Under scrutiny
Here's some interesting (if a little outdated) reading: a scouting report on us, prepared in November 2005 by Andre Villas-Boas when the current Spurs manager was working under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. It's a rare insight into the extent to which teams do their homework. Little wonder that Celestine Babayaro is identified as a weak link in defence, though you have to question the fact that Albert Luque is flagged up as a potential threat...
Still, all that research and analysis paid off for Villas-Boas and his employers - Chelsea won the match 3-0. I'd suggest his preparation wasn't quite so thorough when his Spurs side visited St James' in the first game of this season, but that 2-1 defeat came courtesy of a Ba wonder-goal and an HBA penalty rather than any tactical naivety.
Still, all that research and analysis paid off for Villas-Boas and his employers - Chelsea won the match 3-0. I'd suggest his preparation wasn't quite so thorough when his Spurs side visited St James' in the first game of this season, but that 2-1 defeat came courtesy of a Ba wonder-goal and an HBA penalty rather than any tactical naivety.
posted by Ben at 8:14 am
2 Comments:
Fascinating insight into what goes on behind the scenes this - though some of it isn't exactly rocket science (Defence is highly inconsistent both due to individual mistakes (Boumsong mainly - exploit))! Interesting to see Given identified as a weakness due to frequently dropping rather than cleanly catching crosses or shots when for a long time I rated him as one of the best keepers around. You assume all teams do this kind of thing now though perhaps some managers (Villas Boas, Wenger, Allardyce) believe in it a little more than others (Harry Redknapp say)
If Given had a weakness, then we'd probably have said his kicking from backpasses. But it does go to show the intense focus and detail in the observations. Cheers for mentioning Boumsong - just broken out in a cold sweat...
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