Chelsea Appoint Andre Villas-Boas As Manager

[Rebajlo]

Andre Villas-Boas confirmed as Chelsea manager
Andre Villas-Boas has been confirmed as Chelsea's new manager.


The former Porto boss has signed a three-year deal and is in London on Wednesday preparing to begin work.


Villas-Boas, 33, is the same age as players Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba and won the Portuguese league, League Cup and Europa League last season.


"Andre was the outstanding candidate for the job. He is one of the most talented young managers in football today," Chelsea said in a statement


"He has already achieved much in a relatively short space of time. His ambition, drive and determination matches that of Chelsea and we are confident Andre's leadership of the team will result in greater successes in major domestic and European competitions.


"Andre will bring his coaching experience back to a club he is already very familiar with, having previously worked here for three years. He has always been highly regarded at Chelsea and everyone here looks forward to welcoming him back and working with him."
Chelsea paid the £13.3m compensation to release the Portuguese coach from his Porto contract, with Villas-Boas succeeding Carlo Ancelotti, who was sacked after a trophyless season.


Former Chelsea boss John Hollins believes Villas-Boas could prove to be a shrewd acquisition for the west London club, who are yet to realise owner Roman Abramovich's dream of winning the Champions League, and were beaten in the quarter-finals by Manchester United last season.


"He could be fearless," Hollins told BBC Sport. "I think it could be a breath of fresh air, bringing in a fresh approach to this maybe tired football team.
"This guy is as young as some of the players are so he will be on the same wavelength with them, but is it going to be a three or four-year programme as opposed to having to win something in his first year? That is the one thing we don't know yet, but he has won three competitions in Portugal just like that, so he could be a whizz-kid.


"It's a gamble but I think it's a calculated gamble. I still don't know if Guus Hiddink will be coming as an adviser to the young man. If he does, that will only strengthen the position."


Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin agrees with Hollins that the appointment of Villas-Boas is a "calculated gamble".


"There is always a risk with every managerial appointment but he is highly regarded as one of the up and coming young European coaches and has been successful in domestic and European competition," Nevin told BBC Sport. "He is flavour of the moment and Chelsea have seen something in him."


Under Villas-Boas last season, Porto were unbeaten in the league, with 27 wins in 30 matches, becoming only the second Portuguese club to complete a league campaign without losing a game, after Benfica in 1972-73.
A scout for compatriot Jose Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, Villas-Boas began his managerial career with Portuguese club Academica in October 2009.


Academica were winless and bottom of the first division at the time but finished the season in 11th place.


They also reached a Portuguese League Cup semi-final before he left to take over at Porto in June 2010.


Villas-Boas, who speaks fluent English, also worked with Sir Bobby Robson during the former England manager's spell in charge of Porto.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13858858.stm

Interesting. Villas-Boas has previously been an assistant to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, so he is familiar with the club. According to Soccernet, he shall reportedly be paid GBP 4.4 million per year.

I sense a few transfers in the very near future...

 

[Highlander]

Rebajlo, I utterly loathe Chelsea. Is it your opinion that this is good from a CF perspective or not? Or is there just not enough info to know at this point? I guess it would be difficult to get any worse, but anything is possible these days.

 

[Rebajlo]

Highlander - Funnliy enough, I also abhor Chelsea

.

It is difficult to say if Villas-Boas' appointment shall be good or bad from a CF perspective. His FC Porto sides were loaded with blacks and mestizos, but he was only with the club for a single season so that is not exactly a reliable "racial" yardstick by which to judge him. Non-Whites such asRadamel Falcao, Hulk (one has to laugh...) and Alvaro Pereira were already at the club when Villas-Boas took over.

Afew of the Chelsea blackswere in all likelihood on their way out regardless of who the manager would be. For example, Nicolas Anelka (in my opinion, one of the biggestarseholes around) shall probably be flogged off as his contract expires next year so this is the last chance for the club to get some decent dosh for him. I wouldn't be surprised if the 33-year old Didier Drogba (another prize arsehole) leaves as well.

Everyone is wondering if Villas-Boas shall transfer any Porto players to Chelsea, with most interest centering around Radamel Falcao (Colombian mestizo striker). There is a GBP 26.5 million buy-out clause in Falcao's contract, but I'm sure that Chelsea would have no qualms about stumping up the bunce.

Chelsea are also linked with Anderlecht's 18-year old black "Belgian" striker Romelu Lukaku and, with the black Daniel Sturridge returning from his loan period at Bolton, the departures of Anelka and Drogba look more and more likely.

But, no matter what transpires in the transfer market, I'll continue to hate Chelsea, Abramovich, and everything the club and owner stand for, regardless of whether the team is majority-White or not...

 

[Giles Daldanus]

It seems as if Chelsea tend to play with less pragmatism under him (it's nice that Villas-Boas is trying to emphasize attacking football and is a football purist, but the Chelsea defense has been all over the place...

I doubt that he will get the sack (unless Chelsea fail to qualify for next year's Champions League), but the results have been quite underwhelming so far.

I find it disappointing that Frank Lampard (an excellent midfielder and a very influential player) has been benched on a number of occasions this season..he used to play essentially every game under Villas-Boas' predecessors, but no longer seems to be a lock for the starting spot.

Interesting article, Villas-Boas is following in Mourinho's footsteps (he is quite outspoken), though I personally think that Gary Neville is perfectly entitled to his opinion and shouldn't come under fire for his views (most of those commenting are very critical of the former Manchester United captain):

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896...r-andre-villas-boas-hits-back-at-gary-neville

 

[frederic38]

thanks for this article, it's the first time i hear about this story
david luiz is not very known in brazil

i don't really understand what "david luiz plays like he is being controlled by a 10-year-old " means
if he attacks the quality of the player, he is wrong
i have read that neville made the comment after the chelsea-liverpool match
i watched the match, because i follow liverpool
and david luiz wasn't the worst
it's a global problem for chelsea i think
their whole defense is bad despite having good players, but their attack is worse
i heard that villas boas is trying to change all the forwards, maybe it's why there is a bad atmosphere in the dressing room, as neville said


if "david luiz plays like he is being controlled by a 10-year-old " means that david luiz attacks too much, he is right
it's of course a classical problem for central defenders in brazil
they attack too much, especially when they play in europe, where they are sometimes the most skilled of the team despite being defenders, and where defences are historically more rigid
lucio comes to mind
it usually drives the coaches mad

i remember edmilson, brazilian defender for lyon and barcelona, one of the best in the world, world champ with brazil as a titular in 2002, injuried in 2006 (the reason of the bad showing of brazil, with dida) and european champion with barcelona

he used to play very high on the field, like you can see it in this goal he scored in 2002: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh_8mckbnn0
scolari didn't like that.....

when he played for lyon, i remember a champions league match i watched, in wich he tried to do a pass like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAN_COTWiRw&feature=related (don't know how to say it in english)
as you can see, he does it relatively frequently
it was very dangerous, as if he missed the pass, there would be a counter-attack and almost certainly a goal
and it happened, he missed the pass, and the other team scored
if this is what neville meant, he is right



but it's true that he would not say this about manchester united's defence, no? (i don't really know)

 

[Giles Daldanus]

Sorry for taking so long before getting back to you, rather busy schedule!

thanks for this article, it's the first time i hear about this story
david luiz is not very known in brazil

i don't really understand what "david luiz plays like he is being controlled by a 10-year-old " means
if he attacks the quality of the player, he is wrong
i have read that neville made the comment after the

I think that Neville means that David Luiz is not being provided with proper instructions by the coach and his positional discipline is lacking. I guess it’s more of a criticism directed at the trainer rather than at the player. Some managers like Rafa Benitez and Van Gaal are apparently very strict and insist that all players are to be subservient to the system (one could argue that on occasions this stifles individual creative expression), while those like Wenger and Villas-Boas do not overemphasize tactics and allow more freedom to their players. However, Neville’s former coach Sir Alex Ferguson seems to fall within the former rather than the latter camp (he is a fantastic manager and helps players develop their skills/encourages them to gain in confidence, but is rarely praised for his tactical acumen).

chelsea-liverpool match
i watched the match, because i follow liverpool
and david luiz wasn't the worst
it's a global problem for chelsea i think
their whole defense is bad despite having good players, but their attack is worse

That’s right, I wouldn’t say that David Luiz has been a weak link….Ivanovic and Ashley Cole have not been as convincing as during the previous season, so if the old hands are not up to the task, it would be unfair to expect perfection from a relative newcomer.

i heard that villas boas is trying to change all the forwards, maybe it's why there is a bad atmosphere in the dressing room, as neville said

Yes, it’s a possibility. Initially Torres seemed to be favoured over Drogba (despite the fact that the Ivorian is generally regarded as a proven goalscorer for “Chelsea”), but now the roles have been reversed and Torres is the one who usually sits on the bench. Also, you are right – forwards Lukaku, Juan Mata and Oriol Romeu are Villas-Boas’ buys, so he has to persist with them even at the expense of some members of the “old guard”.

if "david luiz plays like he is being controlled by a 10-year-old " means that david luiz attacks too much, he is right
it's of course a classical problem for central defenders in brazil
they attack too much, especially when they play in europe, where they are sometimes the most skilled of the team despite being defenders, and where defences are historically more rigid
lucio comes to mind
it usually drives the coaches mad

i remember edmilson, brazilian defender for lyon and barcelona, one of the best in the world, world champ with brazil as a titular in 2002, injuried in 2006 (the reason of the bad showing of brazil, with dida) and european champion with barcelona

he used to play very high on the field, like you can see it in this goal he scored in 2002: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh_8mckbnn0
scolari didn't like that.....

when he played for lyon, i remember a champions league match i watched, in wich he tried to do a pass like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAN_C...eature=related (don't know how to say it in english)
as you can see, he does it relatively frequently
it was very dangerous, as if he missed the pass, there would be a counter-attack and almost certainly a goal
and it happened, he missed the pass, and the other team scored
if this is what neville meant, he is right

Well put, Brazilian defenders do not appreciate rigid formations and are more prone to taking risks…This could be an asset on many occasions given that most Brazilian national sides prefer to focus on offense. It’s actually quite difficult to be a strictly defensive side from a psychological standpoint (especially if the goalkeeper is not a capable organizer/is not trusted by his defenders). Nice clips with Edmilson, he was one of the key Brazilian players in the early 2000s.

but it's true that he would not say this about manchester united's defence, no? (i don't really know)

I think that he would be quite willing to disparage United’s defense as well and won’t gloss over any weaknesses. However, he will probably be more diplomatic in his approach and would be reluctant to challenge Sir Alex Ferguson. Neville is disliked by most Liverpool fans, but quite a few of them see him as an objective pundit.