all round side but :
we have too many players back at corners
we played some bad games at the beginning of the season
he's deploying the previous managers tactics

i know what you mean, you should hear what people have to say about the guy that got us 4th twice, Cl quater finals, defensive records, partial title contention and the most points we have ever amassed in the premier league.

i feel your pain bro

 

[parklane1]

we might be lining up in a similar formation but the style of play is entirely different



the lengths some people go to not to give the manager credit is truly laughable yea we may be third in the league, improving every step of the way looking a good all round side but :
we have too many players back at corners
we played some bad games at the beginning of the season
he's deploying the previous managers tactics

And who according to many was brick and a failure before he came here.

 

[africanspurs]

actually you know what, hats off to steff and a few others that kept on hitting on the pressing issue.

i think i am seeing some consistency in that. saw it under redknapp in the first year we came 4th but it wasnt consistent....i have clearly seen like 4 games in a row now solid where the pressing has been higher up the pitch and consistent throughout the game ...to varying degrees.

alot of this should also be down to he strikers doing their part....and the intelligence of the two central mids

 

[africanspurs]

And who according to many was brick and a failure before he came here.

care to explain why he wasnt a failure at chelsea?