‘I felt cherished by him’ – Former Spurs star explains why he loved working with AVB

Former Tottenham midfielder Sandro has admitted that he really enjoyed the year and a half he worked with Andre Villas-Boas at White Hart Lane, describing that time as the best phase of his career.

The Villas-Boas reign is not remembered fondly by many Spurs fans, with the former Chelsea boss replacing Harry Redknapp at the helm in 2012 after the English manager had given the supporters a couple of really exciting seasons.

Unlike Redknapp, who encouraged his side to play with the handbrakes off and did not get bogged down by tactical minutia, Villas-Boas was a very detailed-oriented coach, who favoured a more disciplined system.

While results were not too bad in his first season at White Hart Lane, the team struggled after the departure of Gareth Bale, with the Portuguese coach losing his job halfway into his second season at the club.

Sandro loved working with AVB at Tottenham

Many players had declined under the 46-year-old, but Sando was definitely one player who thrived, becoming Tottenham’s main number six after the departure of Scott Parker.

Speaking of his experience working under Villas-Boas, the Brazilian has now told O Jogo: “Andre Villas-Boas? Good coach. The best phase of my career was with him.

“I have a lot to thank him for, because I was already doing well with Harry Redknapp, but with Villas-Boas, I don’t know, if it’s because he’s Portuguese, or because he gave me that confidence.

“And I was also there to help him with training issues, that feedback. I gave Villas-Boas a lot of feedback. Positive, negative, that sort of thing. [Villas-Boas would ask] ‘Why aren’t you doing these training sessions well?’ [Sandro would reply] ‘Oh, come on, mate, and all that. These training sessions are a bit like that’. So I felt cherished by him.”

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I think one of the things Spurs fans really appreciated at the time was how much the loss of Luka Modric had impacted the side. That was one of the reasons why Tottenham were struggling to dictate proceedings under Villas-Boas as they did when Redknapp was in charge.

Perhaps history would have worked out differently had the Portuguese coach been handed a playmaker like Joao Moutinho, who he wanted when he arrived at White Hart Lane.

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