It’s only natural human instinct to reject things we don’t understand. For immediate illustration of the inherent truth of this pop-sociology catchphrase, look to the chorus of boos that followed Andre Villas-Boas and his Tottenham side back into the dressing rooms at White Hart Lane last week, after the squad failed for the third occasion […]
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It’s only natural human instinct to reject things we don’t understand. For immediate illustration of the inherent truth of this pop-sociology catchphrase, look to the chorus of boos that followed Andre Villas-Boas and his Tottenham side back into the dressing rooms at White Hart Lane last week, after the squad failed for the third occasion in a row to hold their nerve in the dying minutes of a game and prevent an unfavourable result.
It seems fairly obvious to me that a large section of his most vocal abusers in the home sections at the Lane don’t trust AVB because they don’t really understand how his career trajectory his taken him from the top of his profession back to square one; why he persists with a high line, pressing system when it doesn’t yield the optimum results; why he stuck with a doomed centre mid pairing of Livermore and Sandro during his first three games with Spurs. To his growingly frustrated detractors who pine for the simple days of Harry and 4-4-2, the workings of AVB’s more sophisticated and more guarded mind are a mystery, and a cause of mounting paranoia and hostility.
Surely, Villas-Boas deserves better. From his success at Porto, and the stories and evidence of his meticulous planning and hands-on coaching methods, it’s almost insulting to question the viability of his plan or his eligibility to manage a side like Spurs at such an early stage in his time with us. None of this, however, is to completely absolve AVB of responsibility for his own reception going forward. Now that the transfer window has closed, it’s time for AVB to start clearing up the confusion by making his point emphatically and laying out exactly what his plan is for future success. There are surely a few areas in which ambiguity will only befuddle and irritate, and clarification of his future programme could only boost his reputation within and outside of the club.
[linequote]Surely, Villas-Boas deserves better. From his success at Porto, and the stories and evidence of his meticulous planning and hands-on coaching methods, it’s almost insulting to question the viability of his plan or his eligibility to manage a side like Spurs[/linequote]
First of all, I’m hopeful that it will become clear exactly how AVB sees the team lining up week by week. The team he fielded throughout pre-season and during the first few games deviated from the formation and tactics he has been renowned for in previous years; 4-2-3-1 in place of his famous 4-3-3, and with a slightly deeper back line than you would expect of a Villas-Boas team. Was this merely pragmatism, or a long-term tactical shift? It’s not clear exactly whether Villas-Boas has abandoned his preferred tactics altogether, or is merely biding his time until they become viable options again – making our approach in recent weeks a mere placeholder. All of these are questions are vital to understanding why exactly players like Sigurdsson, who plays exclusively behind the striker, were brought in, and what their job is this season. A spell of settled tactics will also help the team gel with the fluency of both VB’s treble-winning Porto side and the previous incarnation of Tottenham.
I’d also like to see some clarity of the manager’s view on certain key players whose future at the club were suddenly thrown into doubt by his arrival. It is still unclear what AVB’s exact plans are for Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, Michael Dawson, and other long-term squad players about whom contradictory noises have been made in recent weeks. Does AVB really think they have a part to play in the coming seasons, or would they be of more use sold off while we still have the opportunity? In the case of Daws in particular, one of my all-time favourite Spurs, this ambiguous approach to player roles has been a touch frustrating.
None of these issues are necessarily accusations directed at VB for his conduct so far. With a squad inherited in transition which was resigned to losing it’s key player at the start of the window, all of the above are natural teething issues associable with a new manager. What’s more, I fully trust that a man of Villas-Boas has in his head a painstakingly detailed project sorted just for Spurs. Going forward now that the window has slammed shut, however, the onus lies on Villas-Boas to start unveiling that project. Which youth players will be pivotal for us in the future, and which veterans no longer fit? What system should we expect with the team we have – what should we hold up as the benchmark of the team playing the correct way? Where do new boys Dembele, Lloris and Dempsey figure in the new-look Spurs?
These are not peripheral concerns, but vital matters of cohesion and identity for the squad, which is of as much importance to fans like me as it is to players themselves. They will be pivotal to developing the trust we’ll be asked to place in Villas-Boas in the coming months. Once Villas-Boas has made his mark on the side and shown us what the programme is for future success, it’ll be a lot easier for all corners of the Spurs support to get with it.
[author name=”Erik_Edman” avatar=”https://www.thefightingcock.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?avatar=1252_1347104623.jpg” tag=”Erik_Edman[/linequote]
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12/09/2012 @ 3:49 pm
He’s already commented on the relationship between his preferred 4-3-3and the players he has at his disposal ATM, and, by inference, the high defensive line. He said that he would prefer to play 4-3-3, generically, but will pay 4-2-3-1 for now due to the players at his disposal, their strengths and ‘what they are used to’.
He said this and the funny thing is, he is accused of being inflexible in his tactical approach and not tailoring his team to what he has available – and when he does just that it is ignored.
When he took over, he said that every player was up for consideration and he wouldn’t rule anyone out, but that he would know more after pre-season. My guess would be that this is still the case. Those that he definitely didn’t want were sold. It can’t be much of a coincidence that the three players out on loan (Huddlestone, Bentley and Jenas) were out injured last season and all looked unfit and off the pace during pre-season. So my guess would be that nothing has changed since the last time he said they were up for consideration – if they really impress, or otherwise, during their loan period, he will then make a decision. Why should he repeat what he has already said? I also suspect that his attitude has been compromised, to acertain extent, in regard to Jenas, due to the obscene booing when he was brought on last.
In regard to Dawson – yeah, he is easy to like, as he seems like a gneuine guy and plays with a smile on his face. But, the fact is, most Spurs fans would have said, really, he was 3rd choice, at best, last season, and when you adjust that for suitability to AVBs system, he is probably 4th/5th coice now. In what World is it other than good business to acept a £10 million bid on a player who is likely to be 4th/5th choice? Besides, how much of this was AVB insisting he be sold and how much of it was just Levy knowing that that was Dawsdon’s place in the CB hierarchy and either offering him out, or getting an attractive bid for the guy? I would love Daws to knuckle down and prove he can adapt to AVBs requirements, but I really don’t get this obsessing over the fact that Levy accepted a generous bid for him.
12/09/2012 @ 3:56 pm
He needs to be given time to get the team playing to his way. Coys.
12/09/2012 @ 3:59 pm
Ah well, everything’s sorted then, right. It’s just the few ignoramuses that were voicing their disapproval (sorry abusing) this intelligent professor of the game of football, who, by virtue of their lack of education, would disenfranchise his efforts before the actually got off the ground. Is that what your saying?
My take on it is that these people are no fools, they know when they have a bluffer in their midst and all your fancy wording around the situation won’t change their minds, because they are dealing with that they see, not some delusory bullshit written to insult them and impress the ‘prawn sandwich’ element. He’ll fail, because he’s a fake.
12/09/2012 @ 6:02 pm
Oh yeah, that would be it.
Loads of fakers win the Europa League with a Portugese team at 32…how could it have illuded me.
Alternatively, they have just accepted a media spin on his time at Chelsea that is simplistic and one-sided and then seen what the media tell them to see. Like, we really didn’t play well at Newcastle with only one senior striker, total dominate the first half and hit the woodwork twice, or concede a penalty while Sandro, who would have been covering the space Ben Arfa ran into, was off the pitch injured.
You think you can make a judgement after 3 games (three games with major players missing for one reason or another) because the media portrayal ‘can’t’ be wrong.
Aside from calling him a ‘fake’ or insisting that the media portrayal of his time at Chelsea is infallible (and incredibly impartial – yeah, right), you can’t substantiate your argument at all.
12/09/2012 @ 10:59 pm
One other thing people forget is its not like he got chelsea relegated. They were 5th when he was fired ffs
12/09/2012 @ 5:27 pm
I think the point is, that’s it’s far, far to early to make a judgement! A negative judgement (booing)
will only hinder any chance of success on the pitch! Equally, being to optimistic, is’nt advisable
either!
Can’t we just give AVB and the players until xmas! An without sounding to optimistic!! I think by
then, we will be knocking around the top 5!
COYS!!
12/09/2012 @ 11:00 pm
@SP-insisting that the media portrayal of his time at Chelsea is infallible.
Cannot for the life of me see where I wrote that.
More delusion.
Why do you people read between the lines. Read the actual lines and believe what you see, not what you hope will be the eventual outcome. He’s proven nothing to me, except that he would probably won the Scottish League Title with Glasgow Rangers. Then again almost every manager did. He will last one season, if he’s lucky.
13/09/2012 @ 11:37 am
@Cookiebun.
No you didn’t write it. It’s called an ‘inference’. The ‘inference’ is that the only thing that could pssibly give anyone such overwhelmingly negative vibes against a manager who won the Europa League at 32 YO, while completing the league and cup double in his domestic league (winning the league unbeaten), would be the media persona presented of him, and, especially, the Chelsea debacle (as other than that, he has had a wholly positive career).
Inferences ‘can’ be wrong. In this instanance, I just don’t see how this one can be. If you can be me one sole substantial reason as to why you view him so overwhlemingly negatively without mentioning ‘Chelsea’ I will be absolutely gobsmacked.
When was the last time a Scottish club won the Europa league? What you are saying is that his winning the Europa league and the domestic double was equivalent to winning the EPL. Sorry, but I think any informed observer would consider the Portugese league as being inferior to the EPL, but probably a bit better than the SPL. And that still leaves the ‘rogue’ Europa League win. How do you account for this…from a 32 YO? And have you considered his career in management pre-Porto – I believe he did rather well at Academia, as well.
I won’t predict how long he will last – that would be silly…I still remember United fans predicting Fergie would last 1, 2, 3 and 4 seasons.
13/09/2012 @ 2:28 am
Quite frankly I don’t know of anyone who actually wanted him at WHL. The usual sarcastic comments were made than DL hired him because he was free. No compensation payments there. Last season, at Chelsea he had a big spending Chairman and a squad that was larger and better than Spurs. He couldn’t make it work there. I don’t believe that the Chelsea squad deliberately undermined him. I am convinced that he couldn’t sell them his ideas. You only have to look at the way Chelsea played under him to realise that something was not right. DL is not going to give him buckets of money to spend at Xmas or any time soon. So he will have to make do with what he has got. If we are in the bottom third come Xmas I doubt that DL will spend his way out of it. It’s not his style. And more importantly I can’t see a top class player joining us if we are likely to be in a relegation battle. We have had two foreign disasters at WHL. Santini & Ramos. So why not go for a Moyes or Martinez, someone who knew and understood the PL? Probably because he would have to pay compensation. This is not going to end well. If he couldn’t make it work in West London, I don’t see how he can make it work in North London.