Article by Mike DavisApparently the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different result. Well if that’s the case, AVB is definitely insane!
To put the same formation out week after week and consistently fail to score goals has now gone beyond a joke. The result against Man City was more than embarrassing, it was humiliating. We were exposed in all areas of the pitch and frankly the final whistle was a blessed relief. This has been coming for a while now and if this doesn’t act as the ultimate wake-up call then we are stuffed.
It is no good having the greater percentage of the possession if there is no end product. Our current midfield set up is very good at keeping the ball but lacks any kind of creativity or punch. Our single striker is starved of any service and we don’t look like we are ever going to score. At the back we have somehow managed in most games to keep a clean sheet but Man City exposed us cruelly and confirmed what most supporters have known all season, that Dawson is not good enough and that Vertonghen should be playing centre back not left back.
Our midfield has to be changed to play at a higher tempo. We keep the ball in areas of the pitch where we cannot harm the opposition. Teams know this and are happy to let us have it because they are confident that they can take it off us once we reach the edge of the box. The deployment of a lone striker is not working, everyone, except AVB it would appear, can see it. This situation cannot continue.
In terms of creativity we need to persevere with Eriksen once he recovers from his ankle injury. He is one of the few players we have at the moment who is capable of playing a quick decisive ball through to the strikers. If it were down to me I would recall Carroll and Assou- Ekotto from QPR. We need Vertonghen playing in the middle at the back and frankly the alternatives at left back such as Fryers, Naughton and Rose are just not up to the job. I consider the acquisition of a top class left back to be a priority, ideally in January if possible before it is too late. I’m not saying BAE is a top drawer left back, he is just probably the best of the options we have!
Carroll gives us another creative option and whilst it is not the perfect scenario if he is good enough he will step up to the plate. I would also give Lamela an extended run in the team. The guy cost £30m, Ardiles rates him highly, Baldini clearly does as well, so play him. He is never going to adapt to the Premier League sitting on the bench!
Soldado is drowning up front on his own; we have to give him some support. I don’t know if that is Defoe or even Adebayor. It might mean looking at potential strikers in the transfer window, although anyone of real quality is unlikely to be available.
I have gone on record as saying that for me the jury is out on AVB. I am beginning to worry that the jury is coming to a consensus and that for AVB it is not good news. His reluctance to change tactics and formations is baffling and is costing us dearly. Daniel Levy has backed him with a considerable amount of money, albeit most of it financed by Bale’s departure, but our chairman is not one to sit idly by and watch things disintegrate around him.
I am not advocating the dismissal of AVB, I would be very happy for him to turn it around and bring us the success we are craving but there are some worrying signs at the moment. If we fail to qualify for the Champions League there would be repercussions, not least in my opinion the fact that we would most probably lose Vertonghen and Lloris for starters. We know only too well how difficult it is to attract the top players to a club that cannot offer them CL football.
We are at a crucial point in our season, how we react to this and move forward will determine the rest of the season and quite conceivably beyond. It is not the time to start pushing panic buttons but changes do need to be made to the way we play and that involves looking at the personnel and formation we are currently adopting.
In some respects there is arguably no better game to have next than someone like Man Utd. We need to put in a strong performance and get the fans behind the team. The players need to stand up and be counted. The quality in this squad is high but it counts for nothing if you don’t perform on the pitch.
When I first started to write for e-Spurs, I promised myself that I would avoid using it as a platform for personal rants and try to be measured in my observations and assessments. Many more performances like the one against Man City will test my resolve to the limit!
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It is too premature to sack AVB. AVB is a top-class manager spurs can hire now. Even though he has not met the expectation we have so far, he is one of the magnificant managers in Europe as PSG wanted in the last summer. It is the time for us to repay him for his loyalty.
ReplyDeleteThis is the best summary of our position that I have read.It is without cliches or scaremongering.My only observation is that I feel that AVB is being made a scapegoat for the new signings that he did not choose.However I totally agree with the way forward.
ReplyDeleteThe guy is utterly inept. I hate reading along side his name the adjective "tactician". Ffs can anybody recall any astute, nay common sense, tactical measures taken by this man?
ReplyDeleteI can't understand how so many(not as many as there were before) are still hanging on to the idea of keeping this guy.
How many chances should a hopeless manager be given?
I have stopped watching Spurs games lately.
Spurs fans must be the most masochistic lot of them all!
Everyone is entitled to an opinion and prior to AVB being appointed at Spurs I felt too much emphasis was being placed on his sucess at FC Porto. What concerned me was the fact that the Porto team was in place when he went there and much the same when he left just a little over one year later. An incredibly strong outfit with players like Hulk.Falcao in a league which they just over ran with their powerful team. Not too much managing needed there I thought. I certainly don't want AVB to get the push but I do feel that most Spurs supporters are genuinely concerned as to what the next couple of months will bring! I suppose its the old adage "between a rock and a hard place" keep AVB and things could possibly get better ( or worse) or bring in a new manager and its back to the drawing board and the transition continues. A win over Man U would work wonders and lift much of the gloom. Not sure what the Board at White Hart Lane is thinking of all this as so far "no comment" is the order of the day. A statement that AVB had their full support would be useful and put to bed much of this annoying media crap!
ReplyDeleteRe the first comment,I hope this is a joke,because if not ,mate are you deluded.Comment 2 agee with but for the avb scapegoat thing.We hary strong very capable squad that is being used very ineptly.We play the avb world domination game plan every week and as you say every team in the country knows how to deal with it.Hes got to go, leave it much longer and championship football will be played at the lane next season.
ReplyDeleteThe key to this is at the top of the article. If he continues to do the same thing and expect a different result then he deserves to go. If he changes it NOW (and to a degree, if the players back themselves more) and we see a change in results then he deserves to stay.
ReplyDeleteI worry however that AVB is as stubborn as the other grumpy Portuguese fella and won't change the way he does things. Jose at least is clearly doing the right thing (unfortunately)
A lot of journalists were saying that Spurs had a very strong squad, certainly a top four squad. This is certainly still true today. We have some quality jigsaw pieces but no-one seems to know what the finished picture looks like. That is the role of the coach. I like AVB. However, it is worrying that we do not seem to have enough variety in our plan B's. We seem to put another player in the same system and hope that sparks everything to life. I still can't recall a game that AVB has turned around due to a tactical or personnel change. I have never seen Spurs play a back three for instance. Kaboul can also play at right back, Vertonghen can also play at left back. A back three of Vertonghen/Chiriches/Kaboul would have balance and would give you another 'system' option rather than just putting another peg in the same hole.
ReplyDeleteI posted this comment yesterday on another blog. I think it applies here too...
ReplyDeleteThere are some fundamental principles that apply in any managerial situation, whether at a football club, an office, or a factory. To cover them all would take a book but here are a few basics.
1. Get your recruiting right.
2. Train your staff [for staff you can read players] properly in roles they are suited to.
3. Devise strategies that maximise their strong points and minimise weaknesses.
4. Do not expect them to perform well if you take them out of their comfort zone, ie don’t put square pegs in round holes.
5. Do not create situations that are setting your staff up to fail.
6. Recognising problems and devising means to overcome them.
All these things are pretty basic and obvious, and each could be expanded upon considerably for which I don’t have room here.
My point is that I have seen absolutely no indication that AVB has followed, is aware of, or can comprehend, any of these principals. I’ve seen lots of posts/blogs saying he is a “good manager”, all he needs is time etc. But has he showed any of the above? The answer is no. If he had I might accept the “give him more time” premise.
The evidence is not good, for example if you accept the argument that we are not scoring because Soldado is not suited to the lone striker role then AVB has not followed principles 1 3 4 5 or 6.
Inverted wingers go against principles 3 and 4.
These are just two examples I could go on but I really can’t be bothered, the man is not and never will be a decent manager. He has become entrenched, as Einstein said “madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”. There is no evidence that I have seen to indicate that we are going to turn it round either now or in the future under this man.
Vertonghen needs to suck it up and stop crying. He's a bit too wimpy for me sometimes. Yes, we know LB is not his favorite position. Yes, we know he'd rather play at CB. But guess what? S*^t happens, our LBs are all hurt and you're the next best thing. And it's only temporary. Would I like to see him and Vlad as our two starters in the middle? Yes. Kaboul's performance was horrible on Sunday. He's not fit. And while the consensus is that Lloris cost Spurs the first goal, if you watch it back, it's Kaboul who is at fault for ball watching and not chasing it down the moment Lloris punches it away from goal. He just stands there. Why Capoue didn't start next to Sandro is a mystery to me. Spurs are allowed to park the bus too in away games, and wearing down the opposition in the first half isn't exactly a radical or new strategy. The City midfield needed to be shutdown and Paulinho needs a week or two break. He looks wiped out.
ReplyDelete