by Joey Davies
@theonejoeydHarry Redknapp's remark that 'you'd have to be a real dope' to fail at Chelsea, and his criticism of modern '70-page dossier' coaches are starting to look progressively nonsensical with every passing week Tottenham Hotspur take to the field, the latest instalment being Sunday's testing North London derby at the Lane- an examination they passed with flying colours.
But first, let's go back 18 months. Andre Villas-Boas was installed, with a lot of personal input, by Chelsea supremo Roman Abramovich as a 'project' coach in summer 2011. Initial results were excellent, until the first dip in form around November featuring defeats against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions' League and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in the league- and the player power that accounted for Luiz Felipe Scolari would take over, enveloping the young Portuguese tactician into irrelevancy. Villas-Boas was 33 at the time he left Porto for Chelsea, younger than some of the playing squad who maybe did not take too kindly to a man their junior dictating to them.
Two of these players- John Terry (a fine role model with no blot on his copybook) and Frank Lampard (the model pro who never complains about being benched), are considered golden boys in Fleet Street. Legends, heroes, indispensable. So when Villas-Boas dared to cross not only those two, but also that faithful, loyal husband and anti-air rifle campaigner Ashley Cole, the reaction from British football's famous scribes was quite amusing. Martin Samuel of the Daily Mail stated: "his treatment of players has been crass, with no apparent understanding that the evolutionary process could be painless if managed with skill. Villas-Boas was a dismal Chelsea manager."
Samuel's first sentence is just the usual treatment when it comes to England's finest- they can do no wrong, it's all Johnny Foreigner's fault. Now sure, the results at Stamford Bridge were not brilliant, but when you have a dressing room where those who should be leading and guiding are instead rebelling, plotting and sniping, it is always going to be difficult to steer a ship to calmer waters. Chelsea did go on to win the Champions' League in remarkable circumstances after his dismissal, with those players at the heart of Villas-Boas' exit playing a central role, but did winning that trophy justify their behaviour towards him? Samuel's colleague at the Mail Matt Lawton said it all after the final whistle had blown on Sunday when he tweeted that "some of us may have been too quick to dismiss AVB."
Oddly enough that famous night in Munich last May could have been what has opened the door for Villas-Boas to inspire a change to his reputation in this country. Tottenham had been in the top four all season long under Redknapp and despite spending most of that tenure in third, and a full 10 points in front of Arsenal, it was the Gunners who secured the final automatic ticket into Europe's premier competition. Chelsea fell away from the top four in February as the player power established a firm grip on Villas-Boas. They lost the first leg of the Champions' League second round 3-1 at the Stadio San Paolo in Napoli. No one could have foretold their improbable lifting of the European Cup from there. Spurs despite finishing fourth had been relegated into the much-maligned Europa League. Redknapp could consider himself rather unfortunate that his side would not be participating amongst the continental elite.
Whether that was decisive in Daniel Levy's decision to make a change who knows, but it has allowed AVB (as he is known for short) another opportunity in the Premier League and with a much more stable project at White Hart Lane. He has grabbed it with both hands. After their first three Premier League games featuring two home draws and one defeat at Newcastle, 'AVB' was trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons, with plenty of dissenting voices from Spurs fans, and endless mockery from the rest of the football fraternity aimed in his direction.
Fast forward six months later and Daniel Levy's faith in the man whose win percentage at Porto was 88%, is now bearing its fruits. For all the 'one-man team' finger pointing, how did they triumph over Arsenal in Sunday's derby? With a fine team performance. Jan Vertonghen, a Villas-Boas signing, was rock solid defensively and thoroughly deserved Sky Sports' man of the match award, and the two through-balls by Gylfi Sigurdsson and Scott Parker for the goals were sumptuous. Don't forget that Spurs have had to deal with a long-term injury to Jermain Defoe while Emmanuel Adebayor has struggled for form. Tottenham are a well-run business model and will not overspend, which is why a striker could not be brought in during the January transfer window. Yet on the field they have coped more than adequately, not just because of Gareth Bale's magic wand of a left foot, but owing to a team spirit that those in the Kings Road can only sit and be envious of.
Over in SW6, the players are once again not believing in their boss as Rafa Benitez takes the flak from all sides in the latest episode of Chelsea instability. Yet at Tottenham, a talented, yet enthusiastic and united group of players have bought into what Villas-Boas offers. When you learn from a winner like Jose Mourinho and accomplish a treble of league, cup and Europa League in a respectable footballing nation such as Portugal, that warrants admiration from anyone with a basic knowledge of the game. And the Spurs players have taken it all on board.
It is also a breath of fresh air to see an English club taking the Europa League so seriously and treating it with the prestige it deserves too- a competition that is one of the cornerstones of European football history ever since its inauguration as the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1955 and its successor moniker from 1971-2009, the UEFA Cup. Indeed, Spurs' last-16 Europa tie against Internazionale- who were champions of Europe in 2010, is the kind of dream tie every football guru or die-hard fan relishes with excitement.
Arsene Wenger thinks finishing fourth is equivalent to a trophy yet there's every possibility Tottenham will claim a top four place and one of the biggest pieces of silverware in world football. It would be justice for a man who lives, breathes and studies the game like a young professor.
Maybe in the summer, we'll be looking back at a '70 page dossier' of a truly special season for AVB- and for Tottenham.
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