What you need to know about Frank de Boer to Spurs

What’s going on with Frank de Boer to Spurs rumours?

They’ve been floating around all season, but we’re drawing close to End Game:

AMSTERDAM - Ajax coach Frank de Boer has confirmed Tottenham Hotspur has approached the Amsterdam club to test his interest in coaching the club.

In an interview with national broadcaster NOS on Tuesday, De Boer said he had been informed of the Hotspur call by Ajax football director Marc Overmars.

The Ajax manager De Boer has long maintained a friendly disposition to Spurs, and it’s been common knowledge for a while that Tim Sherwood would not be getting the full time gig.

What are the pros of de Boer coming to White Hart Lane?

Frank de Boer has won four consecutive Eredivisie titles since first joining as manager in 2010 after a long playing career. He is the first ever manager to do so. He also oversaw and coached some incredible emerging talent, and this season in particular silenced doubters over the loss of Christian Eriksen last season by winning the league.

Writer Peter McVitie summed it up well in a column a couple of days ago:

Throughout it all, however, with his playing style, his man-management, his faith in youth and his tactical knowledge that, despite the disruptions, the wars, the constant media attention, he kept his squad team focused, drilled and in great form. Ending their long trophy drought and going on to record a title-winning streak which the club has never seen before.

He coaches a progressive (though perhaps Dutch-specific) brand of football, which generally manifests itself as a possession/high pressing based 4-3-3 (Google Brassell Moallim De Boer for reams of insightful stuff on his approach). Lots of pensive circulation back to the centre-backs, which on general viewing seems to be an Eredivisie kind of thing.

He also earned some good results in Europe against ostensibly superior opposition including a 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the CL group stage this season.  

There is a general sense that de Boer is a good man manager, and he himself has hinted he has an idea of how to get the most out of an expensive set of acquisitions (Soldado, Lamela, Eriksen and Paulinho, to start) which have yet to truly shine for the club.

Any cons?

Just some unanswered questions, which tend to the biggest issues with these kinds of moves. As in:

1. Does de Boer’s general lack of managerial experience outside the Netherlands represent a liability?

2. Will he be able to adjust tactically to the demands of a Premier League campaign and the much-wider use of the standard 4-2-3-1?

3. Will his man-management work at a squad with some very expensive, underperforming stars, compared to Ajax’s youth-focused meritocratic approach?

4. Will he be able to work well with technical director Franco Baldini in working the transfer market?  

It’s important to remember the pedigree which Andre Villas-Boas had at Porto before his move to Stamford Bridge, particularly as a younger talent with a preference for possession-based, attacking football.

Tell me what to think

Okay, basically I don’t know. I think the idea that de Boer’s man management would overcome any tactical learning curve in the Premier League is naive, but I also think it’s an overstatement to say that de Boer can’t adjust, particularly as a former Barcelona player. He could be a Pep, or he could be an AVB.  

If you think that Spurs’ problems are primarily in not settling the team properly (an idea floated around by several smart football people), then de Boer will probably do an excellent job.