Now, Chelsea's situation under Villas-Boas is completely deceiving. Villas-Boas had a better record in the league than Roberto Di Matteo did, and there's stats out there to prove it. All of the negativity around Villas-Boas is fan propaganda from Chelsea fans who were completely unwilling to have a transition season. Villas-Boas was in the midst of reforming the team and employing the kind of football Abramovich wanted, but he was: 1. Completely undermined by the prima-donnas in the dressing room, and 2. Was unable to acquire players he needed to enforce his tactics in the right way (Hulk and Moutinho being two of them, and a new centre-back); this meant the likes of John Terry had to play a high-line (as Chelsea didn't have a suitable replacement) and Terry couldn't do it, which meant Chelsea conceded a lot of goals; then with Kalou and company not delivering, and a mis-firing Torres, who he was forced to keep, Villas-Boas couldn't recreate the success of the tactics he used at Porto. If he'd had another season, I'm sure he'd have rejuvenated Chelsea, even if they didn't win the Champions League or FA Cup. I also think they'd have finished in a Champions League spot, too.
This is the "What if....?" I have with AVB.
There are no excuses for the highlighted parts.
He shouldnt have been "enforcing" his tactics.
John Terry did not have to play a system he is completely unsuited to.
AVB should, if he is a top class manager, be able to utilise more than one system.
AVB should have recognised his preferred tactics would not work (or even a little later were not working) and adapted. Instead of using the tools at his disposal to their best effect and transitioning over time to his ideal he stubbornly tried to force the issue when it patently would not (and did not) work.
This is the issue for me. Without trying to be so radical so quickly he could well still have a job and the players onside.
I think he should have recognised this is a group of players that have been unable to change system since Mourinhos days. That he didnt have the players to jump straight to his ideal set up. And also that it would be wise to USE the old heads in the first place to aid his transition into dressing room leader and get early points on the board.
Over time he should then have been introducing his style, along with players to really make it work.
A gradual process was the most obvious one. What worries me about him is that in the first place he didnt see that and in the second he didnt back off from his position in the interests of getting the team functioning and winning.
That aside I agree with the first portion of your post and think he has a lot going for him - I also think Spurs are very well set up for him - more so than Chelsea.
Problem is, it seems he made fundamentally bad management decisions - not the most encouraging sign