AVB - things i can't get my head around !

[rio bryan]

At Chelsea he obviously upset the senior players and now at Spurs he seems to be doing the reverse.
At the beginning of the season he plays Friedel over Lloris as he don't want to upset Freidel.
Now he constantly changes the centre back pairing and the only reason i can see is that he don't want to upset anyone, if there's another someone please let me know !
Dempsey instead of Holtby is another one.
Continually brings on Sig for Lennon when A. Sig is not a right winger B. Sig has never done anything in that position.

The balance of the squad :

So now he plays Bale in the centre of the attacking mid three when we already have Holtby, Sig, and Dempsey who play that position, the last three all bought recently and no out and out left winger as he has let Townsend go out on loan and hasn't bought anyone.

So at the moment we have :

5 central defenders
1 left back
No left winger
One right winger
Four attacking central midfiled players
Two average forwards.

The Kane situation, why bring him back if he's not going to even put him on the bench especially when we are short of forwards.

 

[Misfit]

It shows just what an outstanding (so far) job he's done in getting a talented, yet horribly unbalanced, squad into 4th place with a dozen games left.

It hasn't been pretty too many times but Fuck me, it's been effective.

 

[kazzah9]

lol

 

[daehanmingook]

to be fair i had my doubts on signing both siggy and dempsey, as knowing AVB's preferred 4-3-3 formation I didn't see the value in having two AMCs. I thought Siggy would be okay because he is young and talented, but both him AND dempsey I wasn't sure of. Holtby also plays in that position but he can play much deeper as well. So it looks we have an overload in that position, especially with Bale drifting in as much as he does. But who cares. We are on a long undefeated run and sit in fourth ahead of a respectable Everton side and the gooners. Keep this up and that's good enough for me. Balance issues and fringe players can be reassessed in the summer.

 

[Ian Kane]

So at the moment we have :

5 central defenders
1 left back
No left winger
One right winger
Four attacking central midfiled players
Two average forwards.

And we're 4th. Miracle worker I'd say so far. Lets hope he's here after we get the new stadium so we can maybe loosen the purse strings a little and see what he can really do with a squad he builds himself. Forget Chelsea, that was a mistake he's learnt from and we are the beneficiaries of that.

 

[Danners9]

At the beginning of the season he plays Friedel over Lloris as he don't want to upset Freidel.

Now he constantly changes the centre back pairing and the only reason i can see is that he don't want to upset anyone, if there's another someone please let me know !

Dempsey instead of Holtby is another one.

Continually brings on Sig for Lennon when A. Sig is not a right winger B. Sig has never done anything in that position.

The Kane situation, why bring him back if he's not going to even put him on the bench especially when we are short of forwards.

I'll go slowly.

Friedel was the established player. He hadn't done anything to deserve being dropped. Lloris was signed on deadline day, while he spoke English it would be stupid to throw him straight into the team - the key is to have an understanding with the defence and without training sessions that is impossible. Imagine Lloris makes an error on his debut, then what? he was slowly integrated into the team. It wasn't 'as he don't want to upset' Brad.

Centre back pairing is due to the opponents (and Kaboul's injury). You have 2 fast forwards, Caulker and Vertonghen. You have a lump forward, Dawson plays. Like for like in the match ups. They work on it in training.

Holtby, same as Lloris. New player, why would you expect him to start straight away? He needs to integrate into the squad and learn the style and tactics. That takes some time. Watching the games helps this integration. He has shown good flashes when he comes on but has also drifted out of games too. Dempsey and Bale are the sole goalscorers in the last however many games.

Sigurdsson allows a narrower midfield, as if they are protecting the lead and compressing midfield. Sigurdsson doesn't come on to be a right winger, although playing on the right side. It also gives Walker more freedom to come forward and attack from further back.

Kane, Norwich signed some forwards and Spurs had the option to recall him. Norwich weren't going to play him so his development is better served in training at Spurs or maybe on loan somewhere else. Bentley left yesterday so there is still a chance for players to move.

It isn't like AVB just wakes up one day and does something because he feels like it.

 

[3Dnata]

I like turtles..

 

[nugsie]

I'll go slowly.

Friedel was the established player. He hadn't done anything to deserve being dropped. Lloris was signed on deadline day, while he spoke English it would be stupid to throw him straight into the team - the key is to have an understanding with the defence and without training sessions that is impossible. Imagine Lloris makes an error on his debut, then what? he was slowly integrated into the team. It wasn't 'as he don't want to upset' Brad.

Centre back pairing is due to the opponents (and Kaboul's injury). You have 2 fast forwards, Caulker and Vertonghen. You have a lump forward, Dawson plays. Like for like in the match ups. They work on it in training.

Holtby, same as Lloris. New player, why would you expect him to start straight away? He needs to integrate into the squad and learn the style and tactics. That takes some time. Watching the games helps this integration. He has shown good flashes when he comes on but has also drifted out of games too. Dempsey and Bale are the sole goalscorers in the last however many games.

Sigurdsson allows a narrower midfield, as if they are protecting the lead and compressing midfield. Sigurdsson doesn't come on to be a right winger, although playing on the right side. It also gives Walker more freedom to come forward and attack from further back.

Kane, Norwich signed some forwards and Spurs had the option to recall him. Norwich weren't going to play him so his development is better served in training at Spurs or maybe on loan somewhere else. Bentley left yesterday so there is still a chance for players to move.

It isn't like AVB just wakes up one day and does something because he feels like it.

All backed up by what bale spoke about in his interview about training being tailored to the opposition we're playing rather than to just go out and train.

Different teams, different scenarios, different players.

 

[Gbspurs]

All backed up by what bale spoke about in his interview about training being tailored to the opposition we're playing rather than to just go out and train.

Different teams, different scenarios, different players.

Exactly, that's what squad rotation is all about. You don't rotate for the sake of it or just think "today I might play Dawson, yeah why not!"

It's refreshing in some respects and it also means that if we suffer an injury here or there we are better equipped to deal with it (especially once we balance the squad better) as how often last season did we have an injury, being in a player who hasn't played for months, and they looked rusty as fuck!!

 

[EastLondonYid]

At Chelsea he obviously upset the senior players and now at Spurs he seems to be doing the reverse.
At the beginning of the season he plays Friedel over Lloris as he don't want to upset Freidel.
Now he constantly changes the centre back pairing and the only reason i can see is that he don't want to upset anyone, if there's another someone please let me know !
Dempsey instead of Holtby is another one.
Continually brings on Sig for Lennon when A. Sig is not a right winger B. Sig has never done anything in that position.

The balance of the squad :

So now he plays Bale in the centre of the attacking mid three when we already have Holtby, Sig, and Dempsey who play that position, the last three all bought recently and no out and out left winger as he has let Townsend go out on loan and hasn't bought anyone.

So at the moment we have :

5 central defenders
1 left back
No left winger
One right winger
Four attacking central midfiled players
Two average forwards.

The Kane situation, why bring him back if he's not going to even put him on the bench especially when we are short of forwards.

Are you serious? Bale is currently playing like fucking superman, drifting all around the shop and causing major havoc, he is being muted by many as the 3rd best player on this planet , prematurely imo,and your worried he is playing in Sigs or Dempseys position?...and btw don't worry fella, he isn't playing CM .... he is finally learning how to find space and positions to hurt teams coming from THE LEFT...ala Ronaldo...stop worrying

 

[Harry_Snatch]

I'm a big AVB fan but the OP was better than some of the responses it got. There are some fair points in there. Doesn't change that AVB is doing a bang up job tho.

 

[TheAmerican]

You cannot expect a team's lineup to be the same every game. Sometimes a player is in form when another is not, sometimes one player matches with an opposinh player better than another, and sometimes a player just needs rest. As for Holtby not starting, I think avb was leaving Dempsey on in the hope that he would contribute to our goal scoring, and there's no better motivation to score than someone competing for your spot. I think Holtby has now won the spot, though. Also, Sig is coming on for Lennon in games when we are pushing last minute. He is merely there to put in crosses from the wing and on set plays.

 

[Ionman34]

Horses for courses.

 

[E17yid]

Would like to see siggy get a proper run in the team in clints position. Dempsey has had several chances to impress and had been found wanting.

 

[rio bryan]

Are you serious? Bale is currently playing like fucking superman, drifting all around the shop and causing major havoc, he is being muted by many as the 3rd best player on this planet , prematurely imo,and your worried he is playing in Sigs or Dempseys position?...and btw don't worry fella, he isn't playing CM .... he is finally learning how to find space and positions to hurt teams coming from THE LEFT...ala Ronaldo...stop worrying

Am i serious !!!!!!!!!!!! who's moaning about Bale

 

[dontcallme]

At Chelsea he obviously upset the senior players and now at Spurs he seems to be doing the reverse.
At the beginning of the season he plays Friedel over Lloris as he don't want to upset Freidel.
Now he constantly changes the centre back pairing and the only reason i can see is that he don't want to upset anyone, if there's another someone please let me know !
Dempsey instead of Holtby is another one.
Continually brings on Sig for Lennon when A. Sig is not a right winger B. Sig has never done anything in that position.

The balance of the squad :

So now he plays Bale in the centre of the attacking mid three when we already have Holtby, Sig, and Dempsey who play that position, the last three all bought recently and no out and out left winger as he has let Townsend go out on loan and hasn't bought anyone.

So at the moment we have :

5 central defenders
1 left back
No left winger
One right winger
Four attacking central midfiled players
Two average forwards.

The Kane situation, why bring him back if he's not going to even put him on the bench especially when we are short of forwards.

I don't think it was simply to not upset Friedel. Friedel was playing well and Lloris was forced to work his way into the team. A team ethic where people work their way into the team is surely a good thing.

With regards to the centre back partnership I think he is struggling with finding a solid pairing. Vertonghen had a great first half to the season but has struggled recently. Dawson was looking like he was on his way out but has played better than Caulker. I think next season we'll see Kaboul and Vertonghen as our 1st choice centre backs.

Bale was getting doubled marked when out wide. Now he is playing more free role we are seeing the benefits as the opposition can't pick him up.

Our recent form surely shows that AVB's decisions have been good ones.

Kane has been brought back as we need a backup just in case. Like Lloris he will have to work his way in.

 

[Dundalk_Spur]

We bought Dempsey so we could sell him to Liverpool for £15m in the summer.

 

[parklane1]

Yawn.

 

[RichieS]

In the past, Dempsey has been most effective from the left (as evidenced while he was at Fulham and for the US national team) which allows that flexibility with him and Bale. Sigurdsson is finding himself a bit of an odd man out I feel - I'd like to see him given a try as the more attacking of a proper midfield 3 with maybe Sandro and Holtby in the future.

 

[E17yid]

In the past, Dempsey has been most effective from the left (as evidenced while he was at Fulham and for the US national team) which allows that flexibility with him and Bale. Sigurdsson is finding himself a bit of an odd man out I feel - I'd like to see him given a try as the more attacking of a proper midfield 3 with maybe Sandro and Holtby in the future.

While I don't doubt we are a happy squad, you get the feeling that if there is an unhappy camper? It's Gylfi.