da lvbet： Andre Villas-Boas will probably already be making an intricate set of preparations for his side’s trip to Reading this Sunday and there can be no doubts that however he chooses to set his team up, they’re in dire need of attaining all three points.
da winzada777： The set-up in which the Portuguese has adopted since his arrival in North London, has of course been the current 4-2-3-1 set-up, which has certainly not been without it’s set of teething problems. Of course, the fact that he was employed with this ethos in mind, yet failed to attain a set of players able to play it properly till the end of the transfer window, hasn’t helped anybody. Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy certainly made life tough on the ex-Chelsea man for his team’s first three league fixtures.
Yet when Emmanuel Adebayor is fit enough to lead Spurs’ line of attack on his own and Moussa Dembele is able to start from the off in a deeper midfield role, Villas-Boas should have the tools to get his new system firing on all cylinders. Of course, the touted transfer of Joao Moutinho would have been catalyzed Spurs’ transition to with far, far greater ease, but the side looks far more suited to playing in this way than what it has for their opening games.
However, Tottenham’s well oiled machine of last season may have undergone wholesale changes, but a few of the old cogs are still massively prominent in its post-Redknapp facelift; and it remains to be seen whether these cogs, predominantly to the names of Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon, can work effectively under Andre Villas-Boas’ stewardship.
Spurs’ opener against Newcastle at St. James Park last month may have ended in defeat, but the suggestions were that their all important wingmen in chief, were up to the task of playing in a more varied role. Gareth Bale seemingly spent the second half of last season auditioning for a more central role and he seemed more than happy to oblige, picking the ball up from a variety of positions and causing all sorts of problems; even hitting the bar with a header at one point.
Likewise, Aaron Lennon seemed to be popping up all over the shop, dinking balls in from both the left and the right. Indeed, Jermain Defoe’s equalizer at the time came as a result from one of Lennon’s forays from the left hand side. It seemed that although there was work still to be done, both of Spurs’ wingers were up to the task of playing in the Villas-Boas’ three behind the frontman.
The last two games, however, seem to have counterbalanced the real positives that fans took from the seasons opener. As stated, it is both unfair and unrealistic to judge Villas-Boas entirely from three games in which he hasn’t had the right players to play the system he’s been brought in to employ- and part of that blame must lie with the chairman. But the problem is, two of his sides’ most lethal assets have carved their reputations playing in a different role. A role that has in no small part, defined a large part of Spurs’ recent success.
Looking backwards is by no means going to help the club move forwards, although Redknapp’s side was focused upon a very traditional sense of wing play. The emphasis of their play has always revolved around getting the balls out to the flanks and letting both Bale and Lennon cause carnage. Be it the balls the pair put into the box, the space they made from searing runs at defenders or their craft at cutting back inside, they have made both their own names and that of their teams’ on the back of such play.
No one can deny that for all it’s success and swashbuckling style, the 4-4-1-1 itself had it’s fair share of tactical faults. But importantly, it was the pair of Bale and Lennon that made it tick. Andre Villas-Boas new system is one that is very much embraced by the top European sides and is very much in keeping with the modern game. Contrary to what the doubters or those of the old-school may say, there is absolutely no reason why it can’t work at Tottenham Hotspur. But whether it can work with both Bale and Lennon in it, remains to be seen.
Because in both home games against West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City, Spurs have looked disjointed- particularly going forward. No one denies that the new regime will take time to implement, but it has been the lack of cohesion and direction that has been particularly worrying. The three behind the striker must be mobile, quicksilver but perhaps just as importantly, they must have a degree of tactical nous. Getting two traditional wingers to play in this way is asking questions of Bale and Lennon- and they’re both giving some uncertain answers.
Gareth Bale has been creating opportunities throughout all three games, but again, they’ve come from his traditional marauding raids down the left-flank. This isn’t to say that Villas-Boas set-up can’t allow for these runs, in the slightest. But both Bale’s and Tottenham’s most prominent opportunities have come from his traditional wing play. Not his stuttering and often ineffective play more centrally. Last season he showed a continuous desire to move in from the left hand side, but bar his virtuoso performance away at Norwich, he often failed to make an impression. He will need time to adapt, but he must show more to suggest he has a real future playing in this role.
Aaron Lennon also has looked uncomfortable at times playing in his newer role. He naturally wants to get chalk on his boots and run at his man. Intelligent movement has never been the fulcrum of his game because it doesn’t need to be- he does one thing, but he does it very well. There is nothing wrong with that. But the problem is if both Bale and Lennon revert back to their natural instincts, then the system will ultimately be doomed to failure. The system needs them to be able to make an impact more centrally as they have to chip in with the goals to make it stick.
There’s nothing to say that both Bale and Lennon can’t refine their roles in this team. Nothing happens overnight and they’ve both had to play in a system, as the rest of the side has, that hasn’t had the players to cater to it. But unfairly or not, the side is already under a real level of extrinsic pressure and Villas-Boas can’t afford to give them half a season to make it work. He simply doesn’t have the time.
The sticking point is that both Lennon and particularly Bale’s ability are too important for Spurs to leave out- even if he wanted to, there simply aren’t any viable alternatives. Villas-Boas must be brave and he must stick with his philosophy and what he believes in. But these are the tools of which he has to work with and if until January he can’t get them to adapt, he must do whatever it takes to do so. And the realties of that aren’t particularly easy at all.
What do you think about Bale and Lennon’s role in this Spurs team? How long can AVB afford to give them to adapt and can they both co-exist in the new set-up? Let me know what you’d do on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me all your views.
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