Not another pro/anti-AVB article, I was just reading the quotes from Moutinho and had a thought. "Andre Villas-Boas is one of the best coaches in Europe today." Now I always felt that Moutinho was a little overpriced but I don't think you can overestimate the importance of the squad believing in AVB. What better way to instill that belief than to have the players training and playing alongside a player who rates our manager so highly and just as importantly has won trophies with him. A lot of managers like to take a couple of players from their old club to their new club, it gives them players they know well and can trust, which AVB was denied at Chelsea and has so far been denied with us. Obviously I don't want us signing a load of Chelsea players but any Porto players that are suitable would be great to sign, I really hope we haven't missed that opportunity with Moutinho and make it to January without key players in the squad turning against him like at Chelsea. Edit: Give me an A, give me a V, give me a Big fat cheerleader... [video=youtube;8Py9c8IOubE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Py9c8IOubE[/video]
There is no doubt AVB would have wanted this player in and it would appear that Levy did his best, taking into account the need to move Modric first. Hindsight is great, but it didn't happen and there is the hope that we can complete this move in Jan. Until then or even if it does not happen we have a strong squad so plenty to be hopeful about.
Very good point YV. I was gutted at our failure to bring him in but unfortunately we have to take it on the chin. I never thought about the pro's of having a player who has a great respect for AVB could have on the rest of the team. I think Dembele will help remove the sadness of not bringing in Mouts though, I'm a massive fan of his and I hope AVB decides to build the team around him like how we done with Luka. He can shine here with the players we have around him.
Dembele also has the advantage of experience in the PL. which is no small point. It took Modric some months to adjust and many were saying in his first period with that he was too small as once again too many fans were too quick with their judgments. Patience is a rare virtue amongst fans it seems.
See it's weird, I don't think Modric looked that bad when he first joined, he didn't have the influence like what he did in his latter years with us but he showed signs of what was to come I felt. Patience is hard to come by though Spurf, for me especially and I'll be the first to admit it, I'm one of the least patient people on the planet, NOT just when it comes to Spurs. But for me, when A) your team is spending good amounts of money and bringing in quality players and B) has replaced a manager who done wonders for the club and replaced him with a man who in all fairness, never set the league alight with one of your rivals, I find it hard to not get irate when his appointment is supposed to be part of taking the club forward yet I've failed to see any signs of potential under him. I'd like to think anyone who's noticed my posts over the past 13 months since I joined, will realise I've never been a negative person and I've always been here for the banter, but I really don't have the best of faith in AVB. Though for the record, as I've said many times, I'll never boo, nor will I call for his head (as much as I'd take Harry back in a heartbeat) while I'm at games and I hope more than anything he proves me wrong and takes Spurs to a level none of us would have expected under Harry.
That's all I was saying and I too hadn't really thought of it like that until now. I'm not trying to bemoan missing out on Moutinho over the summer, just present a new angle of why Moutinho or another Porto player might be a very helpful addition to our squad. Dembele is definitely a great signing as are the others we got and I'm optimistic that the current squad can gel together and become a very good side this season.
Modric had to move to the wing to flourish. He struggled with the pace and physicality at first, despite showing that he had a lot of potential and quality, but he thrived when Redknapp gave him a new role. Taking him away from the possibility of being man-marked by one of the league's midfield cloggers and allowing him the freedom to come inside was a very shrewd move. It made him extremely tricky to pick up and let him grow in confidence, while still keeping him involved as much as possible.
I wouldn't have minded Hulk if we knew Moutinho's deal was dead I actually think our squad is at least on par with what he had last season, if not stronger. I never would have thought that had someone said to me we'll lose Ledley, Luka and Rafa all in the summer. Lloris - World class keeper. Dembele - Wonderfully gifted CM/CAM. Dempsey - One of the leagues best and consistent midfielders. Adebayor - One of the leagues (and Europe's) best strikers on his day. Verts - Erevidisie POTY and very talented CB. Sigurdsson - Talented young CAM with an eye for goal and great set piece. Them players have massively helped ease the blow of losing our key trio and I look forward to seeing them all gel in the future. It's an exciting squad to have that's for sure.
Well you can't change who you are, but there you go judging AVB by past jobs. He has just started with us and past performance does not necessarily have any bearing on what he will do at Spurs. Many, many managers have very differing results at different clubs. Clough, Venables, Docherty, Atkinson, Revie, to name a few, all had great success and then disasters during the course of their careers in management. It's the name of the game, it's not a science, many factors have to come together at just the right time.
3 months to see if this squad is gelling the way AVB wants. If it is not then I think we will back in for Moutinhio and he will come. Yes 3 months without a class act like Moutinhio may hinder us however if Dembele steps it up to that level and Dempsey has an impact then maybe we can save the 20 million which is burning a hole in Levy's pocket.
I've probably judged him more with his time with us than his spell at Chelsea. A lot of my criticism has been based on his time as Spurs boss, even if it has only been a short period of time since his appointment. Poor selections (2 DM's), treatment of players (Daws and Hudd), the style of play in our games at home have not impressed me.
It didn't help that ramos (and, early in his tenure, Harry) played Modric in the hole behind Bent, with Zokora and Jenas in central midfield. In retrospect, if we had Zokora and Modric in central midfield and somebody else (for the sake of argument, let's say Dos Santos) in the hole, things might have worked out a bit better in the first eight games.
I was probably one of the very few people that rated Zokora. Amazing engine and work rate and won many tackles. Couldn't pass or shoot for sh*t but we've got/ had enough players to cover that.
So you have always been stubborn and mule headed then. I hesitate to start the Zokora debate again, he's gone and good luck to him, he worked hard it's true.
I fell into that category too. I didn't see Palacios as any kind of upgrade either. Notso, I'll update the OP for you
I liked Zokora a lot, but Palacios was absolutely superb until the unfortunate fate of his brother was discovered. The grim reality of that situation has understandably knocked him for six and he's still not recovered from it, professionally speaking. Poor bastard.
