Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

[parklane1]

Yes they were. According to some, the only reason we beat United was pure luck. And he isn't becoming 'more adventurous' at all, he's finally getting all his players back and they're finally learning/getting comfortable with, what he wants them to do and how he wants us to play. It will take the rest of the season for the shoes to continue to break in, and the fact he's doing it in such a way that we could well finish in the CL spots would make it a fudging magnificent achievement.

With regards to lack of patience, after a certain amount of years watching I think that excuse goes out the window. You have to look for patterns, look for signs and either see what's going on or choose not to (the third option being they simply don't see it because they CAN'T see it).

I think AVB has shown himself to be class on the pitch and off it. When he was booed by some of the macarons, his response was that the fans have the right as it is their club. No snivelling. No snippiness. No avoiding it a la Benitez. And no gonad*s about the fans being idiots who listen to talk radio...[/QUOTE]



=D>

 

[glorygloryeze]

Agreed 100%, and that was an absolute stinker. But those waffling on about the Stoke game make me laugh...kanoute and all his 'settling for mediocrity' cracked me up. If we were going to 'settle for mediocrity' we'd not have made the summer change of manager we did make!!!!!!

Uh-oh...now you've gone and done it...8-[

 

[thfcsteff]

It does actually. West Brom, Liverpool and Swansea at home are some examples of home games where we took our foot off the pedal. I'd love to see us keep going for it, like we did yesterday. Admittedly, not many teams are as brick as Villa, but I think AVB's tactics were a bit negative at the start of the season, but he's realising that was a mistake and has decided to go for it more which is pleasing as I feel one of his biggest mistakes at Chelsea was his stubbornness.

Mate...a serious question. Before making this comment, did you apply any context? You know, he was new in the job, the pressure was on him because of his past, he lost the fulcrum point of the side (who he tried to sign the summer before) and had to bed in 4 new players PLUS he lost several important players to injuries? And you STILL thought he was a bit too cautious? I wonder why! I mean, the geezer got absolutely gonad*ed on here early doors by some Championship Manager experts who were edging towards 'the tin-tack' line of convo, the papers even tried to say at one point he had three games before we might tin-tack him, I mean, it was pathetic, just pathetic! Yes, I think at home he can maybe relax a little more first-half, but not until recently, when players actually feel comfortable doing what they're meant to do in this way of playing. As for his 'stubborness' at Chelski, the true stubborness surely came from the old guard who refused to learn his methods...

 

[thfcsteff]

Uh-oh...now you've gone and done it...8-[

I know I know...apologies in advance...

 

[DHSF]

i never called YOU a moaning minnie but there are some who have done nothing but bitch about AVB since he got the job, and you know that as well as i do.

I know not me but I can only speak for myself grrrrrrrrr. Morning minnie is a new one haha.

I know there is some bitching but I also understand their reservations and their point of view so I guess thats why I am giving them benefit of the doubt.

I would just say Wigan, Rossi, although that was fudging horrific a car crash of a performance. I really hated the WBA and Norwich performances. The Stoke one not so much then again I wasnt there but did watch it on a shoddy stream and it lacked idea, impetus and any kind of verve and creativity. Like Steff says could be because of them games being early in the season and AVB being new but we will see in the second half of the season.

AVB is doing well but whilst there is improvement I just always feel that there is going to be a bricky two or three game run. I dont expect a performance every game but I just worry that one great performance against a really terrible Villa team masks hidden issues which could be exposed against the likes of Sunderland.

 

[Rossi22]

I also don't get why some fans will claim we were dominated at home by Liverpool but the same fans will then say we were terrible vs Stoke. You can't have it both ways.

 

[glorygloryeze]

I also don't get why some fans will claim we were dominated at home by Liverpool but the same fans will then say we were terrible vs Stoke. You can't have it both ways.

 

[DHSF]

She looks so slutty in that pic

 

[JerusalemMan]

Didn't dominate possession at home to Liverpool nor away to Everton.
Not reading anything into yesterday's game, Villa were awful - great result and performance but not very good opposition!

Would you ever be willing to state the converse after a different type of game and outcome?

"Not reading anything into yesterday's game, Spurs were awful - shocking result and performance but good opposition"

 

[Pandy]

Would you ever be willing to state the converse after a different type of game and outcome?

"Not reading anything into yesterday's game, Spurs were awful - shocking result and performance but good opposition"

I think AVB has been doing a good job but it isn't really the same. Most expect Spurs to do well in every game, we are trying to become a top club so against anyone bar possibly Barcelona, a shocking performance/result is not acceptable. Also, we aren't that far behind Man U, Man C and Chelsea, but the team we put out on Wednesday was miles better than Villa's - aside from the fact that we were away and that they should have been fired up by getting spanked 8-0 at Chelsea, a 4-0 win is not that surprising.
If we lost 4-0 to any team in the Prem I would be fuming and very surprised. It hasn't happened in a long time (in a league game... Chelsea in the FA Cup was a joke anyway and Crouch got sent off after 10 mins at the Bernabeu!).

 

[parklane1]

I know not me but I can only speak for myself grrrrrrrrr. Morning minnie is a new one haha.

I know there is some bitching but I also understand their reservations and their point of view so I guess thats why I am giving them benefit of the doubt.

I would just say Wigan, Rossi, although that was fudging horrific a car crash of a performance. I really hated the WBA and Norwich performances. The Stoke one not so much then again I wasnt there but did watch it on a shoddy stream and it lacked idea, impetus and any kind of verve and creativity. Like Steff says could be because of them games being early in the season and AVB being new but we will see in the second half of the season.

AVB is doing well but whilst there is improvement I just always feel that there is going to be a bricky two or three game run. I dont expect a performance every game but I just worry that one great performance against a really terrible Villa team masks hidden issues which could be exposed against the likes of Sunderland.

You may well be right about that, but its a work in progress and i believe we will not see the best from AVB's team until he has a full summer window to bring in the players to achieve the team we all want.

 

[africanspurs]

I know I know...apologies in advance...

[-([-([-(

in all honesty, that comment explains more and all i need to know about the points i keep arguing with you over redknapp. i often wondered how that was the only thing i differed from you SO GREATLY

you just didnt like him. its that simple

now i dont feel anyway about what you say about him. this is progress

 

[Jurgen the German]

Yes they were. According to some, the only reason we beat United was pure luck. And he isn't becoming 'more adventurous' at all, he's finally getting all his players back and they're finally learning/getting comfortable with, what he wants them to do and how he wants us to play. It will take the rest of the season for the shoes to continue to break in, and the fact he's doing it in such a way that we could well finish in the CL spots would make it a fudging magnificent achievement.

With regards to lack of patience, after a certain amount of years watching I think that excuse goes out the window. You have to look for patterns, look for signs and either see what's going on or choose not to (the third option being they simply don't see it because they CAN'T see it).

I think AVB has shown himself to be class on the pitch and off it. When he was booed by some of the macarons, his response was that the fans have the right as it is their club. No snivelling. No snippiness. No avoiding it a la Benitez. And no gonad*s about the fans being idiots who listen to talk radio...

So even with all the attacking players we still have, regardless of injury, you were happy with the way we played in the first few home games? West Brom have a new manager, and they took the game to us in the 2nd half, and they were the away team.

 

[Rossi22]

We had some teething problems and had to play Sandro and Livermore as our midfield pairing because we didn't have anyone else, when are you going to drop it? If we were still putting in similar performances then you'd have a point but we're not.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Mate...a serious question. Before making this comment, did you apply any context? You know, he was new in the job, the pressure was on him because of his past, he lost the fulcrum point of the side (who he tried to sign the summer before) and had to bed in 4 new players PLUS he lost several important players to injuries? And you STILL thought he was a bit too cautious? I wonder why! I mean, the geezer got absolutely gonad*ed on here early doors by some Championship Manager experts who were edging towards 'the tin-tack' line of convo, the papers even tried to say at one point he had three games before we might tin-tack him, I mean, it was pathetic, just pathetic! Yes, I think at home he can maybe relax a little more first-half, but not until recently, when players actually feel comfortable doing what they're meant to do in this way of playing. As for his 'stubborness' at Chelski, the true stubborness surely came from the old guard who refused to learn his methods...

How many times do I need to say this? I ACCEPT THAT HE HAS LOST KEY PLAYERS DUE TO THEM BEING SOLD. I have said that countless times. I have also acknowledged that Levy mugged him off in the last window. Do me a favour, can you fix it so the above is highlighted in every post regarding AVB? Because I am getting sick of repeating myself.

And why for the love of GHod to you continue to keep banging on about injuries? Are we the only club in world football who has injuries?

What can I say, I still believe regardless of how many injuries we had, that we had the ability to be more adventurous against the likes of West Brom and Norwich AT HOME. Do you think they are better than us? I could accept it if we were playing Man United or Chelsea.

This is the last time I will contribute to this thread as there is clearly no point raising some concerns that we as fans have as you will get instanstly shot down as someone who "can't get over Harry's sacking" or you have some vendetta against AVB simply because were not shooting our load because he won the treble in Portugal.

Let me say this one more time, I expect us to finish between 4th and 6th this season. 5th would be a good start. Anything lower than 6th is a failure I'm afraid.

 

[Jurgen the German]

We had some teething problems and had to play Sandro and Livermore as our midfield pairing because we didn't have anyone else, when are you going to drop it? If we were still putting in similar performances then you'd have a point but we're not.

Erm, we had Dembele against Norwich did we not? When did I say we are still putting in similar performances? My criticism is of the early games, get over it.

 

[thejazzman]

I think its a bit unfair of people to keep placing so much weight on the first couple of games...regardless of who was in the team, i think its clear that they are only just beginning to grasp what it is that the manager wants from them, so I'd put those early shockers down to adjustment. At the moment I think its a combination of adjustment to tactics and poor team selection/unsuitable personnel; good home performances with AVB's setups HINGE on having someone to play incisive passes, which we dont viably have. Sigurddson is beginning to find his feet, so he could be an option, but other than that, who do we seriously have to do that? Falque? that would be a really brave decision, but im unsure how much of a difference that would make. Part of it is also in the movement that our players our used to...Defoe isnt used to playing on the shoulder and looking for through balls, something that he HAS to do in this setup. AVB likes his wide-players to run onto the ball [as seen against villa]...this is something that kind of naturally happens in away matches with more space, but at home neither Bale nor Lennon consistently look to make movements off of their markers...they prefer to face up to full backs and take them on, which isnt really gonna do that much when you've got 10 opposition players behind the ball and defoe in the area. I think that as those two players become more comfortable doing this, and we have a player whose game is based on this, we'll be better at home; imho if we had a player like cazorla we would find things ALOT easier...someone to prompt people to make runs, even when it isnt their natural inclination to do so.

 

[Rossi22]

Erm, we had Dembele against Norwich did we not? When did I say we are still putting in similar performances? My criticism is of the early games, get over it.

You said West Brom. I just don't see the value in still going on about the first few games, what's the point?

 

[parklane1]

You said West Brom. I just don't see the value in still going on about the first few games, what's the point?

Same old point that they have been bashing on since the hero got sacked.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Same old point that they have been bashing on since the hero got sacked.

You're the one who can't let your hatred for the man go. Did you enjoy our champions league campaign or did you enjoy through gritted teeth?

I don't know how old you are, but judging by your posts and your pointless emoticons, I'd say you were about 12. Am I right?