Bill Nick understood the Spurs way and what the fans wanted. Bill Nick's team were finesse and grace. AVB's teams are power and brute force. Go one up, hold it. AVB may end up being our most successful manager of all time or may get the boot at the end of the season if we fail to finish top four (and because he has preached revolution not evolution, he does deserve the sack if we fail top four this year) but a Spurs man understanding the Spurs way he'll never be and he'll never compare to Bill Nick.
Bill Nich was an innovator. Yes he built on what he'd learnt playing under Arthur Rowe a decade before, but he wasn't any sort of traditionalist.
Considering how **** our recent history has been (10 years of freefall in the 90s, followed by 10 years of incremental repairs in the 00s), I'm really pleased AVB is ripping everything up and starting again. Our core/culture was rotten.
Football does progress, and 'tippy-tappy fragile' Spurs doesn't suit this time. Nor does Redknapp's 2 or 3 great players 'express yourself and we'll outscore our opponents' approach.
Look how Germany have adapted by spending a decade adding technique to their traditional power (and see how England are struggling because they didn't do the same). Look how Brazil have done completely the opposite and added power to their technique (compared to Spain, who are arguably being left behind; though their high-tempo pressing does compensate). Actually us having Brazil's CM is a sign of how we are on the same journey.
Yes we are big and powerful now. But we also play with the ball and have a lot of possession. I really enjoy watching us play - so controlled, disciplined, technical. We almost play with our opponents, waiting for a time to pick them off.
We've had wonderful maverick players to watch over the last 20 years - Gascoigne, Ginola, Berbatov, van der Vaart, Bale. But this is the best Spurs team I've ever seen by some considerably distance, and by far the best time to be a fan.