Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

[africanspurs]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

am looking at willian play and i have to say that he looks a very good and tidy player.

seems to be the embodiment of what avb wants in a winger...we could have really done with having him

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

i agree

dont get me wrong, i agree with your points, i just think it doesnt take away from the facts of whats actually happening.

and putting up excuses or reasons as to why these things are happening shouldnt remove the need to fix them...

all that aside i am actualy okay with how we are doing, i didnt expect the team to gel until 2014 at some point.

check the thread from a while ago that asked how long it would take the team to gel.....i can only say that it surprised me that alot of people said it wont take long..a few weeks at best....

thing is though,.....how we played last season, mimics how we have played this year...who is to say this isnt it?

At the end of the day, Emirates Marketing Project may be able to break down a team like Norwich with ease but they've also lost some winnable games away from home and aren't doing as well as us so far despite more net investment and starting from a position ahead of us in terms of squad quality.

Of course we should always look to improve, but it feels like when people pick at our negatives they are acting as if the solutions are glaringly obvious and that there is something fundamentally wrong with our management for not having us there yet. Every team has their problems. We are clearly trying to achieve a certain style of football and with it comes postitives - defensive solidarity with most of the action taking place away from our goal - but also negatives - needing to learn how to break down a deep defence with subtlety and cunning rather than the direct approach which can pay off sometimes but maybe not over the long term.

Liverpool are looking pretty great at the moment, but so did we a couple of years ago. And they seem quite similar to us then in that they have no trouble breaking teams down but have sacrificed possession and control to acheive what they are. We will see if they stutter later in the season while we have improved on that score, having already established a solid base.

Southampton are trying to play a similar style to us although may be slightly les afraid of going direct to use Lambert. But at the end of the day they struggled last season to break down the lesser teams at home and may do so again once teams show them more respect as a matter of course. Their improvements in the summer meant that they have started well but they may suffer similar problems to is eventually.

At the end of the day I think the pitch is a bit of an issue at home for us but also we are in a position where we aren't quite there yet in terms of our offensive play but we are one of a few teams that the opposition will come to purely frustrate. Early in the season that will translate to frustrating performances but we clearly have given ourselves the solid base to improve.

 

[onlyme]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

no i didnt, i watched that game in a pub in SE and they didnt look pedestrian. they couldnt score but that didnt stop them being fluid

the whole issue with our team is that its sooooo rigid and structured. this is good as it promotes discipline and a hard to lose stance.....but as far as getting the best of teams its not so easy

They looked nervous but they still knocked the ball around. But if it wasn't for the CP brainstorm.....who knows.

 

[Robspur12]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

we finished 5th last season with a great points total despite struggling against 'park the bus sides' and we're currently 4th despite the same problem - now this would suggest that although we struggle against sides which set out to defend all game and try and hit us with the few scraps they get that we are making up the points in other types of games - other games which we have previously not got as many points from.

so my question is - if we're still picking up the required points for a top 4 push, is the fact we struggle against these types of teams as big of a deal as is made out? would the reverse situation (picking up points in these games but not as many in the others) be a better place to be in with regards to looking to improve? would you be more hopeful of improving our away record than you are of us improving our record against defensive teams at home?

basically i think we're doing the 'hard' stuff well but struggling with the more bread and butter games - i think im more confident of ironing out those problems at home than i would be if we were struggling away/against better sides.

Last season we had Bale to get us a goal out of nothing. This season we have got 6 points from 2 fortuitous penalty decisions. These are facts. Where we are now isn't necessarily where we will finish, the last 2 seasons have shown us that - we have no cause for complacency. The teams around us will generally beat the "lesser" park the bus teams and beat them heavily. Also with the lack of an alternative system it is very obvious to every manager of a "lesser" team in the PL how to play us and get at least a point (more if you play like wet spam). After our recent disappointments in the league it is hardly surprising that fans are worried about the way we are playing, the margins for error this season are much less this season every point is crucial.

 

[milo]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

no i didnt, i watched that game in a pub in SE and they didnt look pedestrian. they couldnt score but that didnt stop them being fluid

the whole issue with our team is that its sooooo rigid and structured. this is good as it promotes discipline and a hard to lose stance.....but as far as getting the best of teams its not so easy

I thought that Palace were well on top and looked the more likely to score before Arsenal got their second.

 

[Robspur12]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

i think what you mean to say is that all teams struggle to score against park the bus teams

but not all teams struggle to create chances or look pedestrian like we do

i'll tell you what, pencil in the 4th dec when arsenal play hull, i would like to see arsenal struggle to create chances or have good movement i.e look fluid against hull

African you make some fantastic points but I think it unfair to compare us to arsenal, who have been playing a system for years. I think Liverpool, Southampton and Swansea are fairer comparisons in that their managers have had approx the same time to instill their systems on their respective teams.

 

[metalgear]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

am looking at willian play and i have to say that he looks a very good and tidy player.

seems to be the embodiment of what avb wants in a winger...we could have really done with having him

too late now, have to get over it. still he wasn't able to find a way around "the bus", so would be similar if he joined us?

what's amazing is the attacking speed that Saudi Sportswashing Machine have - just 3 or 4 players breaking away to attack with poise and intent is a breathtaking sight.

 

[braineclipse]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

African you make some fantastic points but I think it unfair to compare us to arsenal, who have been playing a system for years. I think Liverpool, Southampton and Swansea are fairer comparisons in that their managers have had approx the same time to instill their systems on their respective teams.

I think this is a good point.

Somewhat interestingly, hasn't Southampton experienced similar problems to ourselves in that they've impressed against bigger teams (mid table and up) and struggled to create against stubborn defensive lower half teams? I was under that impression at least. Of course they've come a long way regardless and Pochettino has been impressive so far.

Liverpool have improved under Rodgers, arguably where they've come the furthest compared to us is exactly what we're discussing in this and other threads. They are better at breaking down those defensive sides, this was a trend last season and could be seen both in terms of play and in terms of points iirc. They have had other weaknesses where we've shown strength though.

 

[onlyme]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

I think this is a good point.

Somewhat interestingly, hasn't Southampton experienced similar problems to ourselves in that they've impressed against bigger teams (mid table and up) and struggled to create against stubborn defensive lower half teams? I was under that impression at least. Of course they've come a long way regardless and Pochettino has been impressive so far.

Liverpool have improved under Rodgers, arguably where they've come the furthest compared to us is exactly what we're discussing in this and other threads. They are better at breaking down those defensive sides, this was a trend last season and could be seen both in terms of play and in terms of points iirc. They have had other weaknesses where we've shown strength though.

Liverpool play with 2 strikers. They had loads of chances yesterday.
United had 2 strikers yesterday as did City.

 

[SteveAWOL]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

African you make some fantastic points but I think it unfair to compare us to arsenal, who have been playing a system for years. I think Liverpool, Southampton and Swansea are fairer comparisons in that their managers have had approx the same time to instill their systems on their respective teams.

I think this is a good point.

Somewhat interestingly, hasn't Southampton experienced similar problems to ourselves in that they've impressed against bigger teams (mid table and up) and struggled to create against stubborn defensive lower half teams? I was under that impression at least. Of course they've come a long way regardless and Pochettino has been impressive so far.

Liverpool have improved under Rodgers, arguably where they've come the furthest compared to us is exactly what we're discussing in this and other threads. They are better at breaking down those defensive sides, this was a trend last season and could be seen both in terms of play and in terms of points iirc. They have had other weaknesses where we've shown strength though.

FWIW here's the 4 new managers respective home records against bottom half teams...

	Played	Win %	Draw %	Loss %	Clean Sheets	Failed To Score	Ave Goals For	Ave Goals Against	Points per game
Rodgers	13	77%	15%	8%	69%	8%	2.15	0.46	2.46
AVB	12	58%	17%	25%	42%	33%	1.17	0.75	1.92
Pochettino	7	43%	43%	14%	57%	14%	1.29	0.57	1.71
Laudrup	12	42%	42%	16%	33%	25%	1.77	1.23	1.54

http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2012-2013/versus-bottom-half/home

 

[braineclipse]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Liverpool play with 2 strikers. They had loads of chances yesterday.
United had 2 strikers yesterday as did City.

Not really sure what that has to do with my post, but fair enough.

I didn't watch the United or City games, I did watch Arsenal-Liverpool and since you bring it up Arsenal played with one striker and created more chances than Liverpool I thought. And by your definition they were the best team. Bayern Munich crushed just about all of Europe last season, fairly consistently playing with a lone striker. As did their CL final opponents Borussia Dortmund. I suppose I could keep listing successful teams that play a lone striker and you can keep listing successful teams that play 2 strikers and none of us will be any further along though.

Whatever our current problems are I don't think a simple change of formation is the solution. Didn't AVB chuck Defoe on to partner Soldado a couple of times resulting in us creating just about **** all? And didn't we create a lot of chances against both Norwich and Cardiff playing with a lone striker?

 

[onlyme]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

It's a pretty simple point that I have made in different forms in this thread. AVB should have a Plan B. Good teams that have got and play 2 good strikers score a lot of goals against the bus parkers and like Liverpool yesterday create lots of chances which is both exciting to watch and more often than not results in a lot of goals.

 

[Jordinho]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

It's a pretty simple point that I have made in different forms in this thread. AVB should have a Plan B. Good teams that have got and play 2 good strikers score a lot of goals against the bus parkers and like Liverpool yesterday create lots of chances which is both exciting to watch and more often than not results in a lot of goals.

Yet the team that played with two strikers lost.

 

[braineclipse]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

It's a pretty simple point that I have made in different forms in this thread. AVB should have a Plan B. Good teams that have got and play 2 good strikers score a lot of goals against the bus parkers and like Liverpool yesterday create lots of chances which is both exciting to watch and more often than not results in a lot of goals.

That is not an argument for 4-4-2/2 strikers.

Good teams that play a lone striker also quite frequently score a lot of goals, see the examples I mentioned in my post. To support 4-4-2/2 strikers you would have to show that those teams playing that formation score more (whilst not conceding a similarly increased amount) than those teams that play one striker.

Some of the most entertaining and impressive teams both in the PL and in Europe have played with a lone striker.

I agree that we should have a plan B. But I don't think "just chuck another striker on the pitch" is a particularly good plan B. Although I would like to see us have the option of a tall, physically strong striker available and fit in the squad.

Personally I would much rather see AVB play Holtby or Eriksen in one of the central positions sacrificing some defensive solidity for added creativity as a plan B/C than just chucking on Defoe to partner Soldado. A bit like he did at least sometimes last season when he put on Tom Carroll in one of those central roles.

 

[Jordinho]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

For a long time it was Wenger's plan B to throw more strikers on the pitch (back when they had more than 1), but having Bergkamp, Henry, Wiltord and Kanu (or whoever they happened to have) on the pitch at same time didn't provide more chances or goals.

 

[Robspur12]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

It's a pretty simple point that I have made in different forms in this thread. AVB should have a Plan B. Good teams that have got and play 2 good strikers score a lot of goals against the bus parkers and like Liverpool yesterday create lots of chances which is both exciting to watch and more often than not results in a lot of goals.

This =D>

 

[onlyme]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

That is not an argument for 4-4-2/2 strikers.

Good teams that play a lone striker also quite frequently score a lot of goals, see the examples I mentioned in my post. To support 4-4-2/2 strikers you would have to show that those teams playing that formation score more (whilst not conceding a similarly increased amount) than those teams that play one striker.

Some of the most entertaining and impressive teams both in the PL and in Europe have played with a lone striker.

I agree that we should have a plan B. But I don't think "just chuck another striker on the pitch" is a particularly good plan B. Although I would like to see us have the option of a tall, physically strong striker available and fit in the squad.

Personally I would much rather see AVB play Holtby or Eriksen in one of the central positions sacrificing some defensive solidity for added creativity as a plan B/C than just chucking on Defoe to partner Soldado. A bit like he did at least sometimes last season when he put on Tom Carroll in one of those central roles.

It worked on Wednesday.
Defoe and Soldado is not good but Kane or Ade with either is an option worth trying.
I don't like having just 1 striker on the bench. An injury does not even give us the 4-4-2 option.

 

[DHSF]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

It worked on Wednesday.
Defoe and Soldado is not good but Kane or Ade with either is an option worth trying.
I don't like having just 1 striker on the bench. An injury does not even give us the 4-4-2 option.

I agree with Brain - its not about just lumping a striker but actually its the tactics still. You can have ten strikers but putting them behind the ball for example and defending - wont neccessarily mean that you will be an attacking side.

 

[onlyme]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

I agree with Brain - its not about just lumping a striker but actually its the tactics still. You can have ten strikers but putting them behind the ball for example and defending - wont neccessarily mean that you will be an attacking side.

I don't think there is much tinkering needed to make it work. Possibly Siggy would be sacrificed for Chadli??

 

[Spurs7891]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

AVB has broken so many records while at Spurs : record points total, a player scoring more than 20 league goals, beating ManU etc. Now he has got us win a penalty shootouts after so long. Maybe next he will get us win the league title after waiting for 52 years ! But for that, we need to give him some time. Want us to give him atleast 3 more years atleast.