Is Andre Villas-Boas really in danger of getting the sack?

Speculation mounted over the future of Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas after his team lost 6-0 defeat at Manchester City

Last Sunday Tottenham travelled to fellow high-flying Manchester City and were on the receiving end of a 6-0 hammering.

The display was a poor one and their defensive performance was very un-Spurs like. Andre Villas-Boas’ team had problems at both ends of the pitch and it was a bad day at the office all round.

Reports

Spurs are currently on a poor run of form and there were reports in certain newspapers that their Portuguese boss could be heading for the White Hart Lane exit door. These reports are surely premature.

The Portuguese boss was suddenly installed as the favourite with the bookmakers to be the next top-flight boss to leave his position. It strikes me as a bit of a knee jerk reaction. The City result was not a fair assessment of Tottenham under AVB, well their defensive display was not anyway.

Confidence

The Spurs boss has denied that he has lost the confidence of the players and the board. He told Sky Sports: “I have the confidence of the board. I have the confidence of my players and I have to move on to do a proper job,”

“The only conversation (the board and I) had recently was two or three days ago. The board is of the same opinion that everything went wrong and we hope to get some response in the future. It was an ordinary meeting. We only spoke very briefly about the game.”

New arrivals

In the summer Tottenham brought in a host of new players and they just have not yet clicked into gear. The summer arrivals were expected to form a new exciting Spurs team. Attacking midfielders Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela are two of the most highly-rated young players in world football.

Yet, neither has settled into English football. Both are still young players and it will take time for them to settle into the country and league. They were brought into the team to provide creativity and that was been lacking in recent games.

The lack of creativity in Spurs midfield has led to a chronic lack of goals. In Spaniard Roberto Soldado, Tottenham have one of the best goal poachers in Europe. In recent games he has looked frustrated by the lack of opportunities created for him.

Some may claim that he should be doing better up front, but he was never going to be the sort of striker that created that many chances for himself. He scores goals when he is given the opportunities and has proven that in La Liga in the last few years.

On paper the Tottenham squad looks very good and should be challenging at the very top end of the Premier League. Unfortunately football is played on grass and a number of Tottenham’s players have just not performed to the best of their ability.

Best

Andre Villas-Boas does not seem to have found his best starting eleven just yet, or formation for that matter. The Portuguese boss keeps chopping and changing his starting line-up. He has a plethora of midfield options available to him, but still cannot find that missing creativity.

The likes of Eriksen and Lamela have yet to have a real run in team and it seems to have affected their chances of settling into English football. Maybe it is now time for AVB to give Lamela and Eriksen their chance to impress on a regular basis.

Argentinian international Lamela cost Spurs a potential fee of £30million and was earmarked as the player to replace Gareth Bale as the main creative force in the Spurs side. Eriksen was also expected to contribute heavily to the creativity of Tottenham’s team.

Neither has made much of an impact for Spurs since their arrival. However, both have the potential to be outstanding players for the team from north London, once they are settled though. Tottenham are in a bit of a catch 22, as playing time will help them settle, but they also need results.

Doubtful

AVB has the potential to be a good manager, but rather like his team he is not currently fulfilling his potential. However, I do get the feeling that the Portuguese boss will be successful at White Hart Lane.

He just needs to find the right formula in midfield. The defensive display against Manchester City was a slight blip, but Spurs are usually pretty solid at the back. I highly doubt that Tottenham will jump the gun and sack AVB in the near future.

It is early days of the season and Spurs are just two points away from fourth place and the Champions League spots. I doubt that the Spurs hierarchy will be panicking just yet and the Portuguese boss’ job is safe for now.

Is Andre Villas-Boas really in danger of getting the sack?