Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

[Kingdawson]

Re: AVB The Facts

AVB said at first he expected us to challenge on all 4 fronts. He has also said a top 4 finish is a must. We can't afford this to be a transitional season. I was quite pleased with his appointment and I'll back him but honest first impressions? Clown. Ramos all over again.

This is a very good point but sadly it's being ignored.

People keep talking about transitional season and about AVB being left without 2 top players but AVB himself has continuously stated the goal is top 4 and do well in the cups. If he was unhappy about the transfer dealings he could have lowered our expectations by stating that this may be a transitional season, or this may take time, but AVB says it's a must we finish top 4. Why then should i lower my expectations when the manager is telling me what his goals are?

If you saw my posts before i made it known i didn't want AVB BUT i also said i'd accept top 6 providing we're making steady progress and buying young, hungry footballers. I like the signings AVB has made but his decisions on the pitch are a calamity so far. I never thought he was this tactical genius people kept speaking about and so far i see:

1) 4-5-1 and when things don't go well 4-4-2 and if/when we score 4-5-1 again.

2) Jake Livermore starting

3) always taking Sandro off and keeping Livermore on

4) Not giving Sigurddson a chance to finish the game or at least get more than 60 minutes.

5) Jermain Defoe in a 4-5-1



Just utter crap really. I'll give him around 5 games where he plays his prefered system with his prefered players but if we play like the last 2 games where we can't create chances against poor teams at home (ok WBA are decent but still) then that's it for me.

 

[Crab.C.Nesbitt]

Re: AVB The Facts

No it's not. We cannot afford to draw these games if we are to have any chance of getting 4th place this year. He also got 2/3 subs wrong, should have swapped Livermore for dembele and should not have brought thudd on, speaking of unfit players why the fudge did he bring him on. From that point we just invited them to attack us and we did nothing in attack

 

[Mr Gogolak]

Re: AVB The Facts

First of all, I don't think the players' age has much to do with anything, unless you're more interested in resale value than actual performances on the pitch. For various reasons, the average lifespan of a football player at a club is around 3-4 years so, basically, whether the guy is 22 or 27 doesn't make much difference. Ferguson's success with ManUtd has apparently imprinted the idea that you need kids to win something while statistics actually show the opposite.

In any case, valuations are another matter entirely. The various fees, the wages and contract length and the attitude of the selling club can all have a huge impact on a player's price. His age is just one data amongst others.

Having said that, I can't think of many managers who won something big during their first season at a new club. Mourinho, perhaps, but he manages clubs of a different standing and his teams tend to do better on his second year. Personally, I wouldn't complain with a Top 6 finish this season and a good cup run, regardless of our squad. Anything less than that would reflect poorly on Villas Boas' ability though.

 

[DaveYid]

Re: AVB The Facts

SAF had 3 brick seasons before he won a trophy

Some want to kick AVB out after 3 games



Some of the comments on here a quite frankly embarassing

Almost as embarrassing as the comments made about Harry after 3 very good seasons

 

[Spaceman]

Re: AVB The Facts

So I saw AVBs post match interview stating we played well the 2nd half but I hadn't come around to watching the game yet. I finally watched it and if that's what he calls playing well, against Norwich city at home, well then we're in for a long long season ahead.

this

 

[Spaceman]

Re: AVB The Facts

AVB said at first he expected us to challenge on all 4 fronts. He has also said a top 4 finish is a must. We can't afford this to be a transitional season. I was quite pleased with his appointment and I'll back him but honest first impressions? Clown. Ramos all over again.

feel exactly the same

 

[Crab.C.Nesbitt]

Re: AVB The Facts

I like the fact that everyone seems to suddenly know the state of fitness within our squad.


Starters? How do you know ade and dembele are fully fit? You don't.

Subs? The only one he got wrong yesterday was taking off Sandro instead of livermore. That's 1 in 3.

Tactics? That's far more difficult to see, all we can say was the tactics did not work, unless of course you were there during training sessions and could enlighten us to exactly what the tactical instructions given to the team were?


'badly wrong'.. So we drew 1-1 twice and lost by one goal to Saudi Sportswashing Machine and this is 'badly wrong'? That's exaggerating things a lot.

As I'll warrant may not be match fit but what leads you to assume dembele is not, then especially after monstering the manure midfield. your assumption that they are unit has no more basis in fact then the assumption that they did not start for tactical reasons

 

[ArcspacE]

Re: AVB The Facts

This is a very good point but sadly it's being ignored.

People keep talking about transitional season and about AVB being left without 2 top players but AVB himself has continuously stated the goal is top 4 and do well in the cups. If he was unhappy about the transfer dealings he could have lowered our expectations by stating that this may be a transitional season, or this may take time, but AVB says it's a must we finish top 4. Why then should i lower my expectations when the manager is telling me what his goals are?

If you saw my posts before i made it known i didn't want AVB BUT i also said i'd accept top 6 providing we're making steady progress and buying young, hungry footballers. I like the signings AVB has made but his decisions on the pitch are a calamity so far. I never thought he was this tactical genius people kept speaking about and so far i see:

1) 4-5-1 and when things don't go well 4-4-2 and if/when we score 4-5-1 again.

2) Jake Livermore starting

3) always taking Sandro off and keeping Livermore on

4) Not giving Sigurddson a chance to finish the game or at least get more than 60 minutes.

5) Jermain Defoe in a 4-5-1



Just utter crap really. I'll give him around 5 games where he plays his prefered system with his prefered players but if we play like the last 2 games where we can't create chances against poor teams at home (ok WBA are decent but still) then that's it for me.

Just 2 things

- He 'set' those expectations (cups, Top 4) when he first signed - i.e. before we lost VdV and Modric and failed to sign Moutinho, Willian or whatever other targets HE had in mind (not Levy). Perhaps he might re-evalueate now, I'm not sure.

- he went back to 1 upfront presumably to keep the score (strange one against Norwich at home) - that's my explanation at least

 

[ArcspacE]

Re: AVB The Facts

Can we afford three brick seasons? Hell one brick season and we are likely to struggle to hold onto the rest of our good players, having already lost the two best players this season!

I agree that avb needs to be given time and backing, and levy deserves to come in for serious criticism for failing to properly back avb this window. These facts should not disguise the fact that avb has got his starters, substitutions and tactics badly wrong in the opening three games, not he most promising start to his career!

I didn't suggest we need to give him 3 season first - simply calling for some perspective and allowing him time to settle in, instead of booing at half-time which only makes the situation worse.

Also - as you said - he had to settle for 2nd best on his original targets so Levy needs to be as patient with him as he is with spending large amount of money

 

[Mr Cracker]

Re: AVB The Facts

I like the fact that everyone seems to suddenly know the state of fitness within our squad.


Starters? How do you know ade and dembele are fully fit? You don't.

Subs? The only one he got wrong yesterday was taking off Sandro instead of livermore. That's 1 in 3.

Tactics? That's far more difficult to see, all we can say was the tactics did not work, unless of course you were there during training sessions and could enlighten us to exactly what the tactical instructions given to the team were?


'badly wrong'.. So we drew 1-1 twice and lost by one goal to Saudi Sportswashing Machine and this is 'badly wrong'? That's exaggerating things a lot.

It is when its WBA and Norwich we draw against AT HOME !

 

[Kingdawson]

Re: AVB The Facts

Just 2 things

- He 'set' those expectations (cups, Top 4) when he first signed - i.e. before we lost VdV and Modric and failed to sign Moutinho, Willian or whatever other targets HE had in mind (not Levy). Perhaps he might re-evalueate now, I'm not sure.

- he went back to 1 upfront presumably to keep the score (strange one against Norwich at home) - that's my explanation at least

1) He's been saying top 4 as recently as a week or so ago when it was clear as day Modric was leaving. In fact i'm of the belief that he was made aware that Luka would probably leave when he first took over tbh. As for VDV i don't think AVB actually cared if he left (going by his own comments in press conferences) so that was his call .Regardless the team is filled with superior player to both Norwich and WBA so you'd expect to actually be able to create a few clear cut chances but we can't even do that. Very worrying

2) Yep i think that's what he was doing too but Jesus it's Norwich at home. It's not like we're playing City or united and grabbed a goal lead. Again very worrying.

 

[ALtottenham_hotspur]

Re: AVB The Facts

And you somehow know that's what his instructions from Levy are?

I see another possibility, where Levy wants to change the setup behind the scenes to bring long term stability and success, instead of constantly signing 30 somethings as stop gaps. We can't sustain a wage bill containing highly paid, ageing mercenaries with no resale value, especially if they're not even playing. If we want to pay our best players more we'll need cut the wages of the backups. Hopefully we can get in a position where we won't have to sign expensive stars every transfer window, even if we occasionally have to let one go.

Your right Jordinho I dont know what Levy's instructions are. I can only make an educated guess, the same as your doing with Levy wants to change the setup.

Your right we have sold or released a few 30 somethings that were stop gaps, Ryan Neilsen 34 and Louis Saha 33, and Steven Pienaar 30. Our wage bill may have come down with them going, and the players that have arrived will have a resale value. There is evidence for your argument and there is evidence for my argument those players brought into the club are younger fitter and better quality then those who have been shipped out.

AVB has talked about winning the title and winning cups, he hasn't said when but he has talked about it. Again I believe Levy would have given AVB a target of 4th place, why replace Harry with someone worse, Harry had a record of 4th, 5th, and 4th it makes no sense to replace him with a manager who couldnt at least bring those same results.

 

[Hully]

Re: AVB The Facts

tickle my balls with a feather,as a club we have to start looking long team, a lot of the squad AVB inherited was full of ageing players with no long term future. Fans have been winging for ages about getting rid of the dead wood and ageing layers which we have done ( Bassong, Dos Santos, Nicko,Corluka, Saha, Nielsen,) now the same fans are moaning about moving to many players.

You sound like one of the 'in Arsen we trust' lot down the road. In a couple of years we'll have a great side... Football moves a lot quicker than that. Focus on what we have not what we'd like to have.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

Re: AVB The Facts

He inherited a team that got 5 points from 8 games at the back of the season.

Since then we have sold our best player an another one of our best.

All the other teams have strengthened. We bought 3 players in the last 3 days leaving no time to bed them in for the starting line up.

We got 1 more point in this figure than we did last season despite having a weakened starting line up.

And finally, shut the fck up with the sack avb nonsense already. We are going to talk ourselves into a relegation battle.

Are you AVB's PR man or something? Talk about being selective in your arguments!

 

[fuzzydunlop]

Re: AVB The Facts

Most Chelsea fans I know said that some of AVB's tactical substitutions were baffling at times.

So far I'd agree with them. He really worries me tactically. Defoe off for Jenas 1-0 up at home to WBA, and yesterday Defoe off for Hudd 1-0 up. Going defensive at home to these sides? Seriously?

Thats not to mention leaving Livermore on instead of Sandro.

Very worrying.

 

[billyiddo]

Re: AVB The Facts

Most Chelsea fans I know said that some of AVB's tactical substitutions were baffling at times.

So far I'd agree with them. He really worries me tactically. Defoe off for Jenas 1-0 up at home to WBA, and yesterday Defoe off for Hudd 1-0 up. Going defensive at home to these sides? Seriously?

Thats not to mention leaving Livermore on instead of Sandro.

Very worrying.

i don't think reverting to our starting formation is the same as 'going defensive' - you'd assume that as our staring formation it should be our most comfortable way of playing - so once in front i can see the logic of switching back if im honest. but then twice it in two games it has happened shortly before conceding an equalizer, so maybe there is something in it - or may be it is just a coincidence

 

[chicken_badge]

Re: AVB The Facts

Can we afford three brick seasons? Hell one brick season and we are likely to struggle to hold onto the rest of our good players, having already lost the two best players this season!

I agree that avb needs to be given time and backing, and levy deserves to come in for serious criticism for failing to properly back avb this window. These facts should not disguise the fact that avb has got his starters, substitutions and tactics badly wrong in the opening three games, not he most promising start to his career!

We can afford three brick season if it then brings a dozen titles and two European cups thanks.

Both scenarios are ridiculous of course AVB won't last three bad years . But no one is suggesting that for a second just the principle that you need to give the guy time before remotely casting judgement.

 

[fuzzydunlop]

Re: AVB The Facts

i don't think reverting to our starting formation is the same as 'going defensive' - you'd assume that as our staring formation it should be our most comfortable way of playing - so once in front i can see the logic of switching back if im honest. but then twice it in two games it has happened shortly before conceding an equalizer, so maybe there is something in it - or may be it is just a coincidence

Maybe coincidence yes. But I'm thinking more in terms of going on and looking for the second goal to kill the game off. If the starting formation isn't working, which it clearly wasn't, and we change it and go 1-0 up, then why the hell go back to the formation that wasn't working again? Really doesn't make sense to me! Stick with what is working, and don't invite pressure on.

 

[ringo]

Re: AVB The Facts

There is a lot of talk about the team being in transition under AVB. What I don't get is why there is any need for transition. We got 4th, CL football in almost any other year, and were a couple of players short of a great side, playing wonderful to watch football. Yes, we were about to lose a key player - but surely the sensible thing to do would have been to try and replace that player as best we could with a like for like. Not dismantle the entire team and the way we play.

If my sports car's performance isn't quite up to scratch, it gets a bit of fine tuning. When a part is worn out, I might replace it or if I had the money ask the manufacturer to design a better one. But I don't take the whole care to bits and then reassemble it into something entirely different in the hope I might get just a few more mph out of it.

Evolution, not revolution was what Spurs needed.

 

[Pirate55]

Re: AVB The Facts

tickle my balls with a feather,as a club we have to start looking long team, a lot of the squad AVB inherited was full of ageing players with no long term future. Fans have been winging for ages about getting rid of the dead wood and ageing layers which we have done ( Bassong, Dos Santos, Nicko,Corluka, Saha, Nielsen,) now the same fans are moaning about moving to many players out.

King was finished and both Modric and VDV wanted out for their own reasons. Lets give AVB a chance, 3 games into his management and we already have the knee jerkers, Redknapp supporters shouting and bawling about him destroying our team. Madness.

This. Patience, patience, dear fellow yids. I know its hard and painful and noone is enjoying it at the moment. But lets wait a bit shall we before jumping to judgement.

SAF would have been sacked by MU if he were to be judged on his early results. Now look what he has achieved.