From the managerial wunderkid to a naive failure. The journey was swift for a young Andre Villas-Boas. A year ago, he was the most coveted man in European football; with all the big clubs showing interest, after that incredible treble with Porto. Yet the gasps were audible when a move to Stamford Bridge materialized. No one had ever paid 13 million pounds before to secure a manager. Not even Roman Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour.
Yet here he stands now, as the newly-named boss of Tottenham, just four months after the unceremonious sacking at Chelsea, where his tenure lasted merely 256 days. Yes, Andre Villas-Boas is back in English football. Perhaps not amidst so much fanfare this time, but certainly with even more resolve to succeed. His decision to take the reigns at Spurs is indeed a bold one, considering many would've shied away from such a fast return after a nightmarish experience.
We have already been subjected to lots of discussions on whether he can succeed at White Hart Lane, or what are the issues he'll need to handle immediately; from serious tactical debates to amateurish "Get Modric to stay, Sign a big striker and everything will be rosy" types. Let's not get into all that again. Villas-Boas' rise on the footballing circuit has certainly been fascinating. Did he try to get big too fast? Should he have waited another year, like his predecessor Mourinho, before making the big move? The discussions have been endless. And yet, a man as shrewd as Levy chose to put his faith in him ahead of an experienced Englishman highly popular at Spurs. That should tell us something.
Villas-Boas certainly has an interesting persona, although the media didn't exactly do him justice. The confidence was soon labelled as "arrogance" once he took them head-on, and results started dwindling. He came to Chelsea with a clear vision for the future, but the actual implementation was far more difficult. The plan was to play the beautiful passing game, with an extremely high back-line to press heavily (Yeah, we have heard tons about that!). Trouble began when Chelsea's Old Guard struggled to adjust to the new system. You could say Villas-Boas's reaction wasn't exactly diplomatic. Even that could work at some of the clubs, but not at a club where player-power is so rampant.
A few would deny the young Portuguese is an astute tactician; in fact, some would say he's too much of that. His attention to details is immense, inherited from his days as the Opposition Scout. It's said that some of the Chelsea's players didn't take it too well, when AVB tried to dictate even their smallest movements. He was a workaholic, poring over massive amounts of technical data about his players. In the end he became so engrossed with damage-control work, that he'd even sleep at the Cobham training center. Despite having a family home in Chelsea Harbour. People could call him naive, arrogant and loads of other things; but no one could fault his burning desire to make things work at Chelsea.
To make things clear, this writer is a die-hard Chelsea fan, so any urge to see as bitter rivals as Tottenham fail should be almost obligatory. One would think that desire would be even more intense against someone who went there from the Stamford Bridge itself. And yet, I just can't bring myself to not like the man, who was willing to sleep on the training grounds, just to make things right at Chelsea.
Some of Villas-Boas' mistakes were glaring. The insistence on high-line with ageing defenders was always highlighted. Although his signing of Gary Cahill showed he understood the issue. No one had better stats last season in catching opponents offside as the last man in defense than the English Centre-back. He wasn't helped by the troubles in Chelsea's striking department, despite the abundance of talent. His success at Porto was built majorly on two phenomenal forwards, Falcao and Hulk. The two scored an incredible 74 goals together in Porto's treble-winning heroics. At Chelsea, neither Drogba nor Torres hit the ground running. Suspensions suffered at crucial junctures didn't help the cause either.
And yet, perhaps the biggest mistake was isolating Nicolas Anelka and Alex, once they handed in transfer request. Maybe a decision too professional for players' liking. These were 2 experienced footballers who had won championships with Chelsea and had greatly successful careers; most of the team felt a strong bond with them that Villas-Boas didn't share. The public humiliation of taking away their first-team privileges didn't go down well with the rest of the team.
Ever since that, Villas-Boas must have known he was on borrowed time. Chelsea looked like a broken team, as if they didn't even want to play under him. The sacking was almost inevitable, but Roman Abramovich did blame his players for the poor performances. Villas-Boas didn't play the blame-games; he fought audaciously till the inevitable end came. They say Spurs are taking a huge gamble by hiring him. Only time will tell us if it backfires. But for now, the man who once laid claims to title of the "Next Special One" is back in English Football. And the Premier League is going to get a lot more interesting.
Yet here he stands now, as the newly-named boss of Tottenham, just four months after the unceremonious sacking at Chelsea, where his tenure lasted merely 256 days. Yes, Andre Villas-Boas is back in English football. Perhaps not amidst so much fanfare this time, but certainly with even more resolve to succeed. His decision to take the reigns at Spurs is indeed a bold one, considering many would've shied away from such a fast return after a nightmarish experience.
We have already been subjected to lots of discussions on whether he can succeed at White Hart Lane, or what are the issues he'll need to handle immediately; from serious tactical debates to amateurish "Get Modric to stay, Sign a big striker and everything will be rosy" types. Let's not get into all that again. Villas-Boas' rise on the footballing circuit has certainly been fascinating. Did he try to get big too fast? Should he have waited another year, like his predecessor Mourinho, before making the big move? The discussions have been endless. And yet, a man as shrewd as Levy chose to put his faith in him ahead of an experienced Englishman highly popular at Spurs. That should tell us something.
Villas-Boas certainly has an interesting persona, although the media didn't exactly do him justice. The confidence was soon labelled as "arrogance" once he took them head-on, and results started dwindling. He came to Chelsea with a clear vision for the future, but the actual implementation was far more difficult. The plan was to play the beautiful passing game, with an extremely high back-line to press heavily (Yeah, we have heard tons about that!). Trouble began when Chelsea's Old Guard struggled to adjust to the new system. You could say Villas-Boas's reaction wasn't exactly diplomatic. Even that could work at some of the clubs, but not at a club where player-power is so rampant.
A few would deny the young Portuguese is an astute tactician; in fact, some would say he's too much of that. His attention to details is immense, inherited from his days as the Opposition Scout. It's said that some of the Chelsea's players didn't take it too well, when AVB tried to dictate even their smallest movements. He was a workaholic, poring over massive amounts of technical data about his players. In the end he became so engrossed with damage-control work, that he'd even sleep at the Cobham training center. Despite having a family home in Chelsea Harbour. People could call him naive, arrogant and loads of other things; but no one could fault his burning desire to make things work at Chelsea.
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| Some say Villas-Boas was too obsessed with the tactical data, than his own players. |
To make things clear, this writer is a die-hard Chelsea fan, so any urge to see as bitter rivals as Tottenham fail should be almost obligatory. One would think that desire would be even more intense against someone who went there from the Stamford Bridge itself. And yet, I just can't bring myself to not like the man, who was willing to sleep on the training grounds, just to make things right at Chelsea.
Some of Villas-Boas' mistakes were glaring. The insistence on high-line with ageing defenders was always highlighted. Although his signing of Gary Cahill showed he understood the issue. No one had better stats last season in catching opponents offside as the last man in defense than the English Centre-back. He wasn't helped by the troubles in Chelsea's striking department, despite the abundance of talent. His success at Porto was built majorly on two phenomenal forwards, Falcao and Hulk. The two scored an incredible 74 goals together in Porto's treble-winning heroics. At Chelsea, neither Drogba nor Torres hit the ground running. Suspensions suffered at crucial junctures didn't help the cause either.
And yet, perhaps the biggest mistake was isolating Nicolas Anelka and Alex, once they handed in transfer request. Maybe a decision too professional for players' liking. These were 2 experienced footballers who had won championships with Chelsea and had greatly successful careers; most of the team felt a strong bond with them that Villas-Boas didn't share. The public humiliation of taking away their first-team privileges didn't go down well with the rest of the team.
Ever since that, Villas-Boas must have known he was on borrowed time. Chelsea looked like a broken team, as if they didn't even want to play under him. The sacking was almost inevitable, but Roman Abramovich did blame his players for the poor performances. Villas-Boas didn't play the blame-games; he fought audaciously till the inevitable end came. They say Spurs are taking a huge gamble by hiring him. Only time will tell us if it backfires. But for now, the man who once laid claims to title of the "Next Special One" is back in English Football. And the Premier League is going to get a lot more interesting.
