Andre Villas-Boas Turns Heat on Daily Mail Journalists After Tottenham Draw

Andre Villas-Boas opened fire on Neil Ashton of the Daily Mail during Sunday's post-match press conference, accusing the renowned journalist of "mixing the words" from a previous media gathering proceeding Tottenham's 6-0 defeat to Manchester City.

Villas-Boas took exception to a handful of opinion pieces criticising the Portuguese boss, also written by Martin Samuel, including one that rather lazily claimed "anyone could have had a pretty decent chance" of replicating his treble-winning season at Porto with Radamel Falcao and Hulk in the side.

Tottenham's figurehead was also not happy at an article in which he was quoted saying Spurs players should be "ashamed" of their loss to City, as reported by Ashton in his latest Daily Mail piece:

"

Ashton: What was personal about [my article], Andre?

Villas-Boas: You can easily understand. I don't need to explain. I think you have always chased people, you attack people. You don't attack them by the front, you attack them sitting when you write.

You attack integrity, you attack competence, you attack the integrity of the person, their human values and you don't even know that person. We never got a chance to sit down and speak about it

"

Ashton suggested he was happy to speak about the offence with Villas-Boas, moments before the Spurs boss called Samuel, another Daily Mail writer, into question:

"Ashton: I’m happy to speak about it.

Villas-Boas: Only when I give you that chance, when I know you and you know me are you able to reach conclusions like the one you did. I think yours and Martin's (Samuel) articles were completely out of order. That is my opinion.

Ashton: And I’m entitled to mine."

Villas-Boas confirmed he was "making the problem public" before clarifying he doesn't think the journalists have a personal agenda against him. The Spurs boss then pointed out he had been misquoted in the aftermath to City's catastrophic loss at the Etihad:

"

Villas-Boas: Each one of us draws their own conclusions, that’s mine, obviously Neil and Martin have theirs and I respect their opinions as well but this is my opinion of what they write… even mixing the words that I said in the press conference after Man City.

Ashton: Sorry, can you explain?

Villas-Boas: I never told that the players should feel ashamed of themselves. We, that includes me.

Ashton: But if you say we should feel ashamed of ourselves, you are including your group of players?

Villas-Boas: Obviously.

Ashton: So…

"

This is the point where Simon Felstein, Spurs' head of media, stepped in to stop the spat from progressing any further. While the episode was somewhat dramatic, Villas-Boas clearly felt it was time to defend the honour of both himself and his players.

The former Chelsea boss had an extremely hostile relationship with the British media during his time at Stamford Bridge and, rightly or wrongly, finds himself under more scrutiny at White Hart Lane.

Sunday saw his team hold their own in a draw with the reigning champions, who are only a point ahead of Spurs in the league. Villas-Boas highlighted that neither David Moyes, nor other rival managers, receive his level of media criticism.

After a disappointing start to the Premier League season—one that has seen Spurs lose home games to West Ham and Newcastle—pressure has quickly ramped up on the man that spent over £100 million to replace Gareth Bale.

While the Welshman racked up a perfect hat-trick during Real Madrid's victory over Valladolid, Spurs threw away an excellent chance to beat United at White Hart Lane.

Kyle Walker's powerful free-kick may have given them the lead, but his unresponsive flick in his own area saw Wayne Rooney gobble up an easy chance, somewhat indicative of Spurs' play right now.

The same striker powered home a penalty to cancel out Sandro's fantastically sweeping shot from outside the box, sharing the spoils in an entertaining match between two teams who are struggling to consistently rack up three points.

Villas-Boas will be pleased of the improvement, but his decision to engage so personally with the press isn't likely to be one that aids his or Spurs' cause. Unfortunately for the Portuguese, few managers ever take on the media and win, regardless of the fact he arguably had every right to do so.

Many of Spurs' players showed the combativeness of their manager on the pitch against United, so Villas-Boas clearly still has the backing of the dressing room. The media may smell blood, but Tottenham must do their fighting on the pitch—as they did on Sunday.

Ashton confirms he has received abusive tweets from fans after the exchange, with many claiming AVB "owned" the journalist after their heated chat.

Spurs fans should be happy with the point against Moyes' team, and the fighting spirit of their boss. However, the headlines need to become about the football.