Why Tottenham Manager Andre Villas Boas Hates the January Transfer Window

Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas can twiddle his thumbs trying to block out the fear of being fired, but he will stubbornly refuse to make logical changes in the January transfer window because he has always hated that period in football. 

Up to this point of his career, he has been unusually inactive in the January transfer window.

Academica (2009-10)

• IN: Krum Bibishkov (Steaua Bucharest)
  • Journeyman striker who was squad cover.

Villas-Boas picked up the pieces from Rogerio Goncalves' short tenure at Academica, which left the club without a win after seven games. 

"He [Villas-Boas] talked about our weaknesses and our strengths and what needed to be done to improve the performance and results of the first team," Academica president Jose Eduardo Simoes said when asked to reflect on hiring the then rookie manager, via BBC Sport. 

One of Academica's weaknesses going into the 2010 January transfer window was their defence. 

Villas-Boas' Academica had conceded four goals against Benfica, Nacional and Beira-Mar and three goals against Porto.

Cristian Sapunaru, Porto's Romanian international right-back, was available on loan.

Atletico Madrid's fifth-choice centre-back, Pablo Ibanez, who was running down his contract, would have jumped at a chance to play regular top-flight football on loan at Academica.

Villas-Boas opted not to make any defensive reinforcements. 

Academica registered three league clean sheets in the next four months.

Sticking by a faulty back line did not cost Academica and Villas-Boas reveled in his newfound fame after keeping the club, which was headed for relegation under Goncalves, in the first division.

Porto (2010-11)

• IN: Juan Iturbe (Cerro Porteno)
  • Highlight-reel dribbler Iturbe, once Paraguay's next great hope-turned-Argentine wonder kid, was a developmental prospect signed by Porto management.

Villas-Boas' Porto were unbeaten when the January transfer window opened, so he did not need to make any first-team signings in winter. 

Hulk scored 23 league goals, Radamel Falcao netted 16 goals, Joao Moutinho commanded the midfield and Rolando had his first and last world-class season leading a back line that conceded 13 goals in 30 games. 

The squad was stacked to the degree that Villas-Boas could afford to use Walter, a highly touted Brazilian striker, and Fredy Guarin, a dynamic Colombian midfielder, as impact subs. 

In hindsight, Villas-Boas' worst career decision was leaving Porto, a club that went on to win two league titles and two cups in the years without him.

He could have continued refining his craft with Porto while being a winner. 

Chelsea (2011-12)

• IN: Gary Cahill (Bolton Wanderers)
  • Was one of the worst players on the field during a 3-3 draw against United. Started in Villas-Boas' final game as Blues manager, a 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion.
• IN: Kevin De Bruyne (Genk)
  • Developmental prospect signed by Chelsea management. Loaned straight back to Genk. Villas-Boas made it public record that he had no part in the De Bruyne signing, according to BBC Sport.
    
• IN: Patrick Bamford (Nottingham Forest)
  • Developmental prospect signed by Chelsea management. 

After three successive draws followed by a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa, Villas-Boas needed to sign a right forward in the January transfer window who could create. 

Daniel Sturridge, a centre-forward played out of position on the right, was seen by Villas-Boas as Chelsea's answer to Hulk. 

Villas-Boas was so intent on proving this misguided premise that he refused to sign a right-sided midfielder in January and continued to allow Sturridge to shoot at will. 

Sturridge led the team in shots per game (3.1), and seven players including Raul Meireles had higher key passes per game (0.9-plus) than Sturridge (0.8).

Villas-Boas, Jose Mourinho's former scout, should have pushed to sign speedster Patrick Herrmann, who was breaking out for Borussia Monchengladbach. 

Several months after the January transfer window closed, Villas-Boas was sacked.

His successor, Roberto Di Matteo, led the Blues to an unlikely UEFA Champions League triumph.

 

Tottenham Hotspur (2012-13)

• IN: Lewis Holtby (Schalke)
  • The versatile footballer had signed a pre-contract and agreed to arrive in the summer but was brought in January to cover Sandro's season ending injury.
• IN: Zeki Fryers (Standard Liege)
  • Developmental prospect signed by Spurs management to the displeasure of then Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, per BBC Sport. 

Gareth Bale or bust.

Villas-Boas needed an alternative to Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor, neither of whom scored 15 league goals or more that season. 

Sturridge would have been the perfect option but he moved to Liverpool for £12 million in the 2013 January transfer window. 

Sturridge has an outstanding partnership with Luis Suarez, and the two have combined to score 18 of Liverpool's 24 league goals this season.

So much for being the next Hulk. 

Why Does AVB Hate The January Transfer Window?

Villas-Boas is a headstrong manager whose decision-making is impaired by tunnel vision: not reinforcing Academica's back-line, persevering with Sturridge at right forward and riding the coattails of Bale. 

In four straight seasons, Villas-Boas has yet to make a signature January transfer signing, which suggests that the Portuguese manager is not a great fan of the winter window period. 

"We have to be ashamed of ourselves," Villas-Boas said after a 6-0 defeat away at Manchester City, via BBC Sport. "There are not a lot of positives."

On the subject of "not a lot of positives", 15 Premier League teams have scored more goals (10) than Tottenham (nine).

This is after Spurs chairman Daniel Levy spent £30 million on Erik Lamela, £26 million on Roberto Soldado, £11.5 million on Christian Eriksen and £7 million on Nacer Chadli.

What Villas-Boas should do: buy Max Kruse, Borussia Monchengladbach's deep-lying forward, who is world-class in Monchengladbach manager Lucien Favre's 4-4-2 system with seven goals and four assists in 13 league games.

Give Monchengladbach £10-15 million, play Kruse behind Roberto Soldado or Jermain Defoe and it will improve Spurs' lack of goals.

Kruse is a possession-heavy player who often drops deep, receives a pass, dribbles past several opposing players and makes plays.

What Villas-Boas will probably do: switch to a 4-4-2, then wonder why Soldado and Defoe, both goal poachers, can't conjure up moments of brilliance.

Regarding the left-back situation, Villas-Boas is not wrong in his thought process of not buying a left-back in January with the return of Danny Rose and Fryers.

Jan Vertonghen, who has been yapping about not being a left-back every time he plays there, according to ESPN, will continue to underperform at left-back.

Do you know what a simple solution is? Sign a left-back as a precautionary measure.

What Villas-Boas should do: Buy Freiburg's Oliver Sorg, who can play right-back, left-back and has the traits to play in midfield, and he will compete with Rose for a starting position.

What Villas-Boas will probably do: Not sign a left-back and then find himself in an awkward situation by playing an increasingly frustrated Vertonghen out of position at left-back if Rose and Fryers suffer injuries after the January transfer window. 

The big picture for Villas-Boas is to keep Vertonghen, a world-class centre-back, happy. 

Somewhere in London, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, banished to Queens Park Rangers on loan, is smiling. 

Statistics via WhoScored, FFT Stats Zone, Squawka and Transfermarkt.
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