Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas is adamant his side can get their season back on track against Manchester United after securing progression to the Europa league knockout stages on Thursday.
GettyImagesVillas-Boas expects Spurs to bounce back against United.
An own goal and Mousa Dembele’s strike earned Spurs a 2-0 win over Tromso in Norway, helping them bounce back from last week’s 6-0 humiliation against Manchester City.
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Although Tottenham have slipped to ninth in the Premier League as a result of recent defeats to City and Newcastle, Villas-Boas remains upbeat about their chances of beating a rampant United.
“Look, we are just getting on with the job here,” he said. “Obviously the opponent we have on Sunday is the biggest that we can have. They are on a good run that changed their fortunes. We don’t expect an easy match, but it will be a completely different story [for United] on Sunday.
“I watched their game [5-0 win against Bayern Leverkusen]. It was a good performance, but it will have no bearing on Sunday. I’m not being disrespectful, but it will be a different game in different conditions and our players will be mentally ready.”
Villas-Boas went on to praise his players after a morale boosting victory on a plastic pitch in Norway.
“The players adapted to the conditions quite well,” Villas-Boas added, on a night when his side secured top spot in their Europa League group. I am very happy for the players to have bounced back from the defeat against Man City.
“The quality of the pitch was fantastic. We came through okay with no injury worries. The conditions were tricky with the first blizzard of snow, but after that it settled down.”Former Tottenham chairman Sugar criticised Villas-Boas’s management style in a radio interview on Thursday, stating it was his ‘dream’ to see retired former Manchester United boss Ferguson step into the White Hart Lane hot-seat.
The Portuguese fielded questions in a jovial tone in his post-match press conference and jokingly endorsed Lord Alan Sugar’s suggestion that Sir Alex Ferguson could do a better job than him as Spurs boss.
Former Tottenham chairman Sugar criticised Villas-Boas’s management style in a radio interview on Thursday, stating it was his ‘dream’ to see retired former Manchester United boss Ferguson step into the White Hart Lane hot-seat.
When asked whether he felt Ferguson could do make more of a success of the Spurs job, Villas-Boas’ response came with a smile; “I think it is pretty fair to say [Ferguson could do better]. With the record Ferguson has, he would be a pretty good manager in any club in the world.”
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