Andre Villas-Boas spoke to Italian television after a 3-0 victory and revealed the big difference between Spurs and Inter was “confidence.”
Qualification for the Europa League quarter-finals is in their grasp following a commanding performance at White Hart Lane.
Andre Villas-Boas spoke to Italian television after a 3-0 victory and revealed the big difference between Spurs and Inter was “confidence.”
Qualification for the Europa League quarter-finals is in their grasp following a commanding performance at White Hart Lane.
“We played well, similar to how we played against Arsenal, which was another precise performance. We had many scoring opportunities, but so did Inter with Ricky Alvarez and Rodrigo Palacio,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
AVB speaks fluent Italian, as he used to work at Inter as Jose Mourinho’s chief scout.
“We have to consider they can create chances, but of course we expected Inter to come here and create chances, as they are a world class side. When they introduced Palacio, you could tell the difference.”
Tottenham seemed to be moving visibly faster than their Inter colleagues on the night, but Villas-Boas said it was more psychological than physical.
“The mind commands the body. I think all the teams had time to recover for Thursday, though it might be hard to recover for the weekend.
“We started with confidence instilled by our recent victories and I think that is what really helped push us forward in the opening stages.
“We have found some important results, especially in the final minutes, which give an incredible confidence boost. That really tells on the performances.”
AVB was asked whether Welsh wizard Bale will be at White Hart Lane next year, considering he is wanted by the likes of Real Madrid and PSG.
“We are a club who are very difficult to negotiate with! We’re famous for it, so I can be certain Bale will stay here.
“We tried pre-season with a friendly against Liverpool to use Gareth Bale as centre-forward. We hadn’t tried it again until Norwich in January, where he played alongside Jermain Defoe. It worked, he scored and from there we always used him in attack. His season was transformed and he has become extremely important.”
The Portuguese tactician’s career has completely changed since he was sacked by Chelsea last year.
“I suffered a great deal last season, going from best to worst. It’s easy to happen in football. I tried to work well at Chelsea, but I had little time and also made many mistakes. Things are going well now, but it changes quickly in football, so we cannot relax now.”