What Spurs Want From The Next Manager

Article by Ashley Caparelli

Statistics by whoscored.com

AVB failed to impress despite the £100+ million summer signings and now the search is on for the right man to get the best out of a side that is obviously full of top class players. Firstly I would like to say that AVB should not be blamed for the amount of money spent nor the signings made, he may have been on the board who decided which transfers too make, but it is clear this responsibility belonged mainly to Baldini and Levy.

There has been a call by many fans for a return to the beautiful football this club was once recognised for. With this in mind it is difficult to ignore two of the many that have been touted as possible replacements; Frank de Boer of Ajax and Laudrup of Swansea.

Although Ajax only lie in second place in a league in which they are expected to be in full control of, their recent form has been impressive winning all five of their last five league games. Frank de Boer has them playing the classical Ajax style with 546 of their passes being short, of these 85% have reached their target.

If that isn’t enough to convince spurs fans that de Boer could be the man to bring beautiful football and goals to the Lane, then maybe 77% of goals scored by Ajax being from open play will. Goals of any kind have been difficult to come by for Tottenham this season which has constituted to the poor results they have suffered.

Ajax have also used the flanks impressively this season with 69% of their attacks being down either the left or the right wings. I do not doubt the quality of our wingers and believe that with more time on the ball they can cause the defence of any team problems. Having already worked together, de Boer might be able to get the best out of Eriksen who undoubtedly has the ability to control the game.

Laudrup had big shoes to fill when he was appointed as Brendan Rodgers replacement at Swansea. However Swansea fans have been a formidable side under the former Barcelona and Real Madrid midfielder. Laudrup has been praised for continuing and improving upon the possession game Swansea have become identified by. The pass stats are similar to those of Ajax with 547 of their passes being short, 86% of which being successful.

Almost 59% of Swansea's goals have come from open play, with their attacking impetus coming mainly from the right flank. There are even similarities in the area of the pitch in which both teams enjoy possession. Ajax are in the middle third 46% of the time they are in possession, Swansea have a slightly higher percentage with 48%. Ajax however have the ball in the attacking third 30% of the time compared to Swansea's 26%. I would take into consideration that Ajax are considered to be the greatest team in the Eredvisie whereas Swansea are a top 8 side. Laudrup does have the advantage of having experience of managing in the Premier League and so may take less settling in, he might be the better choice to implement this season if there is not patience.

Notice a correlation here? This classic Ajax style of football is what a team of Tottenham's standard should be aiming for. They certainly have the class amongst the players to implement it effectively and make Spurs a team other sides both fear and admire.