Dead calm before the storm: a consoling handshake for Lewis Holtby from a dejected Villas-Boas after Sunday’s 5-0 defeat by Liverpool.

Published: 19 December, 2013
by DAN CARRIER

MANY SPURS fans didn’t want Andre Villas-Boas.  

It was nothing personal.

It was just that we’d had such a ball under Harry Redknapp.

Harry’s game spoke for itself: we had beaten Arsenal on their own patch, had a good run in the Champions League, we were playing expansive football and boasted a dream team that included Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart.

But when Spurs collapsed – letting slip a 10-point lead over Arsenal and being painfully mauled 5-1 in the FA Cup semi-final by Chelsea – Harry was gone.

AVB arrived and was meant to be everything Harry was not – a master tactician and progressive coach.

A European who spoke six languages but was not into giving interviews through his car window. A man who was happy with a director of football to help shoulder the burden of finding new talent.

After Bale’s sale in the summer, AVB had cash to splash.

But he quickly found out that real life isn’t a game of Match Attax, where your players’ Top Trumps scores mean instant success.

He had to build a team quickly and, in a hugely competitive Premier League, any slip-ups would be mercilessly punished.

The new signings had to hit the ground running, and quickly adapt to AVB’s new tactics.

Having wingers on the wrong flanks might have worked eventually – or worked with Bale cutting inside and walloping the ball into the back of the net.

But the plan was not firing when points were needed. This cornerstone of AVB’s formation was quietly ditched three weeks ago.

The Portuguese ringmaster also seemed unsure which players should be in his starting line-up. He chopped and changed so much it was impossible for players to get into a groove.

More agonisingly the side looked ponderous. This is not what the Spurs fans signed up for. They didn’t want 1-0 wins. They wanted goals, even if it meant losing 5-4.

It’s fair to say AVB wasn’t helped by injuries. In Sunday’s thrashing by Liverpool the last three goals were shipped when all three first choice midfielders were absent.

But bad luck aside, much of AVB’s problems can be put down to his own stubbornness. He dumped seasoned left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto, and then watched helplessly as his only replacement, Danny Rose, got injured.

I consider AVB’s dismissal with mixed feelings.

He led us to our best ever points tally last season and, despite our poor start, we’re a point better off right now than we were at this stage last term.

I’m also personally sad for him – post-match press conferences revealed a decent bloke.

Was chairman Daniel Levy too trigger happy?

Only time will tell. But getting thrashed by West Ham, Man City and Liverpool coupled with unconvincing displays against so-called lesser teams was too much for an impatient board.

So who’s next?

Tim Sherwood has the reins for now but will AVB’s successor be given more than 18 months to build a team of title challengers?