The College Dropout

Aye, Ashley fluked his way to a billion. I remember some saying Fernandes was a better business man.

I have watched his time at Porto as well, they didn't had to play counter attacking football as much however his ball passing and retention style is pretty much the same. The only difference was that at Porto the league was much slower and allowed time for more possession on the individual, it was this exact thing that he had a hard time at Chelsea trying to set up the same way to play in the Portuguese League. However he has always being a more defensive 1st coach, working on the opposition attack before defense. Personally i don't see him being like Guardiola and Mourinho, He doesn't Value possession as much like Guardiola and doesn't play like Mourinho. its still difficult to tell since his style is evolving, at the moment its more Italian in my eyes. Thought his Chelsea side was too attacking. Pressed too high.

Chelsea didn't. Didn't watch much Porto. Spurs certainly do. Spurs where very strong at home under Harry. Better than they are now. they certainly knew how to break teams down

If I was him, i'd look to run it down to atleast the last year. opens his options up. How long is left? 2 years? We need to sort it asap.

never said it's an easy sale.

I didn't bring it up. Just shared me opinion. Nobody's offered £20m for either. E very club except a small handful, are selling clubs. Our best players should only go to that small group unless others are willing to spend as if they belong in that group.

Difference for me is, they're not any better than last season. I think the England thing affected Spurs but I do agree they needed something else from Harry in that period that he can and will never possess. They did finish 4th though. Harry does adapt to games and teams, we've seen that at QPR. But the QPR team atm can't play on the front foot. Spurs have won the same amount of games at home as us. They've had a fair few draws at home. Being a counter attacking side has meant means they can be toothless a bit at home. I don't think that's any better than Harry's "strict" possession based approach. I do agree that Harry's style suited Ade much more than Defoe for the reasons you described though. I believe R Madrid are over reliant on counter-attacking. If they go behind to a top side, they'll struggle. Mourinho was out-foxed by SAF. It was not a bad result but it wasn't good for them. Slight advantage to Fergie. AVB does have time to learn but you say "he just needs to learn how to break teams down when they sit deep" but their style is against that. It will be very difficult. I don't think Pardew is as bad as is made out. He misses things we see but strikes where we don't but doesn't get the credit. His subs are poor though. He's better than both Harry/AVB at manahing squads morale.

But they do. It's focused around letting the better players do their thing. VDV in spaces to pass great balls and shoot, Ade to hold up and bring others in, Bale-Lennon use their pace. BAE-Walker natural overlap etc. Parker et al. hold it all together. It is more "free" but the style of Harry's Spurs was distinct. His Spurs where better at home because they where encouraged to do their thing. AVB is more rigid, so they've sometimes looked toothless at home because there's more parameters. Away they're better than at home because they're built to counter.

Not sure why some like to be so pessimistic even with clearly our best player. Just enjoy him FFS Why is it pessimistic to state that even Hatem Ben Arfa has a price? It's not like I hope we sell him, or even expect us to, as I don't think any club will offer an amount that would entice us to sell (20 million or more). Has nothing to do with being able to enjoy him either; I most certainly do, and wish I could do more as I don't think he's featured enough or played to his full potential over a prolounged period since coming here. Fully agree with you mate. HBA's probably my favourite player. If he plays to his potential for a season and a half he will most likely get a move. If someone offered £20m in the summer which i'm confident nobody will. He would most likely be sold, at that price at this moment in time 5-8m of that would be for potential for someone who is almost 26. Could all change in a flash though. He comes back, scores 8 goals. His value will be towards £30m...

Chelsea are in a mess.

I'm not sure. I presume that he's trying to ease him back in after his injury, which was pretty awkward. The thing is, it's not just that he's a better footballer than Naughton (after all, Vertonghen actually played LB on Monday) - BAE is our only left back. Vertonghen and Naughton have been doing a job, but it's obvious they're both out of position. It's possible that BAE is not doing what AVB is asking of him in training, but I think it's more likely that AVB really is just being cautious. I think that Vertonghen was started at least in part because we expected a barrage of long balls. I'd expect to see BAE play on Sunday. To me, it looks like AVB is perfectly happy playing Naughton and the Belgium lad at LB and will continue doing so. Everytime I watch you it's one of them starting and I think that's how AVB wants it. Don't understand it myself. The other two look out of position like you say. Naughton might be a better defender than your current RB mind.

I'm consistent and realistically optimistic. AVB hasn't shown himself to be as good as some claim. Same can be said for Cisse and HBA.

So did Juande Ramos. Redknapp took that exact side the opposite position in the league. AVB hasn't done any better at Spurs than Harry did. Jury's still out for me. No doubt he will learn and improve. But people going "look how great AVB is" are being too quick.The same people didn't credit Redknapp for doing the exact same thing.

Cheers. Didn't mean to jump down your throat, but I've read some extraordinary drivel on RAWK/Arsenalmania etc about us, and this is a far better forum to talk about it . Yeah, there is definitely a split among Spurs supporters on our style of play. We'd like to be more expansive, but it's difficult to argue when we're getting the results. In the first three games we didn't, and that's when we were really worried. Some still are, though I'm pretty sure they're a small minority. We let in three late goals in those games (one after a joke red card for Huddlestone that was later rescinded) and got only two points when we would have hoped for seven. Yet it was his first three games, and ones in which our squad was in a state of flux. I just can't argue against what he's achieved, so far. Redknapp wasn't a tactical fool, but I think much of his success was about giving the onus to the players, giving them more freedom to do what they want and knowing how to motivate each of them. This really suited VDV and Adebayor, in particular, but put a lot of pressure on the water-carriers. There were a handful of games, particularly after Xmas, where it seemed painfully obvious what adjustments/substitutions needed to be made, yet they weren't happening, and we were losing and drawing games because of it. AVB has clearly been more focused on getting the players to press, which was what we were saying all last season. The Ade stuff is difficult, because his whole season has been a mindfuck. First we have the incredibly drawn-out transfer, during which he hadn't apparently kept himself fit, then Defoe starts playing better, then the ANC and that mess. I much prefer Adebayor for his impact on our general play, but he's always been hit-and-miss on finishing and touch. Hopefully Sunday will be the catalyst for his season (and he doesn't get sent off again, FFS). I'd like Laudrup, but you can't have everyone, and I just hope that AVB is the real thing. Levy would clearly love to find another Wenger, and have a coach who can get the whole club playing a certain way. He'd like to have an entirely home-grown team (for the cash, naturally), and we're getting there - more than half the team that finished the West Ham match have been with us since they were teenagers. The thinking is that AVB as coach is a good fit for bringing those players through. I'm not sure if Pardew is, but until you get your academy upgraded I guess the chances are slimmer. Fully agree with everything you've said. Harry and Pards are similar in the sense they're good man managers. Except Pardew is probably better in that aspect as he gets the whole squad going where as Harry has his 13 or so he trusts and the rest rarely play (see the Everton lad). Harry gives the creatives more freedom though. AVB is more structured, sometimes it works like with Lennon receiving the ball on the run more.. sometimes it doesn't see: Adebayor. Why doesn't AVB start BAE? He's a better footballer than Naughton totally. I do think AVB's personality works better on younger players with less ego as seen at Chelsea. Which is good for Spurs.

Dembele, Sigurdsson & Dempsey for Modric money was good business. Plus Vertoghnen. With Caulker and the fullback with Prem experience. They are a better side this year imo but are in more or less the same position as last year. Which tbh was a good job. Without the Redknapp media circus they would've finished 3rd last season and they should finish 3rd this season too. I just don't understand how Redknapp is crap and AVB is brilliant that some people think despite similar results. AVB maybe better in the long-term, he likes youth and rotation more but atm he's not shown much in the PL to show he's better than Redknapp. I think the rotation will mean they will be strong in the cups this year and next though.

Basically.

£20m for Hatem is good price for all parties tbh. Just not L'pool though.

Would love ud to have some proper options for when Cisse is having one of his off days.

I'm sure the difference between 3rd and 5th is important in te Premiership like. Just a hunch.

Take Bale out and they'd be mid-table. Just look at how many points he's got them alone. That is rubbish tbf, Bale hasn't been carrying them until the last 3 or 4 weeks before then it was much more of a team effort with Defoe, Dempsey, Dembele and Lennon all contributing to points. Mid table is a bit strong. Behind Arsenal? I believe so. The past 5 weeks Bale has won them points. Credit to AVB for helping Bale get to this next level but the team as a whole in recent weeks hasn't been great.

Hans is the naive fool. Star players can be the difference between winning and losing, cups and runners up. I thought everybody knew this?

the defence isn't great atm. Do they do concede and look like conceding. The Bale braces have been vital. Had Bale been added to the injury list. They would be behind Arsenal. 100% certain.

Can't believe what hans is saying personally. I haven't seen a man carry a team like this in ages. Did he watch our match? Did he watch the Wham match? At Wham, without Bale they lose imo. Against us, we looked toothless without Gouff but I would've fancied us to nick a draw. They probably would've bundled one in without Bale at some point. They don't score 3 at Wham without Bale. They don't beat Lyon at home without Bale. They lose to Norwich without Bale. You know why RVP is worth 20m at 29 with a year left on his contract? Because RVP and RVP alone is potentially the difference between 1st and 2nd. Does Hans think Bale is worth £30m because of his looks? Gareth Frank Bale has single handidly won Spurs matches, plural. You know... like any world class attacking, match winner in football. Worst part about Hans POV. Is that Bale is scoring wonder goals, outside the box, powerful runs. Definition of one man team heroics. As a team, Redknapp's lot where playing better than this before the implosion. The past 5 weeks have been the Gareth Bale show.

It was 4-4-2. The opening goal shows the position of the team.

Our best results last year came at home to Man U and away to Chelsea. We played 4-4-2 in each. One with Ba and Cisse. What's best for the team is playing the in-form man in his best position. If you think the difference between last season and te beginning of this was swapping Ba and Cisse around then there's not much I can say. The fact Pardew is still willing to stick Cisse out wide from time to time just confirms he doesn't believe Cisse at the moment to be the best option at 9 at all times. Contract situation aside. IMO most managers and pundits will think play the in form man.