Sacking
Andre Villas-Boas and replacing him with Tim Sherwood has looked like a good
move for Tottenham Hotspur so far.
Sherwood has
decided to keep it simple and he has brought players such as Erik Lamela,
Christian Eriksen and Emmanuel Adebayor back into the starting line-up.
Spurs beat
Southampton 3-2 on Sherwood’s debut as manager, which was followed by a 1-1
draw against West Bromwich Albion and a 3-0 win against Stoke City.
Sherwood has
implemented the stereotypically English 4-4-2 formation but with the players at
his disposal, his team could play a fluid, more possession-based game than your
stereotypical English team.
When
Villas-Boas was manager, he said that some the players Franco Baldini brought
to the club weren’t players that he was interested in signing.
In England,
usually the manager finds players to fit into his starting 11. The scenario is
different in Italy because the sporting director searches for players and the
coach might have some say in who is bought.
Villas-Boas
has a set style of playing. He has used the 4-2-3-1 at Spurs and in the past he
used the standard 4-3-3 formation. The Portuguese coach is also known for also
encouraging his defence to play high up the park.
Sometimes
it’s good for coaches to have their own style of coaching and management but it
can backfire if the coach is stuck in his own style. For the style to work, you
need full support from your club staff and players.
Spurs have
been known for playing more like a continental European side since the days of
Arthur Rowe and then Bill Nicholson. Sherwood would be wise to emulate them and
although he has been in charge for just three EPL matches, he is getting the
best out what he has got around him.
Former
Blackburn Rovers owner Mike Walker once asked Kenny Dalglish, “Why do you need
Zinedine Zidane when you have Tim Sherwood?”
If they
haven’t already, it wouldn’t surprise me if the directors at Spurs eventually ask
themselves, “Who needs Andre Villas-Boas when you have Tim Sherwood?”
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