Tottenham and Andre Villas-Boas Prepare for Return to Stamford Bridge
As Wednesday quickly approaches, Andre Villas-Boas continues to play down his return to Stamford Bridge. In a match with massive implications both Chelsea and Tottenham should come out of the gate firing on all cylinders in this hotly contested match; however, Tottenham’s manager insists that his return “means nothing.”
Gareth Bale of Tottenham (Google Creative Commons)
At this same time around 14 months ago, Villas-Boas was at the helm that is Stamford Bridge and now sits with a resurgent and potent attack of the side from White Hart Lane. In every effort to secure a top four finish in the Premier League, anything less than a victory could be detrimental to Tottenham’s European aspirations for next term.
Spurs sit in fifth place (19-8-8, 65 points) and are three behind third place Chelsea (20-8-7, 68 points) with three matches left to go in the Premier League season. With the grueling season reaching its end, the Portuguese manager has plenty at stake heading into Wednesday’s encounter with the Blues.
Chelsea’s star midfielder Juan Mata understands the implications of Wednesday’s encounter with Tottenham (via The Guardian):
“Tottenham is a team [who are] winning and winning: making pressure on us and Arsenal. So we are three teams fighting for two positions -and now we are third again.”
The main reason why Spurs may be enjoying so much success this term is because of the belief and loyalty that Villas-Boas believes his side have towards him. The manager told The Sun “I’ve been very well received by everybody, particularly this group of players, whose drive and ambition towards achieving results has been tremendous.”
At 35, Villas-Boas’ time may be now to finally enter the Champions League competition for the 2013/14 term - and to take European by storm. Qualification for Europe’s top tournament could see an influx of new talents heading towards White Hart Lane this summer. At the same time, the Portuguese boss could hope that his PFA Player and Young Player of the Year Gareth Bale, has saved a few extra spectacular goals tucked up his sleeve to propel Tottenham into contention.
