Jermain Defoe has praised former Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas.
England’s Jermain Defoe
Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe has told this month’s edition of Four Four Two that he was ‘really impressed’ with Andre Villas-Boas at Tottenham Hotspur.
After an acrimonious departure from Chelsea in February 2012, Villas-Boas moved on to Tottenham just months later, replacing Harry Redknapp in the White Hart Lane hot seat.
Armed with the likes of Gareth Bale, Jermain Defoe, Hugo Lloris and Emmanuel Adebayor, Tottenham enjoyed a strong first season under the Portuguese boss, who had excelled with Porto before his ill-fated move to Chelsea.
Spurs finished just one point off the Champions League places in Villas-Boas’ first season in charge, but he was sacked midway through his second season following heavy defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool.
The departure of Bale to Real Madrid in the summer of 2013, combined with poor signings such as Vlad Chiriches, Paulinho and Roberto Soldado, meant Spurs were severely weakened, and Villas-Boas paid the price with his job.
Since then, Tottenham have gone from strength to strength under Mauricio Pochettino, who replaced Villas-Boas’ successor Tim Sherwood, whilst Villas-Boas has moved on to Zenit St. Petersburg and now Shanghai SIPG.
Given Pochettino’s success at Tottenham, Spurs won’t regret their decision to move on from Villas-Boas, but former Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe has praised his former manager.
Former Tottenham Hotspur Head Coach Andre Villas Boas
Speaking in this month’s issue of Four Four Two, Sunderland ace Defoe has admitted that he was ‘really impressed’ with Villas-Boas’ training sessions and approachability, claiming it was sad to see his reign at White Hart Lane end in the way it did.
“AVB was a ledge,” said Defoe. “He really impressed me. His training was always different: he would have four pitched set up, all with a different purpose, each of them designed to prepare you for the next match. He was a clever, enthusiastic coach, and away from all of that he was also a really nice guy. You could talk to him about anything.”
“We were flying under him in the second year, but then we got beat heavily by Man City and Liverpool and it was difficult. Being a young coach, he did not have the experience of dealing with players when things were going badly and it affected him. He desperately wanted to do well and wanted the players to love him. It was sad the way it ended,” he added.
Do you think Spurs sacked Villas-Boas too soon?
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