Things That Should Change With AVB Out

Its official, Andre Villas-Boas has been sacked from his position of head coach at Spurs. After another humiliating loss (this time to Liverpool), the Tottenham management decided that the Portuguese should be relieved of his duties. Whether that was the correct decision or not is debatable (AVB does have the best win percentage of any Spurs manager in the Premier League at 54%), but the management clearly decided that some of his decisions were not the way to go. If you were hired to be Tottenham’s new boss now, which would be the major things you would change about AVB’s system?

Start Playing Andros Townsend On The Left

One of the major things AVB has gotten right this season is giving English youngster Andros Townsend a chance in the Tottenham first team. He has been very impressive in the time being given to him. The major reason many see as the reason why he has been dropped to the bench is his tendency to take long shots where a simple pass or cross would have been much more effective. Now I have criticized Townsend in the past, but his performances on Tottenham’s left have been much better recently. On the right flank, Townsend was forced to cut inside and unleash a usually ineffective shot. However on the left the 22 year old has been much more effective in delivering crosses into the box and playing short passes. The only thing is, AVB seemed reluctant to play him on the left, opting for Nacer Chadli instead. While Chadli is a decent player, one would think that Townsend (on the left) would do better than no goals and a solitary assist in 578 Premier League minutes.

Bring Adebayor Back Into The Picture

Barring a short cameo against Manchester City (another thrashing), Emmanuel Adebayor has yet to make an impact this season. Whether the Togolese is a major part of Tottenham’s season under different management is yet to be seen, but he should play a larger role in the formation of Tottenham’s strike force. His competition in Roberto Soldado and Jermain Defoe has scored a total of one goal in the Premier League this season, excluding penalties. The impotence of the pair shows how a different style of player is needed up front, instead of a lone penalty box striker Adebayor would offer a more physical presence. With the January transfer market coming closer and closer, the new Tottenham manager may decide it to be necessary to invest in another striker. If so, Adebayor may be deemed irrelevant, but until then Adebayor should be in the running to start against Southampton, if he is back from injury.

Drop Paulinho

Much was expected from the £17 million Paulinho when he arrived from Corinthians. He didn’t exactly set the world alight in his first few performances, but he played decently enough for AVB to decide to give him a part to play in every single Premier League game. In fact, the next game is the only one he will play no part in due to the suspension incurred when he raised his leg against Luis Suarez. Whether or not the Brazilian should be labeled a flop is an entirely different issue, but as of late, his form has been very erratic and simply not good enough to warrant a spot in the midfield that includes Mousa Dembele, Sandro and Etienne Capoue. At the most, three players from the mix (including Paulinho) can play in a single game together, assuming Capoue doesn’t play in a center back role. In a case like that or similar, Paulinho should take up a place on the bench, for the time being at least.

Spending In The January Transfer Market

Something AVB was unable to achieve in his career is a decent January transfer window. Last season the Portuguese Head Coach brought in Lewis Holtby and Zeki Fryers. While getting a German prodigy for just over £1 million is a great piece of business, it wasn’t what Tottenham needed to catapult them into the Champions League. Fryers is a decent left back, and he might make an impact in the future, but he certainly wasn’t a solution to Spurs striking options. At his brief spell at Chelsea, he brought in Gary Cahill, Kevin De Bruyne and Patrick Bamford. While Chelsea was in need of a center back at the time, Cahill didn’t have the best impact that season. Kevin De Bruyne has turned into a good player (even if he cannot break into Chelsea’s stacked midfield), but made it public record that he didn’t have any part in the deal bringing the Belgian to the club. Bamford is looking like a good prospect, but he certainly wouldn’t be considered a master transfer. Daniel Levy will be looking for someone who can bring a quality left back and striker to White Hart Lane.