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Sherwood convincing the unconvinced

5 min read
by The Fighting Cock
Many remain "unconvinced" with Tim Sherwood but for how much longer? Goals, speed and a victory at Old Trafford, does he need to win at the Emirates before we are all convinced?

This wasn’t the parting of the Red Sea or summing a snow buried light-sabre to his hand, but it felt nevertheless like a pivotal moment. It would be prudent to remember that this isn’t our first pivotal moment at Old Trafford in the last 13 months or so, but this time it definitely felt bigger.  Shorn of eight first team players, a Welshman and with a large percentage of Spurs fans unconvinced by his appointment, these were definitely three ginormous points.

article-0-1A609D2B00000578-882_634x460Tim Sherwood as first team coach of Spurs, I admit isn’t the sexiest thing I have ever heard. I completely understand the whole “unconvinced” feeling regarding his appointment, but it’s time for those still holding on to this feeling to let go as the truth is, it doesn’t matter how convinced or unconvinced you, me, or anyone else you know is.

Managers are appointed and dismissed regardless of how many followers you preach to, how witty you can be or how vehemently you tweet. We are simply the paying audience, the only man that needs convincing is Daniel Levy.

What we should all be concerned with is the football, and under the “unconvincing” Sherwood, it has 100% improved.  For anyone who claims to be Spurs, surely this is what matters most?

[authquoteleft text=”The only man that needs convincing is Daniel Levy[/linequote]

So we play what looks like a 4-4-2 which completely goes against “Inverting the Pyramid” and how many read the modern game, but isn’t Modern Football something we are all against? Modern Football is this beast where we kick off at 12:00 on a Sunday, where it costs £4+ quid for 500ml of Carlsberg and £40+ to be told to sit down and not use the Y-word.

To be honest, if what Sherwood is doing is old school, then I quite like it. Exciting football, pace and belief, I hope his next steps are to bring back Le Coq Sportif, Hummel or Holsten.

However, are we really playing this archaic and out of fashion formation?

The key principle of 4-4-2 is two wide men, whilst Spurs have been playing with only one?

Instead what we have is a flexible system, where the strikers go wide, Christian Eriksen dips inside and Aaron Lennon does something similar from the right. In possession and out of possession the formation adapts and changes, it isn’t static and it’s light-years from being rigid.

To be totally honest though I couldn’t care less what formation we play.  I have gone beyond caring whether we are cutting edge, modern and the ideal presentation case for a management seminar somewhere exotic. We score, we entertain and we win. I am happy.

Rewind back to AVB’s time at Spurs and think about every single conversation you had with a Spurs fan:

Inverted this, phasing that, number 10, high line, sweeper keepers, pivots and anchors. The beauty of organisation and definitions, soon became a nightmare weighing us and the players down. We became lost in jargon, mired in tactical analysis and we forgot it was a game, basically, we lost sight of football’s simplicity.

Sherwood has returned the simplicity and for many of us the feel good factor.

Unfortunately though by simplifying the football, getting the best from Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado  and scoring goals he has cast himself as another “run around a bit” merchant.  This is totally unfair, as many who have followed his exploits with the under 21’s know, Sherwood is far more than this, personally though I couldn’t care less whether he deployed wing-halves and made them play with a pigs bladder. Winning is better than being fashionable.

[linequote]The beauty of organisation and definitions, soon became a nightmare weighing us and the players down[/linequote]

Against Man United we showed resilience and attacking craft in abundance. United’s tactic of “let’s cause some chaos in the box” was limited to a 10 minute spell at the start, and a 15 minute spell at the end.  Other than that, Spurs were for the most part in control.

Howard Webb, normally uber-friend to United has been cast as a villain in the aftermath, but removing my Tottenham tinted specs, I have to admit he got the big decisions right.

David Moyes at Everton took a well publicised stance against simulation, but at United he has found himself surrounded by spring heeled divers. Danny Welbeck, Adnan Januzaj and Ashley Young spent the time they had on the pitch waiting for a chance to triple-salto anywhere within a metre of the Spurs penalty area.

However, with Sir Alex in the stand, United have lost their 10-12 ref points a season. Webb made the correct decision time and again at Old Trafford, decisions that went in favour of Spurs, hello and welcome 2014!

Elsewhere on the pitch Vlad Chiriches continued his march to catching Sandro as my favourite player and Aaron Lennon once again delivered. The winger’s qualities have never been in doubt, but his ability to consistently deliver has, one goal and one assist in his last two games shows that he is on merit denying Erik Lamela first team football.

Alongside the Romanian captain Michael Dawson was at his usual Jekyll and Hyde best. One moment a colossus, the next a lumbering time-bomb. The Englishman, despite the stat that Spurs have lost something like 7 of the 45 games he has played in, continues to worry me. I love 90% of what Dawson brings, but it’s that missing 10% that is the major concern.

The Premier League this year is a championship that will be decided by results against the rest of the top 5-6, and it is in these games where he is normally found out, especially by strikers from South America.

[authquoteright text=”Dawson despite the stat that Spurs have lost only 7 of the 45 games he has played in, continues to worry me[/linequote]

However, this is not the time to single out players for criticism. Dawson was a key player on Wednesday and in his own way was part of our success. In 2014 we need to all stop looking at individuals and instead see a team for what they are, a collective. They win, lose and draw as one, and at the moment we are winning more than losing.

A victory at Old Trafford, Adebayor sprinting and scoring, Eriksen dazzling, Lennon delivering and 9 goals scored and 10 points from 12 available, how long until Sherwood convinces us all? Would a win at the Emirates seal his transition from unconvincing to convincing?

From what I have seen, he is already convincing enough.

[author name=”ARLombardi” avatar=”https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000789662677/0ad5704c93624459c70b906dab544185_bigger.jpeg” bio=”I read, I write, I speak, I edit for The Fighting Cock” twitter=”ARLombardi[/linequote]

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15 Comments

  1. Joe
    02/01/2014 @ 12:51 pm

    The first thing to realise about Sherwood is that his team are playing something very different to a classic 4-4-2.

    Most English football fans see 4 ‘midfielders’ and two strikers on the pitch and assume its a 90’s style 4-4-2.

    But Adebayor drops very deep and often pulls out wide to the left, Soldado pressures like a lone striker, Eriksen cuts infield to create overloads and win back possession, Demebele intelligently chooses when to press high or drop deep.

    If anything Spurs are actually playing a lopsided 4-3-3 in possession and a 4-4-1-1 out of possession, which is pretty close in reality to 4-2-3-1.

    Sherwood has duped the Spurs fans and opposition teams into believing he is some 4-4-2 throw back, but actually his system appears to be more like Slaven Billic’s during his Croatia reign, less about overarching tactical shape and more about combinations and fluidity.

    His poor vocabulary and general lack of grammar make him seem simple and perhaps a bit naive, but his team’s performances and results betray that impression.

    • Big Mal
      02/01/2014 @ 1:11 pm

      Couldn’t agree more Joe. Just because we play with 2 ‘strikers’ doesn’t mean we are playing 4 4 2. We are just being very flexible with clever players and a forward thinking coach. I was prepared to trust Levy when he appointed AVB and he certainly did some good stuff, but the type of football this season was not good enough especially with the talent we have. Sherwood is demonstrating what everyone in the game knows or suspected – he is a bright coach and very clever man. He has strong opinions and great presence. The players will like him and, in time, so will the fans. He will back himself and his players and he will not let managers get the better of him. Moyes, Mourinho, Wenger and their reputations will mean nothing to him. A fantastic appointment.

  2. Gareth
    02/01/2014 @ 12:53 pm

    Good article but then again I am currently wearing Hummel trainers so have a bias to the old school.

  3. fitz
    02/01/2014 @ 1:00 pm

    Bloody hell, “his poor vocabulary and lack of grammar….”? Mind you don’t get stuck up your own fundament mate!

    • Joe
      02/01/2014 @ 1:08 pm

      Huh?

      Its just a point of fact that his English language skills are not great and in a media obsessed sport like football, that can give off the perception of simpleness, unsophistication and lack of deep thinking. Leading people to jump to the conclusion that his tactics are simple, unsophisticated and have not been thought out.

      But perception outside of the club is not important, as long as players, officials and fans respect and understand what Sherwood’s plans are.

  4. Tom W-M
    02/01/2014 @ 1:05 pm

    Good article. COYS.

  5. Park Lane Spurs
    02/01/2014 @ 1:11 pm

    If we can bring back the quality of Vertongan, Paulinho and Sandro. There is no reason we can achieve great things… Win at the new Library and we will we be singing “Timmy Sherwoods Blue and White Army” at the next home match… sadly you all know it’s going to Timmy… Tim just doesn’t work.

  6. FACTMAN
    02/01/2014 @ 1:17 pm

    Great piece – aside from a couple of typos.. which is about all the AVBettes will be able to pick you up on.

  7. mattspurs
    02/01/2014 @ 1:19 pm

    It’s a matter of just playing players where they are best.
    Lennon performs his best on the right both going forward and defending.
    Ade is much better at effecting play when he is playing in the first team than with the kids.
    Eriksen can cause damage coming in from the left with the two central players covering for him.
    Soldado is suddenly showing how clever he can be with players running beyond him and had a hand in both goals.
    Even Walker seems to be keeping it simple – Januzaj only became effective when he switched wings.
    Vlad is good but needs to stop f2cking about with the ball at the back before we get punished for it.

  8. Whitehart Lad
    02/01/2014 @ 1:33 pm

    Good article, I must admit that I was unimpressed with the original sticking Timmy in charge of such a massive club and especially after the Wet Spam and West Brom games but I think Timmy learned a valuable lesson in that very short space of time and wasn’t afraid to do things his way. The team is now playing with such confidence and freedom and it is clearly showing. So I think I can say with almost 100% confidence that I am convinced that Tim is the right man for the job, young, hungry and eager to het Spurs back to being a force in the Prem……..sounds a little like AVB but with Tottenham style football :)

  9. Trevor
    02/01/2014 @ 2:03 pm

    I think Tim Sherwood is refreshingly honest and forthright and English in his interviews and and as for his eloquence who cares?
    He is winning football matches and beating Manure at Old Trafford he has got the team playing well and with more players to come back from injury we can only get better .
    I just hope Mr Levy will give him a good chance to continue to shape the team and take us forward to new heights ,mind you this is Spurs and we have been full of expectations before only to see them dashed but maybe not this time so good luck to our new leader
    COYS

  10. DannyMackay
    02/01/2014 @ 2:46 pm

    Judging a manager of hundreds of millions of pounds of talent on a couple of weeks’ work is not far from insanity.

    All Tim is doing now is exactly what Tim must hope to do for the next 18 months – earning time and earning our willingness to reserve judgement. Or more accurately – and optimistically – earning time and earning Daniel Levy’s willingness to reserve judgement.

  11. EE
    02/01/2014 @ 4:17 pm

    “Inverted this, phasing that, number 10, high line, sweeper keepers, pivots and anchors. The beauty of organisation and definitions, soon became a nightmare weighing us and the players down. We became lost in jargon, mired in tactical analysis and we forgot it was a game, basically, we lost sight of football’s simplicity.

    Sherwood has returned the simplicity and for many of us the feel good factor.”

    Wonderfully put. Great read.

  12. jim
    02/01/2014 @ 5:05 pm

    I agree but lets not forget this was not the man u of 13 months ago either

  13. Sam
    03/01/2014 @ 6:01 am

    Spot on article. Some of the abuse and gleeful knife sharpening I saw towards Sherwood on twitter during and after the WBA draw, from our own fans was embarrassing. Sherwood has given our tactically stifled players freedom and its a pleasure watching us play again.

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