Earlier today Spurs announced that Andre Villas-Boas would be the man to replace Harry Redknapp. It's a move that may surprise many after a torrid time at Chelsea, yet a certain percentage of the problem there was down to interference from above along with dissension amongst the players who didn't want to follow his tactics. Rumours even abounded that other coaches were advising the players to ignore his instructions!
Whatever the case may have been, things never really got going at Chelsea for AVB and this is now his chance to prove his detractors wrong and show that he does know what he's on about. The question is whether or not Spurs have the right squad to play his preferred style and tactics...
AVB tends to favour the 4-3-3, with one holding midfielder behind two more centralised ball players/attackers and the wingers flanking a lone front man.
In goal there's a real quandary, with Brad Friedel not at his best last season (and now in his 40's), Cudicini was similarly erratic, and the less said about Gomes the better. Potentially I could see all three keepers being moved on although one may be kept as cover (possibly Gomes due to his age being much lower than the others), and a new face being brought in
Defensively it's a bit of a mixed bag for Spurs. There's no doubt that there's some talented defenders in the squad, but many of the bigger names are also knocking on the wrong side of 30, and particularly with players like Ledley King who struggle to play regularly, there can be more chopping and changing than is good.
Kyle Walker will easily be first choice at right back, although with the sale of Vedran Corluka this week, cover is limited in this area with only Kyle Naughton (who impressed strongly on loan at Norwich this last season) as an out and out right back. Naughton himself is apparently a transfer target of both Aston Villa and Norwich, although his reputed £6 million asking price may be too high for both clubs.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto is again likely to be the first choice left back, although again this is another area where cover is limited, with only really youngster Danny Rose to cover if needed unless the decision has to be made to withdraw Gareth Bale from his more attacking role down the wing.
Centrally it's incredibly tough to call the starters as due to injury virtually all of the central players have suffered reduced playing time. Kaboul arguably improved enough last season to make it tough to leave him on the bench, but with names like Gallas, King and Dawson all competing for a place along with younger options such as Bassong and Caulker (who played very well on loan at Swansea) he could just as easily miss out. If AVB goes for youth over experience, we could well see some surprising choices in this area at the cost of 'big name' players.
In the defensive midfield role you'd argue that it would have to be Scott Parker, but AVB appears to prefer using younger players where possible, and potentially options like Sandro or the returning Tom Huddlestone could be considered instead of England stalwart.
Moving slightly forwards of this you have the ball playing midfielders, and assuming Spurs can hang onto both of them, expect to see Luka Modric and Rafael Van Der Vaart take these places. Steven Pienaar and the aforementioned Huddlestone or Sandro could also be used if injuries occur, but it will be a key job for Spurs to hang onto their first choices, although this could be a tough ask if strong deals are on the table for their services elsewhere.
Onto the wings and it's another obvious couple of choices, with Gareth Bale on the Left and Aaron Lennon on the right. Lennon however will need to improve his goal tally to stay there as it will likely be a more attacking role than he's previously been asked to play.
Cover in these wing positions is pretty limited however, with Pienaar potentially being an option, but only really leaving out of favour options David Bentley and Giovanni Dos Santos beyond this. Frankly I can't see Bentley getting anywhere near the first team, although Dos Santos could finally be given a chance to impress but again it would need injuries to do so. There's also the young talent of Andros Townsend, but he's likely to be loaned out again instead.
Centrally is where the key weakness in the forward line is going to be, as with Jermaine Defoe the only recognised striker on the books, cover is already non-existent and he really doesn't suit the role he'd likely be asked to play in a typical AVB formation. I expect this will be the first area in which a new signing will be made, and again it looks like Defoe's talent will be sat on the bench when this happens as well, which is a real shame for a great goalscorer.
Assuming this will be the case, then arguably AVB should look to move Defoe on for a good price, and then bring in 2 quality central strikers who can play how he wants them to. Adebayor would be the most obvious option, but whether or not the Spurs board would be willing to increase their wage budget to accommodate his expected demands is another matter entirely.
Potential First XI under AVB:
New Keeper
Walker, Kaboul, Caulker, Assou-Ekotto
Parker
Modric, Van der Vaart
