After spending over £100 million in the summer, Andre Villas Boas is under immense pressure to succeed as Tottenham Hotspur manager.
After a less than convincing start to the season, fans are starting to question whether he is the right man for the job.
Here is why Andre Villas Boas is the wrong man for Tottenham.
Villas Boas built a reputation as one of world football’s finest young managers after leading Porto to the Treble with a ludicrous 84 per cent win record in 2011.
They didn’t lose a single game in the league, conceded just 16 goals and won 16 matches in a row between December and May.
He got the best out of stars like Hulk and Falcao who scored a mammoth 74 goals between them.
But let’s be honest, me or you could have picked the team at Porto and been fairly confident of cleaning up in the Primeira Liga.
To give you a better gage of the standard of opposition Villas Boas faced, Porto met Vitoria Guimaraes, who finished fifth in the league, in the final of the Taca de Portugal. Not the most difficult game I’m sure you will agree.
Villas Boas then went onto Chelsea in a move that proved he was out of his depth managing at the very top level as he was sacked after only eight months in charge.
Surely after spending £100 million Tottenham should be at the very top level?
It is painstakingly obvious that AVB doesn’t understand what Tottenham Hotspur means to its fans.
From an outsider’s perspective, Spurs fans seem to have a certain expectation, a culture at the club that has been passed down through generations of managers and supporters. They want entertainment and extravagance which has become a bit of a curse to AVB due to his style of management.
They have won six times in the Premier League this season and four of them have been 1-0 wins. This is not the Tottenham Way.
But this is Villas Boas’ way, making tactical substitutions to protect their precious advantage in each of those games.
If that works every game then so be it, why change a winning formula? But after a bright start Spurs have failed to score against the likes of Newcastle and shipped six at Manchester City, something needs to change at White Hart Lane.
They have the players, but a manager who doesn’t know how to use them.
Erik Lamela, Nacer Chadli, Christian Eriksen, Aaron Lennon, Paulinho, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Roberto Soldado
and Andros Townsend are all creative forces, so how have Spurs only scored 11 league goals this season?
Of course Gareth Bale is a huge miss, but this was the season Spurs were meant to go on and challenge for the title.
But no-one wins the title with a string of streaky 1-0 victories.
Instead they pour forward in search of more goals, putting teams away and sending a message to the rest of the league that they mean business.
Look at Manchester City. They are currently six points behind Arsenal but are still favourites in many people’s eyes for the title.
Why? Because they have proved they can dismantle teams, are Spurs capable of that?
Villas Boas has been far too intense, something that has seemingly transmitted itself to the players in recent weeks. The results against Everton, Newcastle and City speak for themselves.
Having a go the fans as he did after they fluked a 1-0 win over Hull will not help his cause either.
Sunday’s thrilling draw with Manchester United was just what AVB’s doctor ordered. Now his side must kick on and try to revive the swagger of the team that won a league title and three FA Cups under Bill Nicholson.
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