Villa Boas talks tactics

[Rory Fitzgerald]

Andre Villas-Boas's footballing philosophy

 

There are more spaces in football than people think. Even if you play against a low block team, you immediately get half of the pitch.

 

And after that, in attacking midfield, you can provoke the opponent with the ball, provoke him to move forward or sideways and open up a space. But many players can’t understand the game.

 

They can’t think about or read the game. Things have become too easy for football players: high salaries, a good life, with a maximum of five hours work a day and so they can’t concentrate, can’t think about the game.

 

Barcelona’s players are completely the opposite. Their players are permanently thinking about the game, about their movement, about how to provoke their opponent with the position of the ball.

 

If you go find the top English teams pre-Arsene Wenger they tell you how to control a match in the opposite way without much ball possession, direct football, searching for the second ball.

 

Maybe now, controlling possession is the reference point for a top team

 

Rafa Benitez created a 4-4-2 much more dynamic than the usual English 4-4-2. Because he introduced speed in ball possession, he gave it variation between vertical and horizontal passes.

 

The usual classic English 4-4-2 is more basic: a penetrating midfielder and another one that stays in position; a winger who moves inside and another one who stays wide; a full back who overlaps and another one who covers the defence.

 

 

If you have midfielders like Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard you don’t want your forwards to come and play between lines, because Lampard and Gerrard have a large field of action and very often move in to those spaces.

 

Lampard was often irritated with Didier Drogba because Drogba wanted to receive the ball there but then, amazingly, his first touch was poor, so he lost the ball and we were exposed to a transition from the opponent.

 

So we had to limit Drogba from going there and ask him to play deeper.

 

 

 

Something that used to happen a lot in England, when teams played 4-4-2, was that the central midfielders exchanged the ball between them in parallel passes so what we did with Lampard, or Liverpool did with Gerrard, was to try to cut into that space between the two midfielders with fast movement from Lampard.

 

If they got the ball there, there were already two opponents eliminated in the attacking transition

 

[Epic Swindle]

Anyone can talk a good game. Lets see how he does this season first.

[Rory Fitzgerald]

Anyone can talk a good game. Lets see how he does this season first.

 

But its not his first season, he already had a medal or two in his managers cabinet

 

I'd love to have people like that sitting in a TV studio discussing the game, Rafa, Mourinho, Wenger etc

[Benzo-13]

But its not his first season, he already had a medal or two in his managers cabinet

 

I'd love to have people like that sitting in a TV studio discussing the game, Rafa, Mourinho, Wenger etc

Wenger of '98 vintage maybe. The current rev is still on his vanity project.

[Rory Fitzgerald]

Wenger of '98 vintage maybe. The current rev is still on his vanity project.

 

Wenger has a different philosphy to Rafa/Mourinho - it would be give a different viewpoint. Mind you, not a rashers of it ever happening.

[Epic Swindle]

But its not his first season, he already had a medal or two in his managers cabinet

 

I'd love to have people like that sitting in a TV studio discussing the game, Rafa, Mourinho, Wenger etc

 

What's wrong with Merson and Le Tissier?

 

Nah, he's a good manager, I just think there's a bit of exoticism attached to foreign managers who have a reputation for details. Not sure our league is that complicated. Wenger, for example, was more succesful when he applied the best of the traditional and the new.

Edited August 14, 2011 by Epic Swindle

[lfc003]

I like Villa Boas and really hate how the media continue to focus on his age and lack of 'mangerial experience'. The guy has been studying the act of coaching and the profession for over 15 years.

[Benzo-13]

Wenger has a different philosphy to Rafa/Mourinho - it would be give a different viewpoint. Mind you, not a rashers of it ever happening.

No point in Wenger even watchin it either.

[Billy Dane]

AVB giving Rafa praise is not going to go dowd well with the English media, he needs to be careful.

[Rimbeux]

Does this make AVB an advocate of the DH 'most of it is actually 4-4-2' line?

[Kvarme Ate My Food]

The usual classic English 4-4-2 is more basic: a penetrating midfielder and another one that stays in position; a winger who moves inside and another one who stays wide; a full back who overlaps and another one who covers the defence.

 

I still believe in that approach.

[johngibo YPC]

Anyone can talk a good game.

 

Why don't they do it then?

[CarraLegend]

He didnt look too sharp tactically yesterday the useless c***.

[Stevie H]

Anyone can talk a good game.

 

steve claridge can't. or robbie savage.

[Eskimo]

I still believe in that approach.

 

Too predictable and too easy for the oppo to nullify IMO... I think, hope , that the game will start to change in the coming years and become a lot more fluid.

[Epic Swindle]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,11661_7115365,00.html

 

Portugese Arry Redknapp.

[domlfc]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,11661_7115365,00.html

 

Portugese Arry Redknapp.

In that picture Mata looks like Rooney with hair

[Epic Swindle]

It's a wig.

[ali]

André Villas-Boas uses new elite status to insist window must close earlier

 

Matt Butler

1 minute ago

 

André Villas-Boas, the Chelsea manager, will put forward a motion to his fellow elite European coaches requesting that the transfer window should be closed before the season starts.

 

Villas-Boas is the latest voice in an increasing group of managers who feel the window remaining open in the first weeks of the season is disruptive for players and staff alike.

 

The Portuguese admits that criticism surrounding Chelsea’s relative lack of activity in the transfer market and their long-running attempt to sign Luka Modric from Tottenham Hotspur have proved to be a distraction.

 

At the annual Uefa Elite Club Coaches Forum to be held in Nyon on Wednesday and Thursday, Villas-Boas will propose that he and his 31 Champions League colleagues lobby the game’s European governing body to close the window before the season starts in each country.

 

“It should really close on the day that the season starts,” he said. “I’m going to propose it when the elite club coaches meet. It will be the first time for me at this meeting. It may seem pretty stupid but maybe it makes sense because it gives tranquillity to the managers so they can address their team-building. I think it is fair.”

 

Villas-Boas’s proposal may meet opposition among his Barclays Premier League colleagues because of the earlier start to the season in England than in Spain and Italy. But he claims already to have the support of Porto, his previous club, whose players are vulnerable to bids from rivals with larger budgets.

 

“With the two weeks after we start, then Spain can still shop, but they will be the rules,” he said. “I spoke last season with Porto and they were of the same opinion. Porto were a targeted club for the biggest talent.”

 

Villas-Boas claims that, with or without Modric, he will have a team to challenge for the Premier League title, but he believes that up to five sides, including Liverpool, can consider themselves contenders. “It’s becoming more competitive [than when I was previously a coach at Chelsea],” he said. “Liverpool look stronger. [Manchester] City look strong and amazing. Arsenal, with this win against Udinese and less pressure coming up in the next few days, maybe they can address the market in a clearer and more confident way.

 

“The addition of City to the title contenders is legitimate and Liverpool, why not? It’s the same kind of investment. We’re looking at five that threaten the Premiership normally and one outside can happen. So it’s a difficult league. It looks extremely competitive this year.”

 

Villas-Boas admits that he is yet to get a consistent 90-minute performance from his side, having drawn against Stoke City and come from behind to beat West Bromwich Albion in the opening two games of the Premier League campaign. And his attempts to mastermind a win at home to Norwich City today have been hindered by a lack of material to study.

 

Villas-Boas is renowned for his detailed pre-match dossiers on opposition teams, but he said: “I can only assess them from the first three games this season. There were some changes that Paul [Lambert, the Norwich manager] made in those matches, so that leaves us guessing a bit trying to find out what he’s going to do. To get the starting XI right would be difficult.

 

“I don’t have enough in-depth knowledge to be thorough in my analysis from last season, but he’s won two promotions and this is of a high value given how tight the Championship and League One are.”

 

Lambert is bullish. “We are going there to try and win,” he said. “You are up against world-class players and a world-class side, but we have waited two years to play this kind of team and it is our job to try and cause an upset. We are not going to go there and be frightened by it.”

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/premierleague/article3147140.ece

[Rory Fitzgerald]

Perhaps the best solution is;

 

1. Transfer between different countries should be '30-Jun to 30-Aug'

 

2. Transfer intra-country should be last-day-of-season to day-before-1st-game-of-season'

 

However I suspect that the month of June is kept free so as to 'protect' the international so players can play without their heads being turned during international games, be it friendlies in the odd years or the competitions in the even years.

Edited August 26, 2011 by Rory Fitzgerald

[Gunga Din]

Villas Boas is coming across as a bit of t***. can see myself thoroughly disliking him by the end of the season

[johngibo YPC]

Villas Boas is coming across as a bit of t***. can see myself thoroughly disliking him by the end of the season

 

Really? Can't say I've really noticed him

I have been drinking very heavily the last 2 weekends mind

[CarraLegend]

Villas Boas is coming across as a bit of t***. can see myself thoroughly disliking him by the end of the season

 

Not sure what that tantrum on MOTD was all about. Theyve been utter, utter s**** in every game so far which is nice, masked by an easy fixture list.

[Stevie H]

Villas Boas is coming across as a bit of t***. can see myself thoroughly disliking him by the end of the season

yeah thought his toy-throwing about lambert was pretty classless. definitely an air of the mourinho stroppiness about him. looks like a water bottle kicker as well.

[ManxRed]

Villas Boas is coming across as a bit of t***. can see myself thoroughly disliking him by the end of the season

 

Why wait until the end of the season? I've started throroughly disliking him now, it'll save time later on.