Levy had no choice but to sack stubborn AVB
After just 3 games last season I wrote a long article on Facebook explaining why the tactics being employed at that time were flawed and without changed would not work. Unfortunately this season AVB had reverted back to those initial flawed tactics and has now paid the ultimate price.
Daniel Levy was right to sack a manger out of his depth before it was too late. Eleven goals conceded in 2 games, one at home is totally unacceptable. There was no sign of progress being made, well, not in the right direction anyway, we were going backwards.
There were two major faults with his tactics at the time, one of which showed his defensive philosophy in a football world that is now based on attack and scoring goals. His tactics were simply asking for the trouble that came our way.
Firstly he was taking off attacking players and bringing on defensive players to try and protect a lead. It looked good on a chalkboard in the training room but in real life it was a total failure as it meant we simply defended deeper and invited pressure. Ultimately that tactic was responsible for our failure to finish fourth, where we had the previous season, and once again missed out on the Champions League.
The second flaw was width, the same as this season. He started last season playing with Gareth Bale tucked in instead of starting from a wide position. After about 10 games he changed both of these mistakes, no longer bring on defenders for attackers and pushing Bale wider and further forward, a move lost on most until his subsequent move into a free role. Credit where credit is due because he then developed Bale into the worlds most expensive footballer.
AVB started the season with a lack of width and this season he has generally done the same thing. Townsend provided no width being on the wrong wing and Chadli doesn't try to get to the byline either. Last week Townsend came on on the left, crossed within 2 minutes and Defoe hit the post. This week back to a player not putting crosses in because that is the system he wanted.
That blind stubbornness has eventually cost him his job. In life you have to learn from your mistakes and he simply didn't learn from his, he didn't seem to think he had made any. Our no excuse culture turned into AVB making excuses, even blaming the crowd at one point. This season he has had no idea what his best team is.
Fortunately we haven't spent loads on money, merely used the Bale money so if a manager can get a system that these quality players can play in all is not lost. The policy of buying a penalty box finisher and then not putting the ball into the box is plain daft.
Our policy of buying young, improving them to increase their value will not change so the new manager will have to embrace that philosophy.
Who that will be goodness only knows but at least we have time to rescue the ship before it has sunk now.
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Daniel Levy was right to sack a manger out of his depth before it was too late. Eleven goals conceded in 2 games, one at home is totally unacceptable. There was no sign of progress being made, well, not in the right direction anyway, we were going backwards.
There were two major faults with his tactics at the time, one of which showed his defensive philosophy in a football world that is now based on attack and scoring goals. His tactics were simply asking for the trouble that came our way.
Firstly he was taking off attacking players and bringing on defensive players to try and protect a lead. It looked good on a chalkboard in the training room but in real life it was a total failure as it meant we simply defended deeper and invited pressure. Ultimately that tactic was responsible for our failure to finish fourth, where we had the previous season, and once again missed out on the Champions League.
The second flaw was width, the same as this season. He started last season playing with Gareth Bale tucked in instead of starting from a wide position. After about 10 games he changed both of these mistakes, no longer bring on defenders for attackers and pushing Bale wider and further forward, a move lost on most until his subsequent move into a free role. Credit where credit is due because he then developed Bale into the worlds most expensive footballer.
AVB started the season with a lack of width and this season he has generally done the same thing. Townsend provided no width being on the wrong wing and Chadli doesn't try to get to the byline either. Last week Townsend came on on the left, crossed within 2 minutes and Defoe hit the post. This week back to a player not putting crosses in because that is the system he wanted.
That blind stubbornness has eventually cost him his job. In life you have to learn from your mistakes and he simply didn't learn from his, he didn't seem to think he had made any. Our no excuse culture turned into AVB making excuses, even blaming the crowd at one point. This season he has had no idea what his best team is.
Fortunately we haven't spent loads on money, merely used the Bale money so if a manager can get a system that these quality players can play in all is not lost. The policy of buying a penalty box finisher and then not putting the ball into the box is plain daft.
Our policy of buying young, improving them to increase their value will not change so the new manager will have to embrace that philosophy.
Who that will be goodness only knows but at least we have time to rescue the ship before it has sunk now.
Subscribe to THBN
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