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Mid-Day Ticker: Tottenham hires Villas-Boas, Spain releases Olympic roster, and more

AVBReuters

By JOEY SAMUEL

After searching for three weeks and considering several big names, Tottenham Hotspur have finally found their man.

The Spurs inked former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas to a three-year deal on Tuesday. Villas-Boas replaces Harry Redknapp, who was fired in June after failing to lead Tottenham back to the Champions League for next season.

Villas-Boas experienced a tumultous season during his time at Chelsea. After joining from FC Porto in June 2011, expectations were high for the young Portuguese manager, who many were hailing as the next Jose Mourinho. But after struggling through much of the season Chelsea let Villas-Boas go in March. Under interim manager Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea would improve dramatically and end up winning the Champions League and FA Cup.

Now Villas-Boas joins Tottenham, where he will hope to relive something closer to his success at Porto, where he won the Primera Liga, the Portuguese Cup, and the Europa League in just one season with the club.

"Tottenham Hotspur is a great club with a strong tradition and fantastic support, both at home and throughout the world," Villas-Boas said in a press release on Tottenham's website. "I feel privileged to be its coach.  For me, this is one of the most exciting coaching positions in the Premier League."

Here are some other stories from around the globe:

SPAIN UNVEILS OLYMPIC ROSTER

Days after winning Euro 2012, Spain have unveiled their roster for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, and three players who helped capture the trophy in Poland and Ukraine will return for the Spanish in their bid for Olympic gold.

Juan Mata, Jordi Alba, and Javi Martinez headline a 22-man preliminary squad that was released Tuesday. Mata and Martinez are two of Spain's over-age players, with Atletico Madrid's Adrian Lopez being the other.

Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea was also called up, along with Barcelona's Cristian Tello, Thiago Alcantara, and Martin Montoya.

BAYERN MUNICH INTERESTED IN KHEDIRA

Sami Khedira was one of the more impressive players during Euro 2012, and the suitors are beginning to line up. The first appears to be German powerhouse Bayern Munich.

Reports out of Spain indicate that Bayern are interested in acquiring Khedira, who has spent the last two seasons at Real Madrid. However, the Spanish champions are only willing to let Khedira go to Munich if Bastian Schweinsteiger would then be allowed to join Madrid, who have been linked with Schweinsteiger in the past.

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have interacted much in the last few years. Madrid sold Arjen Robben to the German side two years ago, and this past season, Munich eliminated Madrid from the Champions League in the semifinals on penalties.

UNION COACH HACKWORTH ELABORATES ON FIRINGS

Late last week, reports emerged that Union sporting director Diego Gutierrez and youth director Alecko Eskandarian had been let go by the club. On Monday, interim head coach John Hackworth confirmed that not only had they been fired, but that the decision had been his.

In a press conference to reporters, Hackworth revealed that Gutierrez and Eskandarian were no longer with the team after being dismissed last week. Gutierrez, in his role as sporting director, had organized the Union's signings of several players from Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Eskandarian had been in charge of the Union's youth development program. Now both are gone, and according to Hackworth they have already been replaced.

"The minute that Nick Sakiewicz hired me as team manager, he gave me the final decision," Hackworth said. "Long story short, this was ultimately my decision. We have a lot of skill sets within our current staff and with the changes and workload, it's going to be a big challenge for all of us."

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Will Villas-Boas have success at Tottenham? Do you see Spain capturing yet another major title at the Olympics? Will Khedira end up at Bayern? How will the Union be affected by the staff shake-up?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Someone help me out here, AVB’s only experience in the Prem is blowing up Chelseas and he lands the Spurs job? I get what he did in Portugal – keep in mind he did it all of one season. I feel bad for all the legit lads who didn’t get a shot.

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  2. as a Madrid fan, I would be really upset if we traded Khedira for Schweinsteiger. i really like him, but i’d rather keep Khedira. i don’t see this happening.

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  3. Bayern has made Champion’s league final two out of the past three years. I don’t think too many clubs would call that BS.

    I hadn’t heard about Lahm being relieved of his captaincy. That would be a pretty rough thing to do considering he doesn’t seem to have committed any offenses like John Terry or Patrice Evra.

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  4. Teams are forced to release players if they meet the age requirement. They are not force to release the over-age players.

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  5. Amazingly, Khedira-Schweinsteiger-Madrid story being reported in the US press has not yet been reported in Germany. I had the feeling that Khedira was happy in Madrid, but who knows. I would love to see Schweinsteiger in Madrid. He’s about the only player on Bayern that I kind of like and he is devastated at the end of the season, his injuries and the losses to Dortmund and Chelsea–and now the Italy heartbreak. Could be that he sick of all the BS at Bayern and wants out for a new start. As for Khedira, top pundits in the German press are touting him to take the captain’s armband from Philipp Lahm (who Mourinho also likes), and if he Khedira would be named Mannschaft captain, it would be helpful if he played at Bayern.

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  6. My impression of the team is that if you put aside the glory period where Carlos Ruiz was there scoring goals, pushing the team up the table, ain’t that good a team. Currently 18th of 19, 3-9-2, 2-4-1 at home. To the extent it’s like, oh, this is risky, how can you tinker with things……umm, they suck? Whatever they’re doing is not working? TFC has 2 fewer points (mind you, after an uptick) and people wanted that team blown up.

    Firing the international scout and youth coach would seem to suggest they don’t think they’re getting enough value for money out of the non-MLS player pool, ie, transfers and homegrowns.

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  7. De Gea needs every minute he can get.

    Not sure if you watched last year but he was United’s weakest link.

    Chipsanddiprito on the other hand, needs a break.

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  8. Hernandez hasn’t had a break in three years. Argument for rest is more credible for a field player than a keeper.

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  9. I thought MU was not going to release their players for the Olympics. Team Mexico has got to be pissed about allowing De Gea to play and not Hernandez.

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  10. As a Spurs fan, I’m happy with AVB as a choice. He’ll get more time to implement his plans at Spurs than he would have ever gotten at Chelsea.

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  11. Funny tweet from @CFCInAmerica: “Agent Boas, your mission if you choose to accept it, is to destroy Sp*rs. If not, they will self destruct in a few months anyways. #CIA”

    Good times. 🙂

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  12. Well Hackworth is putting all of this on his shoulders. He will now be responsible for how both the professional and youth part of the club do. He will have no one to blame if things do not get better.

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