Moyes is gone, is Sherwood the next?

So there goes David Moyes, finally. The fact that United could not wait for another month to part way with the Chosen One shows the intolerance of the Board towards Moyes' performance. Opinions are divided between whether he deserves more time. One thing for certain is another man in a similar situation seems destined to depart as well.

Tim Sherwood was picked to inherit Andre Villas-Boas late last year. Although never being envisioned as the long-term solution, he was still given a 18-month contract, having explicitly stated his desire to stay. The deal appeared to pay off initially, with the backing of a revived Emmanuel Adebayor. However, a horrid run of results against top teams have relegated Tottenham back to the race for Europa and have unsettled the dressing room that seems gone out of Sherwood's control.

There are a number of similarities between the two managers. Somehow, they have got the best out of their best strikers. Wayne Rooney has chosen to stay, either because of his admiration towards Moyes or the payroll, while Adebayor was rediscovered among the reserves and U18 squad. Regardless of the reason that he was neglected, his 10 goals has fully repaid the faith of Sherwood towards himself.

Sherwood's affinity with young players have led to the emergence of some promising talents amidst the turbulent season, which is comparable to Moyes' introduction of Adnan Januzaj at Old Trafford. Having not represented the senior team before this season, Nabil Bentaleb has quickly become Sherwood's favourite, with his all-rounded mentality and techniques anchoring him as one of the two central midfielders in Sherwood's 4-4-2 setup. Another youngster Harry Kane also benefits from the departure of Jermain Defoe and sees his confidence growing with more playing time, bagging his first ever Premier League goal for Tottenham.

Bentaleb's breakout season

However, the tactical side of Sherwood has let Tottenham down. He restores the "old school" 4-4-2 formation, which at times enables Spurs to dominate weaker teams with extra man in the box. On the other hand, it makes them vulnerable against stronger sides with a man short in the midfield. Possession game is all modern football is about, but Sherwood has yet to understand this.

Moyes could blame the lack of recruitment of midfielders. For Sherwood, he purely fails to find the a pair that works. He favours all-rounded midfielders thus often pairs up Dembele and Bentaleb.  Sherwood still started Sandro at Stamford Bridge hoping for some solidity. It didn't work well that sees Sandro being relegated to the bench then, but Sherwood never realised fielding two unfit right backs on the right flanks was the main reason why they were demolished.

Will he get one more chance?

Sherwood resumed the partnership of the two left-footers, although they are too similar in style, both prefers ball at feet and more inclined to attack, leaving the defence well exposed. They got away behind Christian Eriksen's brilliance at home against Southampton. A week later, Sherwood even replaced Dembele with attacking playmaker Sigurdsson at Anfield. Was it of any surprise when they got hammered? Not really.

Tim Sherwood did not have a summer to shape his squad, nor have the luxury to spend more in January. With Tottenham still manages at sixth position, one could argue the former Spurs player deserves more time. The truth is Daniel Levy does not have the patience to wait and Sherwood fails to prove himself as the one to bring Champions League to White Hart Lane again. Two more games to go and Tottenham looks ready to welcome another chief in charge.