Tim Sherwood's Big Balls

Article by David Levy

It has been 3 weeks since AVB was dismissed as Spurs manager. 3 weeks!

I have to double check that as it feels like a longer amount of time since then due to the relentless fixtures and the roller-coaster ride that is Tottenham Hotspur.

As we have had a whole 6 day break this will be a good time to assess the last 3 weeks of Tim and Co’s reign.

Played 6, Won 3, Lost 2, Drawn 1

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The results, as always, don’t just speak for themselves. They are mixed in terms of what they mean for the club and also don’t paint the entire picture with regards to the performances.

Our two losses came in the domestic cup competitions which we obviously no longer have a chance of winning. On the flip side we have kept pace with the teams above us in the league ,taking 10 points from the last possible 12, throwing away 2 points at home to West Brom but also beating Man United and Southampton away in the process.

There are 2 general schools of thought about Tim Sherwood that I have managed to pick up on from forum hopping and talking to other fans. One group seem to have accepted the card we have been dealt and are willing to give a bit of time and understanding to our new coaching setup based on the circumstances. The other group appeared to have written off Tim before he had even managed his first game and still seem to be irked more by his mistakes than they are pleased by the apparent steadying of the ship.

Things have by no means been smooth sailing since he took over, I’ll be the first to admit that. Losing to West Ham at home again, fielding no recognised defensive midfielder in a couple of games and a lethargic display against Arsenal have all shown that there is, of course, room for improvement. But what else would you expect.

To take over a team at the start of the festive period is not an easy task due to the 2 game a week fixture schedule. The games come so fast that it is unlikely there is time for a new coach to fully instil their tactics into a group of players who, in our case, were clearly very rigidly drilled by the previous coach. On top of that we have also had a depleted squad due to injuries, most damagingly in defensive areas.

This has hurt us to a degree as Tim has installed a less rigid formation that is attack minded and our defensive casualties have perhaps highlighted how important those players are to the team. The Dawson and Chiriches partnership has been exposed on a number of occasions, however I would say no more than our defence under AVB and as attested to before, there has been little time to train and therefore solidify any new tactics Tim and Co wish to employ at the back.

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Not only at the back, our formation in general is still taking shape. I despise how the media have somehow used 3 numbers separated by 2 dashes to paint Tim as an archaic tactician resorting to 90s style football because he doesn't know what he is doing. The subtext is there.

We are not playing 4-4-2. It is a myth and I'm truly shocked at how many pundits keep banging this drum. Whilst true in the literal sense in the fact that we have 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and 2 attackers on the pitch, it is being used to describe how our side is strategically approaching the game. This doesn’t do what is happening on the pitch justice. I’ve maybe heard it mentioned once by a match commentator that we play a more 4-3-3 formation when pushing forward and more of a 4-5-1 when defending.

This obviously still needs work and as of this week Tim has a number of players back in training which will give him further options to play with. No matter what he, Chris Ramsey and Les Ferdinand decide to do it will not be archaic football from an earlier era.

We currently have a manager who has worked his way up through the club and knows it well. He is clearly an ambitious guy and will want to have success at what he is doing. He is an ex player, he knows what a winning mentality is and you can tell by the way the players have responded to his appointment there is a mutual respect there.

He has already shown he is not afraid to give young talent a chance to prove themselves on the big stage and this is what we as fans should want to see a lot more of. We should want our youth to break into the first team and shine and to be currently on the cusp of being able to do so with a number of of youth prospects is in part down to Tim too.

It kind of sounds like I’m trying to start a Tim Sherwood fan club here and I have to admit, I’m not averse to the guy. I like the way he comes across in interviews. Admittedly he sounded a little bit weird after the Arsenal game, but for the most part I like the way he speaks his mind. He showed real balls after the United game by first and foremost saying that we could have and should have played better, not immediately basking in the victory.

I do have my concerns though, as all Spurs fans should do. We are in unchartered territory right now and believing in Spurs is as hard as it has ever been. He IS unexperienced…. there is no getting around that fact and as the weeks go on we will find out well and truly if the ‘Tactically Naïve’ brand that had been pressed into Tim's forehead is indeed fair. With no pre-season I can understand the need to trial one or two things in our games no matter how they come across to the fans, but we don’t have time to do this for much longer. We need to be winning every week, ready to pounce when those above us drop points.

Saturday, White Hart Lane, Crystal Palace. Only a win will do.

COYS.

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