"AVB feels much more at home at Spurs than at Chelsea"

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20Dec

“AVB feels much more at home at Spurs than at Chelsea”

Very few Spurs fans were jumping for joy when André Villas-Boas was offered the manager’s job at White Hart Lane last summer. But the club now sits fourth in the league, and supporters seem to be warming to the Portuguese coach. With the halfway point of the campaign almost upon us, the Life’s a Pitch sofa gang weigh up the contribution made by the 35-year-old so unceremoniously dumped by Chelsea last term.

“I get the impression Villas-Boas feels much more at home with Spurs than he ever did at Chelsea,” claims The People’s Dave Kidd. ”He seems more secure in his own skin, more comfortable with himself. The whole mood of the club seems to suit him better. Mousa Dembélé is possibly the signing of the season. He’s a brilliant all-round midfield player who’s very underrated by a lot of people. That was a masterstroke signing.”

Martin Lipton of the Mirror also believes Villas-Boas has moved to a club that’s more prepared to embrace his methods. “Villas-Boas has gone to a dressing room now that wants to be led, that wants to win, and who will be prepared to listen to everything if they think it will take them over the line,” he says. “Spurs have been close before, but close isn’t good enough; they want to start to win things.”

It’s not a complete AVB love-in, however. Ian Ridley of the Mail on Sunday thinks we should wait a little longer before casting judgement on the former Blues boss’ influence at White Hart Lane. “I’ve still got reservations and doubts about AVB. There is this rigidity about him. He may well be learning to relax into it, but the great coaches have more flexibility,” he says. ”To me, Tottenham are always on the edge of excellence or the cusp of a crisis. It’s one or the other; they don’t yet have the consistency they need to finish in the top four.”

The panel also discuss Tottenham’s prospective signings in the January transfer window.

Watch the full video discussion by clicking on the play button in the image above.

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Follow Life’s a Pitch on Twitter @BTLifesaPitch

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Comments

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http://www.facebook.com/daniel.shevlin1 Danny Shevlin

Lipton talks constant bollocks! He says they aren’t in top 4 form yet they currently sit in the top 4……muppet!
Jardine

“they don’t have the consistency to finish in the top four” – It’s as if people have suddenly forgotten that we’ve finished there twice in the last three seasons. I know it doesn’t guarantee our place this year but this guy’s giving the impression that we’re way off the so called ‘top clubs’ which we’re definitely not
Hootspur

Can’t deny our inconsistency, but who else is consistent other than Reading? Anyone can beat anyone in the PL. I did not jump for joy when AVB came, but I wanted to give him a chance. So far, so good. So these comments at this stage of the season are not unrealistic, especially when you consider that most journo’s loved Arry and mocked AVB. But we’ll see, meantime AVB has my support!
Paul I

I believe in AVB, we play good attacking football, we are 4th, been to Old Trafford and The Emirates. The only thing that can be addressed to his regime as a bad point is the late goals that we allow, but this will be sorted once Kaboul takes his place in our defence. For me Tottenham is right club for him and the future looks bright under AVB
spursguv

Bit difficult to be consistent with half your team missing in your first full season. Taking over a club and managing to keep up with our recent placings is not an easy task, given the manner in which the media tried to crucify him I’d say he’s been outstanding. How many young players has he used already? Far more than previous managers that’s for sure. I guess in a way with a full strength team expectations could become higher. I think AVB will rise to the challenge and Spurs will kick on. Barring more injuries I can’t see us finishing outside the top four. Should we sign one of the major signings we’ve been linked to Spurs have a decent chance of taking on Utd, Citeh and Chelsea. It has been up and down a bit, but I think AVB and Spurs are coming together well.
Duddley

“There is this rigidity about him. He may well be learning to relax into it, but the great coaches have more flexibility”

Rinus Michels, Arrigo Sacchi and Pep Guardiola would indicate otherwise.
Scroobius Mac

Any league finish is relative to the performances of those around you. Whilst Spurs aren’t consistent that being used as a criteria as to them qualifying for the Top 4 assumes there’s 4 teams who are consistently getting better results or have a significant capability to do so. There isn’t. Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton are all inconsistent as well. The requisites for a league position aren’t absolute.
Meh

Seems you can’t read. Wasn’t Lipton (a Spurs fan) who said that but Ian RIdley.
Boon

That’s what you get when pundits don’t know anything much about football tactics, formations and strategies,
Paul J

The problem with AVB at Chelsea (apart from the senior player clique) was that he never seemed to have a Plan B when things were going awry. Tactical changes never happened and pouts were lost.

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