Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

[BrainOfLevy]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

AVB might have accepted reponsiblity, but he also said we have been "magnificent" in the cup competitions, it is just the league where we have problems! And when confronted with the no shots on target stat, he defended himself by saying, setting aside goals scored, we have had the most shots on target!

That doesn't sound like someone who really understands the scale of the challenge/problem facing the team, that sounds like someone who is deluded, clutching at statistical straws.

I prefer Jamie Carragher's summing up -the team look like strangers.

He says positive things in public to protect the players, he always has done and always will. I'm 100% certain he knows what the issues are and isn't entirely happy with our chance creation.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

There's no doubt losing Bale has hurt us, but that fee was so massively inflated, he should have gone for about £50m. So I don't really think it's on to go on about negative net spend, we've spent over £100m!

But that was his value to us. It's inflated when considering the rest of the market but to us, Bale was worth that. He was that good, that important that losing him would leave such a dent in our team. So I don't think in 'real' terms we did spend at a loss in the summer, we got a lot of money because he was that important to the side. We've replaced him with a bunch of players who aren't close to reaching their potential yet. In that sense, I can completely see why problems would arise. I just didn't expect it to be this bad.

 

[Sandman]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

Add Chadli to those three. Four big lads in midfield, I thought we'd run over Lucas and Allen, but we were second to everything. This current team of ours doesn't even look like Spurs. I think AVB can see it and is just too stubborn to change his system.

I think in the modern game having a powerful midfield is vastly overrated. Liverpool today had a pack of players willing to nudge, shirt pull and get feet in and around the ball to disrupt our possession game. Without it we nothing at all as we are not incisive enough on the ball to pass around that kind of pressing. With the way referees are today they seem to always give the benefit of the doubt to the smaller players. LE Scum, Emirates Marketing Project and Liverpool are full of played in midfield willing to get in and around the ball and then use it in an offensive manner. Playing Henderson higher up the field was a good tactic by Rodgers. he got him to harass us in our own half with sterling, Suarez and lucas all biting in as well. The difference is that when they get the ball their players can use it and not slow down the attack.

Paulinhio plays best when he is further up the field and can get in the box more. But in that position he is not creative enough. Dembele is amazing on the ball, strong and glides past players but he is never looking for the incisive pass in to feet or space. Sandro is warrior, he is a backs to the wall kind of defensive player and was passed around today. We have to get Eriksen in the team and give him some time to get used to the premiership. He is our best chance of being that link player behind Soldado or Defoe. I would also drop Chadli and play Lennon and Townsend so we can pin back oppostion full backs. Lennon with his pace is also a very good defensive player. And Townsend showed against Anzhi he can get good crosses into the box from the left and still have a shot and be effective. their pace alongside Eriksen's creative passing can give us more going forward. LEt them all stay high and give Sandro and Dembele the mopping up to do. Or get holtby in alongside who can fight off the ball but also have a decent pass when on it. IF we are going to insist on playing this high line then we need to also Drop Dawson. He is only good against aerial bombardment. On the ground against tricky players he is clumsy and he is done badly by pace.

My team for Southampton would be: and im forced to keep some players due to injuries.

-----------------Lloris--------------------
Walker---Dawson-----Chrices--------Rose

----------Sandro-----Holtby------------

Lennon--------Eriksen-----------Townsend

--------------Defoe----------------------

Drop Dembele, Paulinhio, Chadli and Soldado and give them a break for this game. There is a ton of pace and guile in that side. But it is lacking in height. But im fed up of players being in there just for their physical attributes but with technical limitations.

 

[Yiddo]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

I feel we have papered over the cracks for a while. After the City game we went on a decent run and everyone seemed happy up until today. My question is how will people feel if he does not get sacked? also if he does not get sacked and we win the next 2 or 3 games but still look no better performance wise would faith have been restored until the next spanking?

 

[Mumorn]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

A shame it has come to this. A very likeable bloke and after everything at Chelsea, I would have loved nothing more but for him to succeed, absolutely loved his passion and the bond he has had with the players, but you can't lose 5-0 at home to Liverpool, not create a chance on goal (even though I am sure Soldado had an effort on target in the first half, almost certain) as well as lose to Emirates Marketing Project 6-0 once again without really testing the keeper and just generally perform poorly at home and last the season.

Can't really defend him or the team after the Liverpool game.

 

[africanspurs]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

He says positive things in public to protect the players, he always has done and always will. I'm 100% certain he knows what the issues are and isn't entirely happy with our chance creation.

personally i dont see him that way

 

[africanspurs]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

He says positive things in public to protect the players, he always has done and always will. I'm 100% certain he knows what the issues are and isn't entirely happy with our chance creation.

personally i dont see him that way

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

personally i dont see him that way

I think a lot of people in the UK view him as this arrogant guy intent on blaming others with a stubborn, overinflated sense of his own ability.

But I really don't think he is that guy. He's been pigeon holed into it and anything I've read and heard that isn't by UK media suggests he is a totally different person to what he would appear.

 

[Cochise]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

This result feel like the final nail in AVB's coffin...even BoL, Braineclipse and Steff aren't defending him anymore.

I have one issue to ask a lot of you: I have for a while said that Liverpool ARE a very good decent side that mirror in many ways some of the good things that were happening with us in 09/10 and perhaps even 11/12. A lot of you poo-pooed this idea and Liverpool's quality generally.

Some of you need to ask yourselves, how much has your about-turn with regards to AVB is down to this superiority complex with regards to Liverpool?

I felt we missed out big time when Rodgers went to Liverpool and even said to my dad that with their resources and appeal and his style of play they could seriously become a threat. At the time we still had Redknapp so it wasn't like we were out shopping for a manager. When AVB came in I wasn't unimpressed but neither was I enthusiastic. I remembered the game at Old Trafford where if it wasn't for Torres being so poor they would've won by a fair margin and thought that any manager who could go there and have his team overpower UTD must be worth a punt. We all knew about his hard times with the Chelsea dressing room but I also remembered how his tactics provided big problems for players like John Terry.

Right now, I think every Spurs fan wants AVB to succeed but deep down knows that it's not going to happen. As BoL has said, the theory of what he wants is good but the basics in play are missing. Watch Liverpools off the ball movement be it in a 352, 433, 442, it's always the same. Pass the ball forward and advance past the receiver, neat triangles that draw the opposition in before passing it forward to a spare man, midfielders filling into gaps left by Suarez. The basics are all there. Our lads as Carragher said look lost. No one knows what on earth they should be doing at times. Players don't come short, don't support the striker, look for give and goes when the other man is expecting something else. No one seems happy with what they are meant to be doing

 

[Modric THFC]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/dec/15/tottenham-liverpool-tactical-analysis

Tottenham's André Villas-Boas is an architect of his own downfall
Liverpool's 5-0 hammering at White Hart Lane was a damning indictment of the Portuguese's tactical acumen

by Michael Cox

Following the 6-0 thrashing away to Emirates Marketing Project, André Villas-Boas significantly adjusted his strategy for the subsequent match, a 2-2 draw with Manchester United. His side played much deeper, with the midfielders protecting the defence keenly – Tottenham invited pressure, but denied space in behind and between the lines. Consequently, the defence was penetrated much less frequently.

The strategy for this match, however, was a bizarre return to Villas-Boas's favoured high defensive line, which played perfectly into the hands of Luis Suárez and Liverpool. Villas-Boas has significant injury problems in defence, and Étienne Capoue and Michael Dawson is clearly not an ideal partnership. From an early stage it was clear they had no relationship together – they stepped up to play offside at different times, Capoue was never in a covering position when Dawson was bypassed, and Suárez was pulling both out of position. The centre-backs desperately needed protection, as Liverpool continually raced past them at will.

Liverpool's build-up play was occasionally superb, but when a simple long clearance from Martin Skrtel brought Hugo Lloris out of his penalty box and created a chance for Suárez, the extent of Spurs' problems became clear.

Suárez is the ideal striker to work the channels and break in behind, while Jordan Henderson's boundless energy also contributed – he made untracked runs in behind the defence for the first three goals, and encouraged Liverpool to play directly, important considering the cautious nature of Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen. Raheem Sterling continually took on Kyle Naughton down the outside, while Philippe Coutinho tucked inside to play simple passes.

It was astonishingly easy for Liverpool. The similarity to Spurs' previous thrashing is striking, and the fact Villas-Boas actively decided to return to the strategy that failed at City is a damning indictment of his tactical acumen.

 

[thfcsteff]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

Word is circulating heavily that Daniel's employing the espresso machine for a long night's work…if I were AVB I'd start planning my Xmas break, New Year break and return to European management in the summer, possibly in France or Portugal…such a shame but at this point, he has no-one to blame but himself if it isn't happening. Those players looked absolutely lost today, lost...

 

[Mumorn]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

Word is circulating heavily that Daniel's employing the espresso machine for a long night's work…if I were AVB I'd start planning my Xmas break, New Year break and return to European management in the summer, possibly in France or Portugal…such a shame but at this point, he has no-one to blame but himself if it isn't happening. Those players looked absolutely lost today, lost...

I was definitely convinced regardless of what he achieved with us this year he would be off to Monaco in the summer but I'm not even sure that'll happen now. In fact if he gets sacked, I am almost certain he will just retire for good. He has enough money to last a thousand lives.

 

[thfcsteff]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

I think a lot of people in the UK view him as this arrogant guy intent on blaming others with a stubborn, overinflated sense of his own ability.

But I really don't think he is that guy. He's been pigeon holed into it and anything I've read and heard that isn't by UK media suggests he is a totally different person to what he would appear.

I think the biggest problem is mate that he has an unfortunate reaction to stress. It appears to render him paralysed by stubborness. Probably partly down to inexperience, but he has had (now) several chances to change things, try new approaches, yet he digs his heels in deeper. I want to see him given time because that's my nature, I don't **** on people early doors because times are tough, but being a realist he has done himself few favors in a results-based business via an era which demands quick success. I think several factors appear to be pushing him out (if it he hasn't already gone)…again, personally I'd give him the season. But it's unrealistic. A shame in to many senses…but he is not helping himself.

 

[Pandy]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

Word is circulating heavily that Daniel's employing the espresso machine for a long night's work…if I were AVB I'd start planning my Xmas break, New Year break and return to European management in the summer, possibly in France or Portugal…such a shame but at this point, he has no-one to blame but himself if it isn't happening. Those players looked absolutely lost today, lost...

Since when has that meant anything?

 

[N10 Yiddo]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

According to beIN SPORT, AVB has been sacked.

 

[SpurMeUp]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

A shame it has come to this. A very likeable bloke and after everything at Chelsea, I would have loved nothing more but for him to succeed, absolutely loved his passion and the bond he has had with the players, but you can't lose 5-0 at home to Liverpool, not create a chance on goal (even though I am sure Soldado had an effort on target in the first half, almost certain) as well as lose to Emirates Marketing Project 6-0 once again without really testing the keeper and just generally perform poorly at home and last the season.

Can't really defend him or the team after the Liverpool game.

Yes he did get his foot to a cross and stab the ball to the keeper. You are right!

The challenge this season was always, how long will it take for the team to settle. Answer: more than half the season. At first, you thought ok well we're grinding out results, the team will gel and we'll kick on. But now, you think, hold on, we've played ****e football since AVBs been here (results have actually been pretty decent) and I have no confidence in him turning it around. He lacks leadership for me.

 

[Jordinho]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

If anyone needs a laugh, try reading this person's twitter timeline: https://twitter.com/avb

 

[Mumorn]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

Yes he did get his foot to a cross and stab the ball to the keeper. You are right!

The challenge this season was always, how long will it take for the team to settle. Answer: more than half the season. At first, you thought ok well we're grinding out results, the team will gel and we'll kick on. But now, you think, hold on, we've played ****e football since AVBs been here (results have actually been pretty decent) and I have no confidence in him turning it around. He lacks leadership for me.

Exactly. Which is why I found it strange that they said we had no shots on target. I haven't seen it again, perhaps it came off a defender in the end?

 

[Mumorn]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

If anyone needs a laugh, try reading this person's twitter timeline: https://twitter.com/avb

Excellent!

 

[Hootnow]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

personally i dont see him that way

I think this is very harsh to be honest. There is no benefit to savaging the players in public or airing your dirty laundry in public and a manager that does that is either high on emotion after a bad result or is looking to score cheap points with the fans, who always love a good savaging of the players after an embarassing result.

For all his faults, I don't think this is one of them.