The Andre Villas Boas renovation hits Spurs

As if undeterred from his experiences at Chelsea where his attempts at radical change without waiting for the commodity of father time to have his say were stubbornly rebuffed by his playing staff with such determination that his future fell before them, Andre Villas-Boas is willing to go down the same route at Spurs in a desperate attempt to stamp his own identity on his new squad.

It is far too simple to say that a defeat to Newcastle on the opening day of the league season would have been the catalyst for Villas-Boas to believe his Spurs squad is in obvious need of being placed under the knife, yet it must be from that 2-1 loss that rammed home to the Portuguese coach that funds must be raised in order to address the failings that were in obvious effect; the distinct lack of fire-power underneath Jermain Defoe being an obvious cause for concern, plus the lack of creative drive from a midfield that is 99.9% sure to be short of Luka Modric when the transfer window shuts in ten days’ time.

So, just like his attempts at overhauling his Chelsea squad that blew dramatically back in his face with the phasing out of Frank Lampard and the eventual Champions League hero Didier Drogba, plus the thoughtless dismissal of Alex and Nicolas Anelka, Spurs are now watching it happen to them. Defender Sebastien Bassong has been the first to go, rather understandably for a defender who has been blighted by injuries at White Hart Lane and for a decent fee, a club record deal for Norwich to the tune of £5.5 million. Then, strangely, Michael Dawson has been allowed to follow his fellow centre-half through the exit door, this time to QPR for a £9 million fee. Such a deal will represent good business for Spurs who will collect a rather attractive sum of money for a centre half who also has a history with injuries; he played just 13 times for Spurs last season as problems with his ankle surfaced.

Now to cash in a decent slice of cash for two centre-halves with fitness issues will be particularly appealing to Daniel Levy who will be looking to tighten the purse strings following the lavish spending of Villas Boas’ predecessor Harry Redknapp, but their extradition has all the air of the Villas Boas rashness about it, to quickly dispense with a pair of players without properly casting his eye over their talents. There must be more to Michael Dawson for instance, whom Redknapp saw fit to grant the White Hart Lane captaincy back in 2010 in a year he was named the club’s player of the year, than to be cast aside without appearing in a competitive game for the new coach. Plus, with Dawson’s departure, it now leaves Spurs with four centre-halves, Younes Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen who are both adept enough, then with an injury-prone William Gallas and Steven Caulker, who has just one Premier League season with Swansea to his name, as cover.

The manager may have covered himself with enough resources in order to ensure the departures of Bassong and Dawson will be as soft as can be and arguably, it is sensible to watch them go whilst they are still carrying decent price-tags, but it is another example of Villas Boas being particularly unforgiving when it comes to trimming his staff. Reported to be next on the list are Tom Huddlestone and Giovanni Dos Santos who have both failed to be earn regular playing time in recent seasons, whilst the seemingly forgotten David Bentley is continuously linked with MK Dons. Steven Pienaar and Niko Krancjar have previously left this summer to ease the swelling of a team left behind by Redknapp, but while Gylfi Sigurdsson has been brought in, it can be argued that with a further 3 midfielders to leave, together with Modric, Spurs will leave themselves thin on the ground in that area, especially if a proposed move for Joao Moutinho, with the clock already ticking, fails to materialise.

Emmanuel Adebayor, a striker to ease the burden off Jermain Defoe, has been signed from Manchester City following his impressive loan spell of last year which carried 17 goals in 33 games as Villas Boas’ spending spree begins to kick-start after a single weekend of persuasion and a summer of slow action to which only Sigurdsson and Vertonghen have been the only imports. But even Adebayor’s arrival has had to be rubber-stamped through a complex financial deal that puts the selling club out of pocket more than it does Spurs. Levy will understand the need for Villas Boas to improve his squad, this was after all a team that centred around a main core of a small number players last year and relied upon them to the extent they faded badly towards the end of the season, plus with the likelihood of Modric’ exit increasing by the day, any restriction of Villas Boas spending seems to be of irrational folly.

The chairman has relented it seems, but not without the compromise of selling players first and draining down the transfer window until it reaches the dregs of value as clubs panic in the face of the pound signs being flashed in front of their eyes. Yet, Villas Boas has done the quick sell and hastily buy practice before to negative results, he will be hoping that in the next ten days that is likely to provide a hive of transfer activity for Spurs, this side adapts better to a drastic squad overhauling better than the one at his last job did.

Comments

[neil]

Sad to see Michael go. He has been a great servant to the club. Last season was not his best but in previous seasons he has been Mr reliable. I can understand that with Steven Caulker now back at the club and Jan Vertonghen joining Michael would not see much playing time but he has been a leader on the pitch at times and I hope that spurs do not live to regret letting him go. I wish him the best at his new club.

[Dave]

We all seen what redknap did to west ham southampton and Portsmouth yet he was seen as saviour when he was appointed. Give avb a chance before you start bringing up his situation last season. The players who have been sold and the suposed departures have struggled to get into the team, therefore are they a huge loss?I hope he does sign more quality. We created chances at st James' without modric and only having Defoe upfront on his own in fact if one of them chances that hit the woodwork had of gone in we would have won that match. With redknap without modric we got mashed on the opening day of the season. Give the man a chance.

[Ads]

Negative & pointless article. Hardly know where to begin. This part in particular is a joke;

'So, just like his attempts at overhauling his Chelsea squad that blew dramatically back in his face with the phasing out of Frank Lampard and the eventual Champions League hero Didier Drogba, plus the thoughtless dismissal of Alex and Nicolas Anelka, Spurs are now watching it happen to them'

Three quality additions to the squad made & a few fringe players off the wage bill represents good business so far. I'd hardly call it a 'drastic squad over hauling', and I don't think AVB will be 'hoping' for anything - months of planning now coming to fruition. He'll have the players he wants for the system he believes in. Modric leaving was inevitable, if Dawson going is part of the plan then so be it, great servant for the club but might struggle with the new system.

The players & fans are behind our manager & believe he will succeed despite the media's pathetic agenda.

[spursguv]

Whoever wrote this has an axe to grind with AVB and doesn't know much about Tottenham. Dawson has been a liability and it's no surprise that Spurs had more success without him than with him. AVB gave Daws plenty of time in pre-season and you don't have to wait years to know someone is too slow for your set up. Even without new players Spurs have a lot of midfielders. Siggy, VDV, Bale, Lennon, Sandro, Parker, Livermore, Townsend and that's no mentioning the youth coming through. The backs are well catered for with Caulker, Gallas, Vertonghen and Kaboul. For me it's about time Bentley, Daws, Hudd and Jenas were let go. None of them dominate matches or are even consistently good. AVB left vertonghen on the bench which didn't please me but if he's going to create competition for places good on him. We aint Chelsea and there's no old boy club within Tottenham. Levy unlike ambramovic will support AVB. So will the fans. We have someone new to get used to but already we're getting players of a higher standard.

[vince]

A little surprised by Dawson, but for the right price I guess it makes sense. Not going to be a starter and probably a big earner. Lets see who AVB buys before we crucify him.. Selling a load of high earning fringe players makes a lot of sense. If we can sell Jenas and put his wages towards a top striker then why not?

[Gary Fox]

We brought in 4 new players (Siggy, Vertonghen plus getting Naughton and Caulker back) plus Adebayor maybe 1-2 more. We've lost King, Dawson, Bassong and Pienaar so far, with Hudd, Gio and maybe Jenas and Bentley to follow. How many were first team players? I'd rather we had 20 players who we trust than 15 who are quality and 10 who make-up the numbers - good but not great. Its a totally different situation to Chelski - there, AVB was under orders to get rid of the big names, the big ego's - he tried to, and the old guard effectively went on strike till AVB got sacked, then they started playing for their 'Bobby' Matey-o. AVB is clearing out the players who wont get game time but take-up squad places and big wages. We wont have Harry's Del Boy impersonations and cheeky chats to the media but we'll have a professional, skilled coach who will try to get us into the top 1-2-3. He might fail - but I'd rather Spurs aimed for the very top rather than accept Harry saying that 'we done real triffic to get 4th you know - we only had two points from 8 games when I took over - did I mention that already?'

[Dan]

I am enjoying the siege mentality between Spurs and the media right now. So obvious they are wanting for AVB to fail, just so that they can praise and talk up their mate Harry again. So many bias one sided articles like this. Can I assume that the author is a Chelsea supporter? Anyway, whatever really, let's see how the season pans out.

[Vic]

If I had written this heap of garbage, I wouldn't have put my name to it either - best keep it anonymous until you grow up.