André The Giant

By David Lee Wheatley

The rise, fall, rise of AVB

André Villas-Boas did not have any experience as a pro football player, having been earmarked for a career in coaching since the age of 16.

Then-Porto boss Sir Bobby Robson lived in the same apartment building as the young FC Porto fan and after a healthy debate between the two about tactics, an impressed Robson appointed AVB to a role within the backroom department at the club.

Robson went on to arrange for his young protégé to do an FA coaching course and he followed that up by taking all of the relevant UEFA coaching badges including the Pro Licence. He served a further apprenticeship as an assistant coach under José Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and then Internazionale.

Villas-Boas then struck out on his own as a manager with spells in the British Virgin Islands and with Portuguese strugglers Academica, whom he led to safety after taking over with the club bottom of the league. This led to intense speculation that the rising managerial star would become boss at one of the big three in the Portuguese Liga and a move back to hometown club FC Porto quickly materialised.

Success was instant at the club he loves when Porto lifted the Portuguese Super Cup two months into his new appointment. Extraordinarily, AVB led his new charges to an undefeated league campaign which allowed them to finish the season 20 points clear at the top. More trophies were added to the honours roll with triumphs in the domestic cup and UEFA Europa League; Villas-Boas becoming the youngest-ever coach to win a European trophy at the age of 33.

Most top clubs around the continent were looking at the young man with the Midas touch and it was to former club Chelsea that he ventured. The Stamford Bridge outfit had to fork out €15m to oust the Porto man from his contract and such a large outlay suggested that the west London club fully believed AVB to be the man for the job.

He was greeted with an ageing squad and a brief to help evolve the team into a younger, leaner, meaner outfit. Friction with the older professionals was almost inevitable, as he left the likes of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba out of the starting line-up in his efforts to create the ‘new Chelsea’ that he was asked to construct. The fact that the new manager was around the same age as some of the senior players was bound to cause a lack of respect if he ever dropped the older ones from the team.

AVB lasted just under nine months in the job (June 2011-March 2012), the last straw coming with successive losses at Napoli in the Champions League last-16 first leg and against West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League. Roberto Di Matteo took over and led the Blues to FA Cup and Champions League glory, while Villas-Boas quietly went about rejuvenating his enthusiasm for the game after his short, rather brutal stint at Chelsea.

Meanwhile, over at White Hart Lane, Harry Redknapp was being touted for the England job from all quarters, but ultimately he didn’t get the FA assignment and, that summer, it was decided by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy that it was time for the club to go in a new direction. That pointed to the available and still highly-rated Villas-Boas, who was chomping at the bit for another top-level Premier League opportunity.

He was installed to a mixed reaction from the Tottenham faithful, but at the helm of the dynamic Spurs side, he has driven his new club into a strong position to reach automatic qualification for the Champions League. The 35-year-old has achieved this despite a shaky first month of the season; a victory at Old Trafford at the end of September seemed to ignite Spurs’ season and it has been a steady rise for the north London club ever since.

At Tottenham, Villas-Boas has been presented with an attacking, young squad who are all willing to listen and learn from the Portuguese coach’s methods. He was tasked with overhauling a Chelsea squad full of senior players when at Stamford Bridge, but a lot of that renewal work has been done by Redknapp at Spurs already. AVB has simply gone in and concentrated on coaching his new pupils, instead of fighting battles with senior professionals and sections of the fans. He has introduced new tactical ideas including his high-line defence, plus the use of star player Gareth Bale in a central role and it has paid huge dividends.

Yesterday’s spectacular north London derby against arch-rivals Arsenal ended in a 2-1 victory for Villas-Boas’ side, which further strengthens their strange-hold over third place in the Premier League and puts the Gunners in their wake for the first time in a very long time. The win even prompted the confident AVB to remark that Arsenal are now in a “negative spiral that it will be difficult to get out of”.

Tottenham Hotspur sit seven points clear of Arsenal who are in fifth, with Chelsea sandwiched in between two points adrift of the White Hart Lane outfit. Chelsea may be inconsistent at present, but remain a threat. As for Arsenal, they look demoralised at the moment and Villas-Boas may well be right that they will be unable to get out of their downward spiral.

There are ten games to go and plenty of points to play for, but Spurs are undoubtedly reaping the rewards of the AVB influence and now look slight favourites for the automatic qualifying spot for next season's Champions League.

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