When AVB first came to Spurs I didn't mind, I thought Chelsea hadn't given him a chance and with us he could prove himself.
In the first season it became evident that without Bale we were hopeless, but I just optimistically believed it was because AVB didn't have the right players for his system and that the team were relying on Bale, but if we took Bale away, the team would eventually learn to adapt, so the idea of getting £85m for him seemed too good to be true, as we could buy the players to suit AVBs system.
My understanding of AVB's system was that you play a high defensive line, this requires a fast goalkeeper, which we had in Hugo Lloris, and a fast back line that would hold the offside trap (one of the reasons he tried to sell Dawson), you then have 3 energetic midfielders with stamina, who now that the pitch size has been reduced by playing a high defensive line means closing down the opposition and regaining possession becomes easier, you then have 3 out and out attackers who as soon as we regain the ball can get onto a quick pass start attacking while the other team are still trying to reorganise themselves. Well thats the theory and it sounded like a good one, but this is why AVB had to go.
As everyone states the EPL is the toughest most physical league in Europe so injuries occur regularly, our back four have constantly been changing so you cant rely on the new players to always hold the high line as it doesn't come natural, this leads to it being broken and the opposition scoring, also the players that are least injured are the slower ones, you can see Dawson struggling to cope with it, which is why he either fouls the players as they make a break or has to start running early playing them onside, making him look dreadful as he has to play on his weaknesses. As manager AVB should have adjusted his tactics to suit the defenders he had available instead he was stubborn and tried to stick to HIS tactics.
With these tactics holding possession and regaining it wasn't a problem, but because he never changed his tactics, teams would just play fast counter attacking football, attacking with just 4 or 5 players as there was loads of space to run into due to the high line, if it broke down, it still left their defenders organised and ready to defend, so our attacks always just came grinding to a halt, plus due to our high line it was very compact making it very hard to play through the opposition, we couldn't always cross as Soldado was outnumbered in the box, and with AVB seemingly only wanting the front 3 to attack there weren't many options.
I believe we have the best squad we have ever had and think Levy has acted quick enough to still turn this season around, if we go back to a standard defensive line, Dawson will go back to his best, we will stretch the opposition too, and with Rose and Townsend on the left and Walker and Lennon on the right, we will go back to terrorising other teams defenses, then you have Paulinho/Dembele and Sandro/Capoue in the middle plus Erikson/Holtby playing just behind Soldado plus if you need to break teams down you can simply go to 442 and put on Adebayor. plus we have have a subs bench most teams would dream of
COYS
In the first season it became evident that without Bale we were hopeless, but I just optimistically believed it was because AVB didn't have the right players for his system and that the team were relying on Bale, but if we took Bale away, the team would eventually learn to adapt, so the idea of getting £85m for him seemed too good to be true, as we could buy the players to suit AVBs system.
My understanding of AVB's system was that you play a high defensive line, this requires a fast goalkeeper, which we had in Hugo Lloris, and a fast back line that would hold the offside trap (one of the reasons he tried to sell Dawson), you then have 3 energetic midfielders with stamina, who now that the pitch size has been reduced by playing a high defensive line means closing down the opposition and regaining possession becomes easier, you then have 3 out and out attackers who as soon as we regain the ball can get onto a quick pass start attacking while the other team are still trying to reorganise themselves. Well thats the theory and it sounded like a good one, but this is why AVB had to go.
As everyone states the EPL is the toughest most physical league in Europe so injuries occur regularly, our back four have constantly been changing so you cant rely on the new players to always hold the high line as it doesn't come natural, this leads to it being broken and the opposition scoring, also the players that are least injured are the slower ones, you can see Dawson struggling to cope with it, which is why he either fouls the players as they make a break or has to start running early playing them onside, making him look dreadful as he has to play on his weaknesses. As manager AVB should have adjusted his tactics to suit the defenders he had available instead he was stubborn and tried to stick to HIS tactics.
With these tactics holding possession and regaining it wasn't a problem, but because he never changed his tactics, teams would just play fast counter attacking football, attacking with just 4 or 5 players as there was loads of space to run into due to the high line, if it broke down, it still left their defenders organised and ready to defend, so our attacks always just came grinding to a halt, plus due to our high line it was very compact making it very hard to play through the opposition, we couldn't always cross as Soldado was outnumbered in the box, and with AVB seemingly only wanting the front 3 to attack there weren't many options.
I believe we have the best squad we have ever had and think Levy has acted quick enough to still turn this season around, if we go back to a standard defensive line, Dawson will go back to his best, we will stretch the opposition too, and with Rose and Townsend on the left and Walker and Lennon on the right, we will go back to terrorising other teams defenses, then you have Paulinho/Dembele and Sandro/Capoue in the middle plus Erikson/Holtby playing just behind Soldado plus if you need to break teams down you can simply go to 442 and put on Adebayor. plus we have have a subs bench most teams would dream of
COYS
