"Injury problems and no Moutinho leave Villas-Boas' Tottenham midfield rudderless"

[AngerManagement]

What a phenomenal article. I got chills reading it simply because it might be the most honest thing I've read about Tottenham in months.

And for the record, for all the great things Levy has done for this club in the past, I feel he's mostly to blame for the shortcomings of this squad so far.

I feel as though every concern that most of us voiced (lack of squad depth in key positions, lack of fits in terms of personnel) have all come to fruition in one way or another. Moutinho should have been the signature signing and nothing should have gotten in the way of that. Levy fucked up and I hope he atones for it in January.

Agreed

I think he has messed up many a transfer window since he assumed control of them

We have consistently failed to sign what we need, I think we have been chasing our tails trying to sign talent above our station and when we have missed out we have failed to bring in the type of signings that made us successful in the first place (young somewhat unproven talent like Modric, Bale and Berbatov)

That being said Levy has done more good for our club than he has done bad and I don't think it's fair to blame him for everything that has gone wrong right now.

We're not actually in that bad shape, I think some people just started to believe the hype that a lucky win at Old Trafford and an easy run of fixtures (coupled with our rivals under performing) brought us. We were riding high in fourth but it was very much a false position in my eyes and didn't really represent the level of our performances or where we were/are actually at right now.

Its a season of transition, it has to be, we've ripped the heart and spin our of our first team and we've changed our manager/formation and pretty much everything about our club is new or different in some way.

We have players to come back, we have players still to settle in and we have a new system to grow in to.....hopefully that will see us progress in to the side we hope to be.

We did do some great business in the last window even if it was a disappointing window over all (Vertonghen, Lloris and Dembele were good signings for the long term and Adebayor was a good full time addition as is the emergence of Caulker)

I mean how much more solid are we likely to be at the back when we have Lloris in goal? BAE at Left back to allow us to play Kaboul and Verts as our first choice CB pairing for instance?

What impact will Parker have on the strength and combative nature of our midfield? How about Ade? will we look stronger and more potent as an attacking force once he is back playing to his best?

So just like we weren't as good as people were letting themselves believe because we won at Old Trafford and had a good run of results that saw us rise to fourth we are not as bad as people are suggesting we are now because we've lost back to back matches against weaker opposition either.

AVB is hard to judge right now, he needs time to put his own stamp on the squad and he's had to work with a weakened squad from a window he was not really backed with (how many players from his wish list did we sign?) and even this term his squad has been somewhat depleted by injuries to key personal.

That also being said, he seems to be stubborn (the whole Friedel/Lloris situation), he seems to produce a less than exciting brand of football (compared to the Redknapp era anyway) and he seems to obsess with silly tactics like Sven at England trying to defend for our lives at 1-0 enabling teams to walk all over us for the latter stages of games and we have had to ride our luck to win games (some of which we should have won at a canter i.e. Southampton)

I of the opinion AVB must be given time to show what he can do, we (Levy) have taken this gamble (on a manager who really should have had to prove himself at a lower level again having failed so dramatically at Chelsea) and now we have to see it through for a while to give him a fair crack. I haven't seen anything thus far to suggest he is the guy to make us a success and I'd be lying if I said I was confident we had made the right decision and he will prove a success but Levy must give him time and back him for a window or two to allow him to mould the squad how he wants to and show what he can do.

I can understand fans being frustrated right now because we are playing some of the worst most boring football seen by the club probably since before the Jol era and we look blunt and impotent upfront like in the 90s and early 2000s. Its hard to have seen our 3 best players leave without really replacing them but hopefully Levy will back AVB and hopefully AVB will show he was the right choice

 

[am_yisrael_chai]

I agree, but he needs the support of the fans to have the confidence to do this. I mean what he is he supposed to do, when he gets booed for taking off a waste of space like Defoe.....

Chicken and egg, but yes difficult to understand numpties who think scoring is just about the number of strikers on the pitch even when one of them is a waste of space like Defoe.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

I agree, but he needs the support of the fans to have the confidence to do this. I mean what he is he supposed to do, when he gets booed for taking off a waste of space like Defoe.....

I can't be sure about this but I think the booing was as much about not withdrawing Dempsey as anything. I don't think it's an overstatement to say that Dempsey is a player who is fast becoming hated by many Spurs fans. One old timer said to me after the Chelsea game (and he wasn't what I would call an excitable sort) that he hoped Dempsey never played for us again.

Looking at his contribution to the cause thus far, it's hard to believe that Dempsey had such lofty ideas about himself that he effectively went on strike at Fulham to secure a move to a bigger side.

 

[mpickard2087]

Great article. Can't add anything more than that.

 

[AngerManagement]

It's almost funny (in a tragic way) to think that we signed Dempsey from Fulham and they replaced him with Berbatov isn't it?

 

[jonathanhotspur]

It's almost funny (in a tragic way) to think that we signed Dempsey from Fulham and they replaced him with Berbatov isn't it?

It's fucked up. I don't know if Levy would have had him back. I don't know if he would have come back. I expect half our fans would have been up in arms at the prospect of it. And we'd have heard a lot of talk about how he wouldn't fit in with AVB's philosophy-even from people who still admire him. It's painful to think that Fulham paid less for him than we did for Dempsey.

 

[AngerManagement]

It's fucked up. I don't know if Levy would have had him back. I don't know if he would have come back. I expect half our fans would have been up in arms at the prospect of it. And we'd have heard a lot of talk about how he wouldn't fit in with AVB's philosophy-even from people who still admire him. It's painful to think that Fulham paid less for him than we did for Dempsey.

I can't stand Berbatov for what he did to engineer his move to Man U

BUT.....

If it were up to me to decide whether to have pulled the trigger on a move to him (assuming he would want to etc) I wouldn't have blinked, especially if it were a straight choice between he and Dempsey.

I recall him having to play the lone role up top away to Man City in a cup match after we had been reduced to 10 men and he was sublime. I have watched him at Man U and even though he was not an out and out success there he was still quality and still would have been an excellent addition to our options.

His game has never been about pace so his age wouldn't have been a problem, he would have been better than Defoe for us and probably better or as good as Adebayor too (plus I believe he could link play and be deployed in the hole behind Adebayor more effectively than Defoe, Sig or Dempsey)

I like you don't know the hows and whys he ended up at Fulham instead of at the Lane but personally I would have happily put my feelings toward him as an individual aside for the better of our team

 

[nightgoat]

That article should be required reading for every single Spurs fan. Alas, I doubt even something with such clearly demonstrated rationale would make half of them see the woods for the trees.

 

[nightgoat]

I recall him having to play the lone role up top away to Man City in a cup match after we had been reduced to 10 men and he was sublime. I have watched him at Man U and even though he was not an out and out success there he was still quality and still would have been an excellent addition to our options.

The game against Bolton a few seasons ago when we won 4-1 and Keane was sent off, Berbatov played most of the game up front on his own and was absolutely outstanding. I seem to remember the general reaction was that Berbatov not getting on the score sheet was an even bigger injustice than Keane being sent off.

 

[Syn_13]

A good article. "An orchestra without a composer" rings so very true.

Whether it's Moutinho or someone else of his ilk, a creative midfielder is a must. More so than a striker (although that's a must too).

 

[AngerManagement]

The game against Bolton a few seasons ago when we won 4-1 and Keane was sent off, Berbatov played most of the game up front on his own and was absolutely outstanding. I seem to remember the general reaction was that Berbatov not getting on the score sheet was an even bigger injustice than Keane being sent off.

I know the game you mean

but I was actually referring to the Carling cup match when Zokora was sent off and Defoe replaced by Tainio after 20 mins (Defoe had put us one up early) so Berbatov had to play the lone role for 70mins against a decent City team away from home

I believe we actually won 2-0 with Steed sealing the win late on but Berbatov impressed me no end the way he held the ball up and linked play to help us retain possession and keep the pressure off, he was strong and intelligent and an already amazing striker at the time.

You're right though I could have equally used the Bolton game as an example because he was equally impressive albeit in a different way

 

[tototoner]

Good article , thanks for posting

As for Levy, yes he has been a force for good but I still think he wants a CL team on a mid table Premier League budget

 

[chinaman]

Good article

I'd love to see what AVB could do with a whole summer transfer window at his command

The problem is he won't have command. Generalissimo Levy will command.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Good article , thanks for posting

As for Levy, yes he has been a force for good but I still think he wants a CL team on a mid table Premier League budget

Well, if he wants that, he better get the scouting department sorted. Only way that's happening (CL on a budget) is if he diagnoses talents before the big clubs get wind of them.

Good place to start? Clasie (8m), Aubameyang (10-12m), and Mertens (12-14m). All appear to be in the range of costs he would give the okay to.

 

[SamR]

I'm in complete agreement with that article. Only bit I would have changed is how although not what we possibly needed on paper, Dembele has slot in and would make a great midfield 3 with the likes of Parker and Mourtinho.

Let's see what Levy does in January. I have to give him credit for the team his put together behind the scenes to push us forward from a commerical and infrastructure sense - but he does need to give his manager the team he wants or come out and say we haven't got the budget and have to settle with what we got - rather than let AVB take the blame.

I'm confident we'll come good but it would require a bit of investment.

 

[tototoner]

Well, if he wants that, he better get the scouting department sorted. Only way that's happening (CL on a budget) is if he diagnoses talents before the big clubs get wind of them.

Good place to start? Clasie (8m), Aubameyang (10-12m), and Mertens (12-14m). All appear to be in the range of costs he would give the okay to.

agree 100% and been saying it for years

agree with Clasie and Mertens also and would add Van Rhijn ( Ajax ) , Mkhitaryan ( Shaktar ) and Rodriguez ( Porto )

 

[TheGreenLily]

I know the game you mean

but I was actually referring to the Carling cup match when Zokora was sent off and Defoe replaced by Tainio after 20 mins (Defoe had put us one up early) so Berbatov had to play the lone role for 70mins against a decent City team away from home

I believe we actually won 2-0 with Steed sealing the win late on but Berbatov impressed me no end the way he held the ball up and linked play to help us retain possession and keep the pressure off, he was strong and intelligent and an already amazing striker at the time.

You're right though I could have equally used the Bolton game as an example because he was equally impressive albeit in a different way

Beating Bolton 4-1 (I think) with 10 men (2-0, with 11 men), was the game for me, where he showed us what a real quality striker can do. Ade in a million years could never reproduce the quality seen that day, as for Defoe... well...

 

[tobi]

I wouldn't mind Kevin Prince back....Imagine him behind Ade.

Good player but Zlatan made him (and others) look better than they are actually are.

 

[kernowspur]

Sums up the situation at present. Especially the problem in CM. Huddlestone needs so much protection from whoever plays with him that I doubt he will ever be the answer to our problems. Let's face it, part of one good season from him in all the years he has been at Spurs is a pretty poor return. We need at least Sandro and Dembele playing until Parker is available again, and who knows how effective he will be after along lay-off.
Just how devastating to plans for the season not getting Moutinho was is becoming more and more obvious as the matches go by. Losing Modric and VDV was always going to be a problem, although as VDV wanted to be with his family in Hamburg it meant he was always going to go, I don't think we had much chance of keeping him. Apart from Dembele , our summer signings are not in the same class as those we lost.
It is going to be a long, hard slog until our injuries clear up and January arrives. Having brought in AVB, Levy needs to spend as necssary to allow AVB to do his job.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Yup, lets blame levy for the inability of our side to get more than 5 points from home games against WBA, Norwich, QPR and Wigan. It's not like we've been able to field vastly superior sides to these guys every single time.

Is Levy picking a goalkeeper who keeps making costly mistakes? Is Levy picking a centre back who seems unable to mark anyone at set pieces? Is Levy making negative substitutions every game, even when we're winning? Is Levy persisting with a man who can't hold the ball up ahead of a man who can as a line striker? Has Levy kept picking a horrendously off colour right back over a potentially competent replacement?

Levy had made mistakes in terms of managerial appointments when he hired Santini, Ramos and potentially the current incumbent. Levy may well be not splashing the cash (erm, he is trying to build a new stadium without bankrupting us if you hadn't noticed), but if anybody thinks he has given us a squad which can't be expected to beat Wigan, WBA, Norwich and QPR comfortably at home then they're off their rocker. Even with injuries, we have fielded a team v each of those opposition which each opposition manager (of whom only Martinez has been in his job longer than 1.5 transfer windows) can only dream of. Even with injuries, our centre back options have always been Caulker, Dawson, Vertonghen and Gallas, our right back options have always been Walker and Naughton and our left back options have always been Vertonghen and Naughton. Bale and Lennon have both been fully for throughout, as has Defoe, Dempsey and Sigurdsson. We've always had one of Hudd or Dembele to partner Sandro since the window closed (though those first three games Livermore played for some reason) and in goal we've always had one of the worlds top goalies, two premiership veterans and Gomes (who wouldn't have been beaten by a lot of the shots Friedel has let in in my opinion).

AVB, even without the admittedly significant loaded of Ekotto, Kaboul, Parker and Ade for the most part, had had an envious squad of players to choose from, and barring v Aston Villa (also in transition with a new boss) he has not managed to make us the better side in any home game. Levy might have flaws and makes mistakes, but it is certainly not down to him that out of a very favourable opening six fixtures at home we have failed to perform and gained a poor points total.

Booing is always stupid, and I'm not going to write off avb, but when home fans see nothing good at home in 2.5 months of football, they get angry, they boo and they write off the manager. Not one fan in that ground will have heard that team sheet and not sink a little because everyone apart from our very stubborn manager knew that it was wrong. It's not as if Friedel and Gallas haven't been poor on set pieces leading to us conceding several times already this season, so why persist? It's not as if Defoe hasn't already slowed in his performance, so why not give the fit again striker you chased all summer a go? And if you're chasing a game and want to do something bold to swing things like bring an attacking player on for the right back, being on the kid who was immense in midweek, not the one who is expert of the sideways pass.

Avb has no excuse. Levys failings are very separate from the poor performance of the side. For all Harry's faults, and I'm not sad he's gone, I don't remember ever playing this consistent rubbish with such a favourable string of features, and he had to cope with losing Bale for ages, Lennon for ages, Modric for ages and Palacios (who was good at that point) for ages all in the same season but still managed to get us into the champions league.

Avb should be given time, but 0 points from the next two games would mean 4 losses out of 5 and out if a cup, and that would put immense pressure on him with a squad I imagine devoid of morale, so I'm not convinced that if this occurs he can recover. He needs to pull a rabbit out of a hat, a rampant one, and shaft our next opponents with it big time because right now things could go either way, but two weeks from now, two very hard games from now, things could be looking very bleak!