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12Nov

“There’s certainly a sense that whatever AVB does is wrong”

A string of recent defeats and indifferent performances have left Tottenham boss André Villas-Boas under pressure, only four months into the job. Sunday’s defeat by Manchester City also had some fans demanding to know why top scorer Jermain Defoe was left out of the starting line-up, three days after scoring a hat-trick against Maribor. The Life’s a Pitch team give their thoughts on Villas-Boas’s situation.

“Some of the criticism he is getting at the moment is ridiculous,” says the Sunday Telegraph’s Jason Burt. “It’s premeditated. You’ve got to look at this team that he has inherited and how many players he is missing. You could argue until the cows come home whether he should have played Defoe from the start [against Man City]. If he’d lost that game with Defoe starting, people would have said he should have started with [Emmanuel] Adebayor, because there is certainly a sense that whatever he does is wrong and a lot of people are looking to criticise.”

But the Mail on Sunday’s Ian Ridley disagrees, suggesting Villas-Boas took over a team capable of challenging for the top four. “I’m not anti-Villas-Boas at all. I think the guy is obviously a very promising coach, and he’s fortunate to have inherited such a decent Tottenham side. You say he’s lost some players – of course he has, but he’s fortunate to have inherited enough talent there that is a Champions League-quality side.”

But is the Spurs boss still paying the price for his failure at Chelsea? The People’s Tom Hopkinson thinks so. “I’m convinced there’s a hangover from Chelsea with Villas-Boas, whatever people say. I think we are still judging him on things he did there because things have panned out exactly at Spurs as they did for him at Chelsea.”

The panel also looks ahead to Spurs’ next game, a trip to north London rivals Arsenal on Saturday.

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

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Comments

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  • Spursfan

    Dear long-suffering Spursfans

    Do you still have faith in Levy and AVB? Do you blame AVB? Who appointed him knowing his achievements at Chelsea?
    But who sacked Harry and other recent managers and who sold our best players
    without replacement and who appointed AVB anyway? Levy a Spurs fan? A tough
    negotiator? Or just a money-maker tough businessman? You, the fans to judge.
    I’m just another long-suffering Spursfan.

  • Yorkshire Spur

    Lost faith and hope,We have some great players but he just seems to have shackled them in some odd inflexable system,he needs to ditch his pad and diagrams.or maybe we should just ditch him.

  • POWERSURGE

    He makes a rod for his own back by selecting Friedel no clean sheets

  • http://www.facebook.com/barry.mcpheat Barry McPheat

    Wasn’t it Harry Rednapp that said Spurs would suffer greatly if they lost Modric? didn’t he also say you cant lose players like VDV and expect not to suffer? does anyone really believe a team could suffer loosing those players and then go on to have Dembelle, Ekotto, Parker, Kaboul, Dawson,Huddlestone, Sandro and Adebayor out for long periods and perform like nothing is wrong? Really? media hype that will probebly Rob the premiership of another good manager. Unfortunatly there are some good story’s in football but our lazy media are too shallow to find them. AVB, he’ll do OK if we let him have a chance.

  • POWERSURGE

    When you are under attack you need a top keeper and a settled back four we have neither so we do the thing we are good at the problem his we attack Harry style and he cant stand that Defoe Ady scored three against Maribor we looked good except Naughton silly back pass, The only change is Sandro for Carroll; If he plays the same team against Arsenal we will lose again.

  • dust

    what? the 4-2-3-1 is anything but inflexible, look at the talent on the field, out of the 11, how many would make into man city or man utd…wait or arsenal starting 11. yes Lloris should now get the nod, but outside of that, he has done well with the players he has available.

  • dust

    Finally someone that gets it! all great points Barry

  • B.Kay

    Should have gone to Burnley and taken his paper work with him

  • lillyliver

    I’ve argued this point for ages. Levy would seem to be a tough negotiator and a good businessman but his track record when it comes to managers and transfers is very questionable. It can be argued long into the night that sacking harry was the right or wrong decision but I fail to see how the changes he made have taken the club forward.

  • http://www.facebook.com/barry.mcpheat Barry McPheat

    So, you dont think Spurs have improved as a club since levy took over then? seems to me we were wondering if we would stay up when he took over and for years before that. Now he’s called all sorts of things cos we dont get top four when the teams above us all spend between 50 to 150 Million more year on year. I can tell you now, you will never be happy if you cant be happy watching a team trying against the odds because the billion pound freebee team booster is never coming to the lane.

  • CHalkywhyte

    levys the problem at spurs if he stuck to the finacial side of things then great but he doesnt , he treats spurs fans as idiots as he beleives that whatever he does is ok as the fans will support the team whatever he does with no repercussions , his record with employing managers is rubbish he treated jol like shit cus he fell out with him even though he was our most successfull manager in league performances for years his desire to employ another carlos kickabout manager when things are getting better is beyond me and most others , no hes gone and done it again with sacking redsnapp and replacing him with a chelsea cast off , the ginger gerbill is out of his depth ramos tried the same stuff and failed , if the money paid out on compensation on sacking these managers was instead invested in players and players that we actually need we would be better off but instead we have an unbalanced squad four top goalies but only two and a half strikers crazy , get A BRITISH MANAGER IN GET RID OF WHOEVER IS CHOOSING THE PLAYERS AND LET THE MANAGER DO IT AND GO BACK TO BEING AN ACCOUNTANT LEVY CUS YU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL

  • Leonardod

    Most of you seem to think that Mr.Levy is the problem – although I respect him for his continued support in financing a middle of the range club, he has the absolute right to do as he pleases, buy and sell, hire and fire, until such time a person or persons put their own money where their mouth is, please do not make lame excuses about Mr.Levy. NO ONE is aware what goes on behind closed doors! SPURS need fresh players and why a British manager? I noticed you did not say British players! So please avoid the nationalistic bravado! I am a strong Spurs supporter that bleeds when we lose, but kindly observe the team and who puts in and who doesn’t, there are no replacements for the injuries incurred, Friedel must be replaced, Dempsey must be replaced, Dawson must be sold, Gallas should also depart, Spurs desperately are in need of a good solid defender, a solid midfielder and a young gun striker, then watch us fly! Spurs forever!
    LeonardoD.

  • Graham

    Not convinced !!! He plays a back four including Walker who is sadly out of form. Gallas who at 30+ is showing his age, Caulker still raw and Vertonghen a center half at left back and then sets the team up to be attacked. Really sad to see a Spurs team with only the imagination and game plan to catch a team out on the break and play with so much predictability. Where is the inspiration and ability to change things in this manager. I usually like to give managers time but I’m struggling to find one real impact he has made since he took over. The clubs motto is “To dare is to do”. No dare and no do with this manager !

  • http://www.facebook.com/nick.nicolaou.376 Nick Nicolaou

    spurs should have netted moutinhio as dembeles absent has proven we dont have any other creative midfielders and secondly avb is too stubon to use 2 strikers and he is in sisting in his ways therefore, soon, spurs will continue to slump and he will be sacked, i cannot beleive avb cannot see the obvious or, he can but his stuboness is holding us back at the moment

  • http://www.facebook.com/nick.nicolaou.376 Nick Nicolaou

    your absolutely right, vertonghen canot be an attacking full back as he is too slow, ekkoto is better at that, and all your other points are correct too, we could have done well this season but unfortunately avb has other ideas

  • http://www.facebook.com/nick.nicolaou.376 Nick Nicolaou

    levy has done nothing wrong, he has invested for players for a few seasons now but unfortunately he was tricked into getting avb, levy has tried but has been unlucky.

  • http://www.facebook.com/nick.nicolaou.376 Nick Nicolaou

    avb somehow sold himself to levy, you cannot blame levy as he is trying to appoint the right person, me personaly i would have taken moyes as he was up for it and has great premier league experience.

  • http://www.facebook.com/nick.nicolaou.376 Nick Nicolaou

    levy is looking at the future, redknap had to go he was a person who would ditch spurs for a better offer and it proved that waas the case until england blew redknap out and then redknap changed his tune therefore, levy rightly sacked him, secondly levy wants a team with future and therefore get a young manager and give him money rather than giving money to a manager who is close to retirememnt and then you would be lumbered with players another manager wouldnt want, levy done the right thing but unfortunately trusted avb, you gotta remember that before a manager is appointed there is a lot of homework done with advisors etc so it wasnt a blind decision and somehow avb and his team found a way to get him the job, leave our chairman alone.

  • JB3000

    Dembele’s injury effectively means we’ve failed to replace Modric and Dempsey was never a replacement for Van der Vaart. So, our two most creative players have been sold. Their absence effects the ability of Bale and Lennon to get into the game and that has a knock on effect with our fullbacks. Bottom line, Dembele is pivotal (too pivotal!). Tom Huddlestone is not good enough for a team who has ambitions of winning the League.

  • Borris5

    Oh please please please please will some of u short term pr*cks sod off and support cheatski?!
    We are curretnly missing 2 of our 1st choice back 4. We have been left woefully short in midfield due to summer transfers and injuries…
    Neither of which are AVB’s fault!!!!!!

    We are a LOT weaker than last year!
    It is easy to forget the quality of suqad that Redcrap had given to him!!! -The majority of which was built by camolli Ramos & jol by the way!!
    Lets have a look –
    Rafa,
    Modders,
    Parker,
    Kaboul,
    Ekotto,
    Bassong
    Giovanni Dos Santos,
    Niko the Crank,
    Super (ish) Pav
    at the time a fit David Bentley,.
    Apart from the obvious 2 golden boys (rafa n modders) and his family member parker, the others barely got a look-in or couldnt get a break under HR who couldnt spell rotation and ruined our season post xmas!! –
    AVB hasn’t got anywhere near this squad!! If he did at least he could be judged fairly!!! –
    I can only assume a lot of you obviously werent around in the 80s & 90s! If u were, even more shame on you!!! – How the f*ck do you expect Spurs to do any more that they are with their income compared to top 4 rivals? – 2 of which have double our stadioum size and the other 2 shud be in outright administration?!?!
    Keep the Faith or f*ck off!!! COYS

  • Harry

    Yeah what does he think hes doing playing vert at LB! Assou Ekotto is
    way better at that…..oh wait hes been injured for the whole season.
    Comment above says Gallas is showing his age Caulker is raw and Walker
    is out of form…so that leaves….Dawson? So realistically what would
    you change about his back 4 considering the injuries we have to our 1st
    team CBs? Dawson in, who looks even slower than Gallas and…..oh wait
    we’ve run out of CBs….it’s starting to annoy me how comments
    criticising AVB in the papers and the internet are starting to show an
    effect on the home games with all the booing and whatnot. The fact is
    that we didnt buy like for like replacements in the summer for modric
    and rafa, and the injury list piling up is causing us to suffer. Agree
    with the article in the tele that there seems to be a negative spin on
    everything that avb does. If we get a draw at arsenal on sunday ill be
    more than happy caus the current team is for once worse player for
    player than arsenals 1st 11.

  • Boo

    Completely agree with Jason and Tom there. Whatever decisions he makes he will get blamed. There’s certainly an air of hangover from the majority of those that criticizes him – judging AVB based on his actions at Chelsea. Very unfair.

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