Right...
1) I'll tell you what 'would have happened'...Hugo might've made a mistake, and Hugo would've been fudging pilloried by a slew of 'experts' screaming that the manager doesn't know what he's doing, etc, etc, Hugo might've made another mistake and then wheee-karaumba, kicking season, thus we end up with a devastated talent.
2) Mate. I trust AVB's daily immersion/knowledge in our club and what it needs more than yours.
In a nutshell. He gave Lloris a breaking in period, he gave Brad the sort of respect that helps both player and dressing room unite, we now have a squad that is absolutely together and an experienced back-up keeper/potential future coach who's knowledge, talent and experience you rarely find.
AVB has executed a masterful situation here.
Do you genuinely believe that that this was a likely scenario? Not just a little bit hyperbole? I mean...Julio Cesar could be playing so much better now if only QPR had played Rob Green for the first few months and bedded him in slowly. And I know Van Der Sar, Cech, Reina etc would never have managed to have the careers in England that they've had without spending some quality time on the bench, learning about English culture first. Oh wait. This whole idea about letting him bed in slowly in case he made a mistake and had his confidence destroyed by the media is completely contradictory anyway, the fact that he was out of the side, with Deschamps and co all making noises about how badly this was being managed actually attracted EVEN MORE attention to the situation and put even more pressure on him to perform when he did finally get his chance in the side. Thankfully, Lloris is a world class goalkeeper that has played in big Champions League games and has captained his country at a major international tournament and thrives under pressure.
Friedel is an excellent goalkeeper, one of the best I've seen at Tottenham. But Lloris is better in almost every way - better reactions, quicker off his line, better with the ball at his feet, better distribution, and of course, far more suited to the high line system that AVB has implemented here. I don't think AVB was wrong not to bring Lloris in immediately. Friedel had been our best player over the first 3 games and deserved to keep his place in the side. But after Lloris got our first clean sheet of the season in the Villa game, that should have been that. I think Friedel is a big personality in the dressing room though and AVB, with what happened at Chelsea in mind, didn't want to rock the boat. But then after a while Lloris was getting frustrated and might have caused an upset in the dressing room himself. His first game as first choice was the epitome of throwing him in at the deep end, the derby. Not exactly the most logical thing to do.
Whatever the outcome, you would have said AVB had handled this situation masterfully. Lloris plays well - "ya see, it was because AVB let him blend in slowly". Lloris fudges up - "ya see, he's not ready yet, AVB was right to stick with Friedel". If he'd dropped Friedel from the beginning and Lloris had played well - "ya see, top managers make difficult decisions and he's been rewarded here". If he'd dropped Friedel and Lloris was a bit dodgy - "something about context, can't you see what he's trying to do long term etc..."
The stats don't lie - we have conceded 16 goals in 10 games with Friedel and only 13 goals in 15 games with Lloris. If you take out the game at the Emirates it's 8 in 14 with Lloris. That's an enormous difference. Yes, I know there are other factors, which I'll talk about in a moment, but we are now playing our best keeper, the one most suited to our system, and we are seeing the benefits of it.
What irritated me even more earlier in the season though was AVB's persistence with Gallas despite several shocking performances. Gallas is supposed to be the experienced leader, yet he was as guilty as anyone of panicking and hoofing the ball when not under any pressure, such a stark contrast from Ledley. Not only that, he was being asked to play a high line and a high pressing game. 35 year olds are generally not suited to these kind of tactics, and he often could not keep up with things. As Dawson has won his place back in the side, things have improved a lot, because while he's not the fastest defender around, he is more mobile than Gallas and doesn't tire as much towards the end of games after pressing for such a long time.
Something I absolutely cannot stand a manager doing is picking players who clearly aren't suited to the system they want to play - Graham having us hoofing high balls up to the 5ft tall Rebrov, Hoddle playing an open 3-5-2 formation with no pace or defensive midfielder in the side...now that we are actually playing the right personnel in the right formation we are seeing results. AVB is currently in my good books because he is playing the correct players in the correct formation and getting results. But if we miss out on Champions League football by one point like we did last year, I'll have to wonder...what if Lloris had been there with his quicker reactions to Cahill's opening goal in the Chelsea game, or Dzeko's winner at the Etihad? What if Dawson had been there to head away the corner Wigan scored from, or had stayed closer to Mata for Chelsea's equaliser?
Moving on, I am very happy with our defensive options. I haven't been to impressed by Walker or Assou-Ekotto's attacking play recently and I think full-back is the next priority area for us to strengthen after the striker situation, but we generally look quite solid at the moment. I'm struggling to think of another team with better centre-back options than us, especially when the best one of all gets fit soon. Unfortunately we no longer have Sandro to protect the defence, but Parker is a good backup and I am hoping that Holtby's influence will also help us to keep the ball better and take pressure off of our defence.
yes, you got me, I am actually Harry Redknapp and I am so bitter about being sacked I am looking to defame AVB. Next time you leave your house Joe and Kevin will put a bag over your head and bundle you into the back of a van so I can grind you into mincemeat and feed you to Rosie.
