Andre Villas-Boas
Tottenham Hotspur coach Andre Villas-Boas has won back over the English press after an hugely impressive debut season at White Hart Lane.
The Portuguese boss was previously in charge at Chelsea, but failed to win over an ego-driven dressing room, and lost his job nine months after his appointment.
At Spurs though, he has shone, converting Gareth Bale from pacy left winger into a prolific floating attacking midfielder, and improving the side throughout with intelligent transfer business.
AVB’s playing style fits well with FC Barcelona, with the 35 year-old a great admirer of the approach at Camp Nou.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 2011, Villas-Boas extolled the virtues of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side.
“Barcelona play horizontally only after a vertical pass,” explained Villas-Boas.
“See how the centre backs go out with ball, how they construct the play. They open up (moving wider), so that the right or left-back can join the midfield line.
“Guardiola has talked about it: the centre backs provoke the opponent, invite them forward then, if the opponent applies quick pressure the ball goes to the other central defender, and this one makes a vertical pass.
“Not to the midfielders, who have their back turned to the ball, but to those moving between lines, Andres Iniesta or Lionel Messi, or even directly to the striker.
“Then they play the second ball with short lay-offs, either to the wingers who have cut inside or the midfielders, who now have the game in front of them.
“They have an enormous capacity not to lose the ball, to do things with an unbelievable precision.
“Another thing about Barcelona, there is always a full-back who arrives earlier in the attack, the other stays in position initially but then progressively joins the attack, as the ball circulates on the other side of the pitch, so he can be a surprise element. When you least expect he arrives. He chooses the perfect timing for the overlap.”
The opportunity to manage a side like FC Barcelona – and players of the quality of Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Neymar and Lionel Messi – does not come around very often, and Villas-Boas would surely leap at the chance.
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