Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

[Jordinho]

Livermore was out injured for a while, but it was obvious he wasn't good enough.

 

[Modric THFC]

When people say he 'deserved criticism' earlier on what does this mean? What exactly was he doing wrong? If we accept that implementing new ways of thinking, tactics and coaching methods will take time, is he then doing something wrong because of a natural bedding in period?

What I'm trying to say I guess, is that the people who backed him from the start even through the results and performances weren't great deserve a bit of credit for sticking with him and seeing a broader picture, rather than simply saying he's doing something wrong because we didn't see an instant boost in performances.

For some AVB will always be too negative. Defending a 2 goal lead is not on for some, they're prefer to see us Ossie Ardiles it out for a 4-4 in the Tottenham way.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

For some AVB will always be too negative. Defending a 2 goal lead is not on for some, they're prefer to see us Ossie Ardiles it out for a 4-4 in the Tottenham way.

Hehe...thing is I don't even think he's that negative, he's just pragmatic and a winner. It's obvious from what he has said before what his preferred style of football is, but if he's got the slowpokes Dawson and Gallas against an attack containing Suarez and Sterling he's damn well going to go with a deeper line and hold on to a 2 goal lead. The team probably needs to learn how to counter attack better when defending deep rather than just hoofing clear, but we are getting the results. And we can really only get better.

 

[Icelander]

Hehe...thing is I don't even think he's that negative, he's just pragmatic and a winner. It's obvious from what he has said before what his preferred style of football is, but if he's got the slowpokes Dawson and Gallas against an attack containing Suarez and Sterling he's damn well going to go with a deeper line and hold on to a 2 goal lead. The team probably needs to learn how to counter attack better when defending deep rather than just hoofing clear, but we are getting the results. And we can really only get better.

Great point. Liverpool tried this against us, especially early on. You could see, everytime one of their players went up to press, and made a challenge to get the ball that seemed likely to be successful, the 2-4 players around him immediately sprinted forward. I remember one instance where this happened and we nearly created a cracking chance because Dembele(I think) stood off the challenge.

Cheatski are another good example. We're just too slow at times turing defense into attack, but GHod knows we have the speed to be deadly on the counter. Is it a coaching thing or a player mentality thing?

 

[JPG_357]

So far overall AVB is doing really well.

 

[Jurgen the German]

For some AVB will always be too negative. Defending a 2 goal lead is not on for some, they're prefer to see us Ossie Ardiles it out for a 4-4 in the Tottenham way.

No, it's not on when we try to defend leads when we aren't good enough to do it. By all means, if you have a defense like Chelsea did under Mourinho, then look to shut up shop if you've got a comfortable lead, but we've kept two clean sheets all season, we don't have a good enough defense to do it.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

No, it's not on when we try to defend leads when we aren't good enough to do it. By all means, if you have a defense like Chelsea did under Mourinho, then look to shut up shop if you've got a comfortable lead, but we've kept two clean sheets all season, we don't have a good enough defense to do it.

Most of our games where we have tried to defend leads deep this season it has actually worked. Man United away, Southampton away, Liverpool at home etc.

Against Chelsea we simply weren't good enough, against Emirates Marketing Project away we were playing a high line, against Arsenal we went for it even with ten men. But most of the time defending deep has actually saw us cling on to points this season.

 

[Spursalot]

Most of our games where we have tried to defend leads deep this season it has actually worked. Man United away, Southampton away, Liverpool at home etc.

Against Chelsea we simply weren't good enough, against Emirates Marketing Project away we were playing a high line, against Arsenal we went for it even with ten men. But most of the time defending deep has actually saw us cling on to points this season.

And that's with our third and fourth choice Cb's too..


Hopefully we'll get to field 1st and 2nd soon.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Great point. Liverpool tried this against us, especially early on. You could see, everytime one of their players went up to press, and made a challenge to get the ball that seemed likely to be successful, the 2-4 players around him immediately sprinted forward. I remember one instance where this happened and we nearly created a cracking chance because Dembele(I think) stood off the challenge.

Cheatski are another good example. We're just too slow at times turing defense into attack, but GHod knows we have the speed to be deadly on the counter. Is it a coaching thing or a player mentality thing?

To be fair I think we are usually really good on the counter, even this season. It's just sometimes I guess the focus will be on maintaining the lead at all costs, or simply getting the result. In time I think the players will become more comfortable but until then, a progression towards that so as to not complicate matters seems to work well.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Most of our games where we have tried to defend leads deep this season it has actually worked. Man United away, Southampton away, Liverpool at home etc.

Against Chelsea we simply weren't good enough, against Emirates Marketing Project away we were playing a high line, against Arsenal we went for it even with ten men. But most of the time defending deep has actually saw us cling on to points this season.

West Brom at home we tried the same thing and it backfired. Same thing when we lost away to Norwich in the cup. Almost happened against Liverpool too. I would be fine if he decided to shut up shop and we actually looked comfortable, but we don't! We've been clinging on to leads far too often already this season.

I don't blame AVB for the team defending deep because that's just something defenders will always do, even though it's wrong. The natural instinct is to defend deeper and deeper.

 

[Kingdawson]

Most of our games where we have tried to defend leads deep this season it has actually worked. Man United away, Southampton away, Liverpool at home etc.

Against Chelsea we simply weren't good enough, against Emirates Marketing Project away we were playing a high line, against Arsenal we went for it even with ten men. But most of the time defending deep has actually saw us cling on to points this season.

Didn't we try and defend leads vs Norwich and WBA too?

 

[Kingdawson]

Oh ok Jurgen has touched on it but i meant the league game vs Norwich.

 

[africanspurs]

For me, there is a clear, clear intent for our full-backs to be more like wing-backs and for our wide men to tuck inside behind the main striker whenever possible. Bale and Lennon have both been working the channels better than ever this season/cutting in at angles on goal when possible. The first goal last night is the sort of goal we've all been crying out for yet not seen for ages; Bales blisters, Lennon tucks inside off the back post for the chance.

I think there's a far greater emphasis put on retention too; Daws is certainly pumping long balls less frequently than I ever remember, and there is a general protection of the ball which (to my eyes) sees every pass considered in percentage terms and if there isn't a clean one available then the ball is kept/knocked around until such a time as space opens up. Dembele benefits from this as he usually ends up with space in the middle to roam providing we can keep the ball. That's our major issue right now, keeping it. Luka would be perfect. Moutinho would be good too.

And yes, there is an obvious premium on pressing the ball higher up the pitch/squeezing the out-space for the opposition. Problem comes, as King and others have said, when you hit the fatigue wall, and after 3 in 7 with that style played, I think we ran out of steam last night and rode our luck...

i know its a bit late in the day to reply to this but the full backs thing is down to personell. for instance vertonghen doesnt even remotely look like a wing back..or act like one. clearly he shouldnt impede bales option. kyle walker annoyingly has been doing his wing back thing for years .....even chimbonda acted like a winger. this isnt avb's thing

with regards to wingers coming infield. again look to last season when harry was getting stick for just that. again nothing new there. i will say that lennons positioning is better under avb's regime than last season IMO

ball retention is down to personell plus we did that last year and the year before. dawson's long ball was to crouch...and to wingers, you see less cause we dont have crouch. when dawson first came back this season he made quite a few long balls to the wide men actually. so that hasnt left.

am surprised that you think our ball retention is better now than before? its odd cause all we did last 2 or 3 seasons is control the ball

and this pressing thing......i dont see it. or maybe we are just crap at it. we do it in bursts for sure, but it isnt a thing that i am consistently noticing

 

[parklane1]

You want my honest opinion? I don't think you liked Redknapp and you're letting it cloud your emotions. For 15 games last season we were playing our best football since the 80's. The whole team was fluid and played some lovely stuff. I am not sure what you regard as playing as a team, but for me this season we have been too reliant on Bale and I am looking forward to seeing what we can do without him. I don't think we have played well as a team yet this season, we look very disjointed at times. But we are also playing a much more rigid system this year and it will take time for certain players to adjust.

Lennon was my player of the season last year. People blame all sorts of things for our bad points return after the turn of the New Year, but during that run of games our performances weren't that bad but we just couldn't create much. All of that coincide with Lennon being injured. He returns for the last few games and we end up with an excellent 10pts from 12pts. No co-incidence for me.

Well as i have already said Stop! Hammer time and i disagree, i am certainly not letting Redknapp cloud my emotions at all, i am talking about what i can see with my own eyes. Most of the games we played well in last year was more to do with the individual performance of players ( notably Modric, VDV, Bale ), under AVB i can see the team working more as a team and not depending on a bit of special play as much as before.

We are not all the way there yet but its obvious ( to me) that we are developing more as a compact team, but as i say Stop! Hammer time. I agree that we missed Lennon badly but that backs up my opinipn about us being more of a individual team then a compact team which is what AVB is trying to build.

 

[africanspurs]

So far overall AVB is doing really well.

he is actually. extremely well would be the grade after this weeks snapshot

 

[Pirate55]

No, it's not on when we try to defend leads when we aren't good enough to do it. By all means, if you have a defense like Chelsea did under Mourinho, then look to shut up shop if you've got a comfortable lead, but we've kept two clean sheets all season, we don't have a good enough defense to do it.

And its boring as brick to watch. With our defence, we just need to keep attacking and not cede the initiative like we have done is so many games this season.

 

[Pirate55]

Yep no one can be certain that he will be a huge success here, but all the signs are ( imo) that he will certainly improve our team play and he has already shown that certain players will look better with his training ( Defoe, Lennon are jusr two who look far better).

You were making some valid points until that comment about Lennon. He has really done very little offensively this season (i know he works hard and puts in a shift defensively). IMO he looked a far better player in previous seasons.

 

[charlietheyid]

The players seem to like AVB which is normal when a team is doing well.

And we are doing very well. We will in be for the CL positions until the end of the season, thats for sure. The good thing is we have already been away to places like United, City, Arsenal, Saudi Sportswashing Machine where we historically dont get points. And thats not the kind of fixtures you want at the end of the season chasing for 4th. It will be very close but this year Arsenal havent got Van persie. Giroud will be a fantastic player for them, but never as key as Van Persie was.

When you consider that We havent used adebayor as we would have liked, that Dembele as been out for a while aswell, and that players like parker, assou ekotto and kaboul coming back will give us a boost.

The other good thing is that we now have a proper goalkeeper. Someone who will be in goals for years, and trust me he will be fantastic for us.

We still need a couple of signings in January, maybe a left back to get vertonghen back to his usual position. Also think we need a center back. Gallas is slower every game and dawson can do a job but not a long term solution if we want to aim for big things.

A right winger would also do, to wake Lennon up, because he does defend well but does fudge all going forward.

 

[thfcsteff]

i know its a bit late in the day to reply to this but the full backs thing is down to personell. for instance vertonghen doesnt even remotely look like a wing back..or act like one. clearly he shouldnt impede bales option. kyle walker annoyingly has been doing his wing back thing for years .....even chimbonda acted like a winger. this isnt avb's thing

with regards to wingers coming infield. again look to last season when harry was getting stick for just that. again nothing new there. i will say that lennons positioning is better under avb's regime than last season IMO

ball retention is down to personell plus we did that last year and the year before. dawson's long ball was to crouch...and to wingers, you see less cause we dont have crouch. when dawson first came back this season he made quite a few long balls to the wide men actually. so that hasnt left.

am surprised that you think our ball retention is better now than before? its odd cause all we did last 2 or 3 seasons is control the ball

and this pressing thing......i dont see it. or maybe we are just crap at it. we do it in bursts for sure, but it isnt a thing that i am consistently noticing

I agree, Verts is not in any way a wing-back, but he is skilled and largely pretty decent at retaining possession (plus plays there for Belgium) so he is the natural replacement. But as shown when City went 3 at the back and brought Maicon on, he is lost at wing-back.

The wingers infield...it's not just about coming infield, it's about how and when. Lennon and Bale are working the channels a lot more, they're doing more of the Robben/Duff thing than last season, and it's taken Walker a while to get used to that IMO. I think when Benny comes back, Verts goes to middle and Caulker/Kaboul are alongside him, we will have a back 4 of high high quality where the full-backs can wing-back it knowing the CB's are smart/zippy enough to cover.

I actually DON'T think our ball retention is necessarily better, but I think the system is being developed to make it better and I think we're getting closer every week. Watch our defense; less long percentage balls, far more passing around. When Dembele's fit in the middle it all comes alive even more so, he is such an important factor for us. yes, regarding Daws it's why AVB didn't pick him for a while and why I have been impressed watching him try to adapt his natural game; I haven't seen him play less long % passes in a season ever. he's made a lion-hearted effort and I applaud him for that. I have lamented Luka's departure publicly for a while. So much of our play and system was routed through him for three seasons that is's natural we would take time finding our feet with a whole new system.

I think the pressing game, so to speak, is developing. We controlled both the West Ham and Fulham matches IMO...

Good to see you here Affy, hope all's good
Steff

 

[thfcsteff]

A lot of people are just short term reactionary thinkers. Nothing is proved with AVB yet. He hasn't proven himself to be an excellent manager for us, or a bad manager for us. It will take longer than a season before he can be judged in my view. Just look at Gerry Francis all those years ago. First year and a bit in charge was fantastic but a couple of years after that? Oh dear!

It's a very interesting comparison.
I remember it well too.
I think the MAIN difference is that Francis took over a side in a genuinely false position (he literally got given 6 points back right after Ossie got the tin tack) plus Ossie's squad was electric with exciting talent.
Things went downhill when he lost the likes of Popsecu, Klinsmann and Barmby. The replacements were, well...

Be interested to know how you view Armstrong in retrospect? I thought he was overrated at the time, but somewhere in my memory I recall that him and Teddy were actually pretty prolific. I remember feeling he was horrifically one-footed.

I often wonder what would've happened if Francis had signed Zidane, and I can only ever conclude that France wouldn't have won the World Cup and Zidane might've ended up at Middlesborough!!!!!!!