Andre Villas-Boas: 'We have to be ashamed of ourselves, and react to a defeat like this'

Published: 24 November, 2013
By DAN CARRIER

Premier League
MAN CITY 6, SPURS 0

SPURS manager Andre Villas-Boas said he and his players were “ashamed of themselves” after crumbling to a 6-0 defeat away at Manchester City.

AVB must now find a way to lift his troops for the visit of Manchester United next weekend that could define not just the season, but his Spurs career.

Speaking after the game, the down-cast coach said: “City were excellent and we were extremely poor. The concentration was not there.”

Villas-Boas saw his charges get off to a shocker, falling a goal behind after just 15 seconds.

He added: “It was a difficult start for us. After that, everything you had in mind goes down the drain. There was not a lot of positives after that. Everything went wrong for us, every [City] opportunity was a goal and we paid a heavy price, too much for what we deserved. We have to be ashamed of ourselves, and react to a defeat like this.”

Villas-Boas made changes to his attacking line-up with Aaron Lennon, Lewis Holtby and Erik Lamela coming in, but any hope for a fresh start after the disappointing 1-0 loss to Newcastle was undone straight from the kick-off. A poor Hugo Lloris clearance saw City win possession and though the keeper stopped the first effort, he could do nothing about a Jesus Navas follow-up that meant from the beginning the away side were chasing the game.

While they tried to build up a head of steam – Lamela had a chance and Lennon also looked to carve openings – they were two down after half an hour. This time, cheaply losing possession saw Alvaro Negredo turn the ball home, helped by a goalline mix-up by Sandro and Younes Kaboul. Moments before half-time, after some more worrying defending, Spurs were dead and buried as Aguero turned home from close range.

A half-time switch that saw the disappointing Holtby replaced by Emanuel Adebayor gave Spurs brief hope of at least getting a consolation goal, but for all their huff and puff, City seemed able to score at will: Aguero got a fourth on 50 minutes, Negredo led Michael Dawson a merry dance before hammering home a fifth, and Navas got his second at the end to finish off the humiliation.

SPURS COMMENT by Dan Carrier

THE heat is on Andre Villas-Boas to find some answers. He keeps shuffling the pack, but every hand he deals seems to lead to his team folding. So where has it gone wrong?

Benoit Assou-Ekotto, for all of his quirks, didn't become a bad left-back overnight. By letting him go, Spurs have been caught short on the left since Danny Rose got injured. This means playing their best player, Jan Vertonghen, out of position.

Sandro has yet to rediscover his zip, and the loss of Ettiene Capoue has meant Spurs have not been able to boss things centrally and lack drive in the middle.

Inverted wingers has led to Roberto Soldado feeding off the scraps of scraps. It has hit his confidence.

Villas-Boas seems unsure who his number 10 should be – with Christian Eriksen out, it was for Lewis Holtby to make the position his. He hasn't convinced – yet Villas-Boas has refused to put Gylfi Sigurdsson in what is his natural position.

Spurs: Lloris, Vertonghen, Walker, Dawson, Kaboul, Paulinho (Sigurdsson, 60), Sandro, Lamela, Lennon, Holtby (Adebayor, 45), Soldado (Dembele, 60).