How times change! In 2011 Andre Villas Boas sent waves across the Football Fraternity for winning the treble with Porto. This came at a time when Falcao and Hulk scored an astonishing 74 goals combined for the Portuguese team. In the latter half of that campaign, they didn’t lose even a match and conceding just 16, winning the same number of matches, that too in succession.
Enough however has been spoken about AVB’s sad departure from the Chelsea hot seat. Some refer it to owner Roman Abrahamovic’s nonchalance at changing managers at will. Some felt for him, others however would be thankful in hindsight as Roberto Di Matteo won them the revered Champions League in 2012. I however feel differently, not only was he out of squad depth, he was quite inexperienced to handle one of the biggest teams in the Premier League, which gave him in.
This takes us to to Villas Boas’ current club Tottenham Hotspur. When AVB was at Porto he always spoke about being true to the beautiful game and how he developed himself and set his principles. At Tottenham looking by the sorts of it, has AVB really lived up to his expectations letting apart being true to his philosophy? Managing Spurs is no easy chicken soup in your platter. The sense of expectations is bound to stoop you down, with the rich culture and club traditions being passed on for centuries by the vociferous White Hart Lane faithful.
Tottenham however have won just six times this campaign, four of them which have been 1-0 wins against the likes of Swansea, Cardiff City, Hull and Crystal Palace, teams who Tottenham, were expected to shred apart. Spurs got themselves a whooping transfer kitty thanks to Real Madrid’s exaggerated paying price for Gareth Bale. In came the likes of Soldado, Eriksen, Chadli, Lamela, Pauliho and combined with the rising Townsend and Siggurdson, Tottenham were expected to wreck havoc in the Premier League and put forward their League winning credentials. However more than just disappointed, there has been much anguish and resentment over the team selection and the whole squad failing to gel together as a unit.
Moreover no team wins the title by 1-0 margins, United had done last season winning by the same margin in just four games in the whole campaign. Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City just won three games while United and Chelsea in 2011 and 2010 respectively won only three and two games respectively by the thinnest of margins. Teams are beaten with relative ease at Etihad, Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge by the time the driver switches off the ignition. White Hart Lane, however has been far away from that, with scepticism arising that AVB is more inclined to protect his lead and set for 1-0 wins rather than make their presence felt and send their message out to the other nineteen teams.
Was sacking Harry Redknapp the right decision? Harry knew the traditions of the club and the swagger needed like the Spurs team of the earlier decade which won three FA cups and a League title under Ben Nicholson. If at all the 6-0 thumping at the hands of the Citizens was an indication, this weekend’s home game at White Hart Lane will be a perfect indication on whether AVB’s system requires an update. Come Sunday Tottenham can’t simply throw away their soul.