Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

[Kingdawson]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Extremely slow paced brand of football where we rarely commit unless we see a clear opening against shower of ****e teams at home? why? why do we have to be patient and wait for openings when teams that have far less talented players than us are able to put these shower of ****e teams to the sword. There's no urgency or fluency in our style of play and we rarely look like scoring (today being a rare exception). The sad thing about it is AVB is so stubborn that he will stick with this regardless of results and performances.

 

[milo]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Out of interest - Milo, have you read the book that those stats come from? I was at a lecture by the author a couple of weeks back and it was interesting to hear his studies. He said if he was a chairman he would bankroll massive spending on defenders because they win the points ultimately. Stats back that up. So I think AVBs style (and Potchettino's) is informed by this kind of research. They are operating on the premise that not conceding is vital and also melding that with a strategy to score at the best times. Southampton are doing really well at the moment but we will see how it continues for them. It may be that it is harder for us to play this style because there is a different strategy to overcome as a top team in this league. I really like Potchettino though and hope he is our next manager when the time comes.

I haven't but I have been reading up on it because I saw a couple of things along these lines and I suspected that this might be the basis for AVB's thinking in how he sets up the team.

 

[milo]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Extremely slow paced brand of football where we rarely commit unless we see a clear opening against shower of ****e teams at home? why? why do we have to be patient and wait for openings when teams that have far less talented players than us are able to put these shower of ****e teams to the sword. There's no urgency or fluency in our style of play and we rarely look like scoring (today being a rare exception). The sad thing about it is AVB is so stubborn that he will stick with this regardless of results and performances.

Apart from today when he changes the formation during the game to what a lot of his critics have been calling for.

 

[Robspur12]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Apart from today when he changes the formation during the game to what a lot of his critics have been calling for.

Using players who do not play well together as has been shown on previous occasions. No one has asked for that I'm sure. He made a mistake with that sub today no doubt.

 

[Kingdawson]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Apart from today when he changes the formation during the game to what a lot of his critics have been calling for.

When you're in panic mode i guess it's a bit easier to change things (lets not forget he changed tactics WHILST WE WERE DOMINATING :lol.

 

[Mumorn]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

When you're in panic mode i guess it's a bit easier to change things (lets not forget he changed tactics WHILST WE WERE DOMINATING :lol.

and needed a goal, so he brought on a striker, who would have thought it.

managing a prem club, it's easy!

 

[Kingdawson]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

and needed a goal, so he brought on a striker, who would have thought it.

managing a prem club, it's easy!

Yep..need a goal...bring on a striker...it's really that easy (hell where's Arry when you need him).

 

[Robspur12]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

and needed a goal, so he brought on a striker, who would have thought it.

managing a prem club, it's easy!

Leaving 2 strikers isolated in the box. Surely better to bring on a player who can supply the striker we have or swap strikers.

 

[Mumorn]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Leaving 2 strikers isolated in the box. Surely better to bring on a player who can supply the striker we have or swap strikers.

no idea what would be better, I'm not manager of a Premier League football club and I won't pretend to know more than one.

 

[Robspur12]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

no idea what would be better, I'm not manager of a Premier League football club and I won't pretend to know more than one.

You're right there are many things that a Prem manager would know more than me but lets be honest that Defoe and Soldado, 2penalty box poachers will not complement each other is not rocket science or brain surgery especially as it's been tried before with same results.

 

[Mumorn]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

You're right there are many things that a Prem manager would know more than me but lets be honest that Defoe and Soldado, 2penalty box poachers will not complement each other is not rocket science or brain surgery especially as it's been tried before with same results.

im not disagreeing with you, i already stated in the omt that bringing defoe on alongside a striker never works. I find it funny that people blame Redknapp for that Villa game when he decided to bring Parker on instead of Defoe late on, yet when AVB brings Defoe on he's ridiculed.

 

[milo]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

When you're in panic mode i guess it's a bit easier to change things (lets not forget he changed tactics WHILST WE WERE DOMINATING :lol.

That's as maybe but it was a formation that many had been calling for. If he doesn't play that formation, they are right because 4-4-2 would have won us the game and AVB is inflexible/stubborn. If he does play that formation, he did it at the wrong time or with the wrong players. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

The advantage that you and I have is that our ideas about how the team should be set up and play are never tested in front of several thousand people a couple of times a week.

 

[Robspur12]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

im not disagreeing with you, i already stated in the omt that bringing defoe on alongside a striker never works. I find it funny that people blame Redknapp for that Villa game when he decided to bring Parker on instead of Defoe late on, yet when AVB brings Defoe on he's ridiculed.

It's about context mate the 2 situations were not the same imo.

 

[Robspur12]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

That's as maybe but it was a formation that many had been calling for. If he doesn't play that formation, they are right because 4-4-2 would have won us the game and AVB is inflexible/stubborn. If he does play that formation, he did it at the wrong time or with the wrong players. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

The advantage that you and I have is that our ideas about how the team should be set up and play are never tested in front of several thousand people a couple of times a week.

More's the pity

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

It's not just "teething problems" after 1 and a quarter years and the sooner you come to realise and accept that the better.

The style AVB is trying to implement will never work for a sustained period at Home...NEVER. It worked against Swansea? you mean that scrappy 1-0 win which we barely deserved? that's what you claim 'worked'?

Away from home it has worked and will continue working but at the Lane it's a no go and the sooner he abandons it or at least makes some drastic changes we're going to be saying the same thing next season..and the season after...and the season after that.

Why is it not teething problems? We didn't try and play totally the way we are now last year, except for when without the ball, and we've just signed 7 new players, most of which are in the attacking end of the pitch and unsurprisingly this is where we are looking to gel.

The analysis of the Swansea game from a number of people on here absolutely baffles me. It wasn't the best performance ever but I tonight we easily deserved to win it. It just so happened we won by a single penalty but to my mind we were penetrating the box more than in a number of recent games. We clearly deserved it.

I think teething problems will be a factor because the team needs to get comfortable facing different kinds of situations. Like today, Saudi Sportswashing Machine didn't sit back and pressed the 2 central midfielders we had. We couldn't find a clear route up the park and struggled. I'm sure some people may say the solution is easy but it is rectifying that and at the same time staying true to the style and the gameplan which is where teething will come in. Once they are comfortable and can adapt in game we should be able to deal with different types of games and have the solution for each.

To say that I will 'never' work at home though, how can you possibly say that?

 

[NWND]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Forget formations. Formation is not the issue. We have at various times played 4-4-2, 4-5-1, 4-3-3 under AVB. The problem is the instruction and coaching as well as tactics.

We bought a striker who is a finisher that thrives on the early ball...so play the ball early! Jesus it's so simple but we don't we slowly pass the ball about letting the opposition get nice and organised.

I feel sorry for Soldado, he doesn't have a chance to succeed... We don't get crosses into the box or play through-balls...ever! We just get the ball to our wide men who cut in and shoot from outside the box.

We only score fluke goals ( Townsend v Villa), penalties or spectacular long-range goals. We rarely score bread and butter goals because we rarely play early balls and don't look to pass of cross in the final 3rd.

Our tactics are ridiculous ! I'm so mad as this is a really talented squad that I'd being completely miss-used !

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

That's as maybe but it was a formation that many had been calling for. If he doesn't play that formation, they are right because 4-4-2 would have won us the game and AVB is inflexible/stubborn. If he does play that formation, he did it at the wrong time or with the wrong players. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

The advantage that you and I have is that our ideas about how the team should be set up and play are never tested in front of several thousand people a couple of times a week.

The 'damned either way' point is something that most people just fail to realise about football, and it's infuriating. There is absolutely no sure fire way to win any football match without any problem. Leaving aside luck, and the fact that another elite team is also competing to win points, there simply just is not an absolute perfect tactic, a perfect way to play or anything like that with any given set of players.

It's like of you are watching a poker tournament, and a guy with trips gets sucked out on because his opponent makes a runner runner flush on the river. Football fans would look at that and say 'he should have NEVER bet so big because the risk of the flush was there' despite the fact that the guy with trips was the massive favourite.

You can literally take any football decision and criticise it, and claim that something else should have been done. But there difference you don't have an odds calculator telling you what the best play is. This magical alternate suggestion has just as much, or just as little, chance of affecting the result as the choice that was actually chosen.

So AVB brought Defoe on? Silly him? But there is just an easy argument the other way to say that once we have established territorial advantage, and we have forced Saudi Sportswashing Machine deeper, with defensive subs, that the need to control midfield isn't as great as the need to get men in the box. So there's every chance it could have worked. It didn't today but it hardly makes it a stupid move. Ditto most other decisions. How many times did I read that Holtby was stifling our play and Eriksen would improve it in the league this week? A lot. What happened?

 

[Cochise]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Naughton/BAE, Parker, Dembele, Lennon, Bale, Dempsey/Sig, Defoe.
Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Rose, Sandro, Paulinho, Erkisen, Lamela, Chadli, Soldado.

For arguments sake I have thrown in new faces but the point is still valid. We have little continuity between last years first XI and this years. The only place that is similar is the back line (maybe a reason why we are keeping more clean sheets).

I think the teething problems may be a good line although one I don't like so much. We have signed 7 new players, all of whom could theoretically start in the same team. Now due to injuries etc we haven't been able to get them all playing together in games. The problem is, the team still plays much like it did last year, with players looking bereft of ideas in the final third and that is what is infuriating to the average fan.

Still can't believe we only look good in attack after we have conceded

 

[DHSF]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Naughton/BAE, Parker, Dembele, Lennon, Bale, Dempsey/Sig, Defoe.
Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Rose, Sandro, Paulinho, Erkisen, Lamela, Chadli, Soldado.

For arguments sake I have thrown in new faces but the point is still valid. We have little continuity between last years first XI and this years. The only place that is similar is the back line (maybe a reason why we are keeping more clean sheets).

I think the teething problems may be a good line although one I don't like so much. We have signed 7 new players, all of whom could theoretically start in the same team. Now due to injuries etc we haven't been able to get them all playing together in games. The problem is, the team still plays much like it did last year, with players looking bereft of ideas in the final third and that is what is infuriating to the average fan.

Still can't believe we only look good in attack after we have conceded

We go out NOT to lose... so when we are behind we go out to SALVAGE the game and thats when we go somewhat gung ho... we can mitigate against all that **** by actually going out to WIN the game in the first instance.

Last season we actually started games extremely well... always attacked in the first 15-20 mins... its changed this season and im unsure why.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Re: AVB - Making Tottenham His Own

Forget formations. Formation is not the issue. We have at various times played 4-4-2, 4-5-1, 4-3-3 under AVB. The problem is the instruction and coaching as well as tactics.

We bought a striker who is a finisher that thrives on the early ball...so play the ball early! Jesus it's so simple but we don't we slowly pass the ball about letting the opposition get nice and organised.

I feel sorry for Soldado, he doesn't have a chance to succeed... We don't get crosses into the box or play through-balls...ever! We just get the ball to our wide men who cut in and shoot from outside the box.

We only score fluke goals ( Townsend v Villa), penalties or spectacular long-range goals. We rarely score bread and butter goals because we rarely play early balls and don't look to pass of cross in the final 3rd.

Our tactics are ridiculous ! I'm so mad as this is a really talented squad that I'd being completely miss-used !

Very good point. Hardly ever see our midfielders slot through balls to Soldado.