Spurs sack Andre Villas-Boas after worst home defeat in 16 years Andre Villas-Boas has been axed by Spurs after their crushing defeat to Liverpool. ANDRE Villas-Boas has been sacked as manager of Tottenham Hotspur after 17 months in the role, the English Premier League club announced last night. The news arrived a day after Spurs were thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool at White Hart Lane, which left the north London club five points below the Champions League places in seventh in the Premier League. "The club can announce that agreement has been reached with head coach, Andre Villas-Boas, for the termination of his services," read a statement on the Tottenham website. The decision was by mutual consent and in the interests of all parties. We wish Andre well for the future. We shall make a further announcement in due course. Villas-Boas, 36, had also seen his side demolished 6-0 at Manchester City last month, despite Spurs having invested around £105 million ($171m) on new players during the off-season. That expenditure was, however, offset by the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, and Spurs have scored just 15 goals in their 16 league games this season since the Welshman left the club. Villas-Boas's dismissal represents his second consecutive failure at a London club, as he was sacked by Chelsea in March 2012 after only nine months at the Stamford Bridge helm. He joined Spurs the following July, but despite leading the club to its highest points tally of the Premier League era last season (72), it missed out on a Champions League place to Arsenal. The 5-0 defeat was Tottenham's heaviest home loss in 16 years. Villas-Boas has already seen his side beaten 3-0 at home by West Ham and humiliated 6-0 at Manchester City this season, but he said he was not concerned about his position until last night's announcement. "I have to get down to work," he said when asked about his future after the game. That's the only thing I can focus on. The call on that decision (his future) is not mine. I won't resign and I'm not a quitter. The only thing I can do is work hard with the players and try and get the results back on track. Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his side's win as its best performance since he took charge of the Anfield club 18 months ago. But the manager refused to talk up his side's credentials as Premier League title challenger despite moving second, two points behind Arsenal. First-half goals from Luis Suarez and Jordan Henderson followed by second-half strikes from Jon Flanagan, Suarez again and Raheem Sterling completed an emphatic victory over a Tottenham side reduced to 10 men by the 62nd-minute dismissal of Paulinho. It was probably the most complete performance. To come here and get a victory like that," Rodgers said. But more importantly, the performance. The model of our game was outstanding. We were like animals without the ball. Our hunger to get it back was great. But when asked about his side's title aspirations, he said: "I'm not even thinking about that. My job was to develop the style of football while moving the club forward, and that's what we've tried to do. Obviously you dream. That was my dream. I didn't come here to be fourth, third or second. Eventually you want to win. But you have to be realistic as well. We were eighth. Last year we were seventh. If we can stay clear of injury and continue to improve our football, let's see where it takes us. Rodgers installed Suarez as captain in the absence of Steven Gerrard who is sidelined with a hamstring problem and the Uruguayan responded. He's captained one of the most iconic clubs in European football in Ajax. It's not new to him. I wanted someone who could represent me and the club in that tunnel before we step on the pitch," Rodgers said. If Luis Suarez is standing with the armband on, everyone knows this is a team who's ready to go out and fight.