When the name of Guss Hiddink was doing the rounds in the West London area where Stamford Bridge is located, people were having this strange feeling that managerial circus was certainly not over and there would be a sure twist in the tale of appointing the 7th Chelsea manger in 7 years. At that time, 1300 kms away at Estadio do Dragao; Chelsea had already contacted Porto’s management for the “buyout clause” in Andre Villas Boas’s contract. And today on 22nd the June, Chelsea confirmed the 33 year old as their new manager.
Chelsea paid £15 million for the Portuguese man, which is another new trend these days of huge transfer fees for managers, but there’s a lot more to this story which is to come. Roman has already paid £ 58 million for his managers in total till now and his total investment for the club has reached £1 billion. But there are three points of Boas’s arrival to the Bridge.
WHAT DOES HE BRING TO CHELSEA?
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Well what does he brings to Chelsea??People are already saying him that he is “Special One –Part Two” or Mourinho revamped version, but it is to be made clear that he is not Jose Mourinho.
He has worked under Jose for 5 years with 7 trophies but he has his own traits. He doesn’t likes to be centre of attention but certainly has a strong character to handle a top club. His man management abilities are legendary; case in point being Porto striker Walter. He was unhappy before Boas joined the club and the young manager took charge of Porto, Walter suddenly became contended and started to score important goals.
Talking about Boas’s playing style, he has a very attacking style with the 4-3-3 formation being his favourite, which has been very effective at Porto. Porto won a treble last season and players like Hulk came of age under the formation. Yet another strongpoint of Boas is he has the ability of Physiological warfare. Where normally managers in press conferences target the opposition manager or the key players, André being a former scout thus possessing intimate knowledge of oppositions targets their weaknesses. And of course, he also brings a CV which already speaks volumes due to his mentoring under legends like Sir Robson and Jose Mourinho and also the reputation of being the youngest manager to win a European competition.
THE CHALLENGES THAT LIE AT THE BRIDGE
Coming after 4 years to the same club where he was once a scout, what challenges lie for the Portuguese tactician?. As sources say, Andre has been given an £ 80 million kitty by his Russian boss, so the first challenge will be the transfers he has to bring in to strengthen a Chelsea squad which is under a transitional period at the moment. Brazilian Hulk and Argentinian Falcao who played under him at Porto and Santos wonder kid Neymar are prime targets.
For him it is to decide which players to keep, what formation to use in the extremely competitive Premier League and also deal with an aging squad, especially the future of players like Drogba, Malouda and the back four. Though being a popular figure as a scout in Chelsea 4 years ago, it will be interesting to see how he handles superstars like John Terry and Frank Lampard who are of the same age group and shared a special relationship with their ex-boss Jose Mourinho. And of course, another big challenge is how handles the English media. Boas can speak very fluent English and will have no trouble settling in at England quickly and setting on his mission. The recipe of a Russian Oil Barron boss who would be demanding instant success from a man whose already the best young manager in the footballing world is a lethal one and is certain to grab the attention of the world.
The reason that Chelsea had 7 managers in that many years is because of the need for instant success. In the past 7 years there were some brilliant managers at Chelsea ,world class but somehow they couldn’t stay for the longer period. Sometimes the reason for a manager’s exit was the failure to win the Champions League trophy, sometimes manager-owner fallout or sometimes a trophy less season. For Villas-Boas, the relationship that he builds with Roman Abramovich is crucial. Not only does it have to be good, but it has to be consistent. Even the renowned Jose Mourinho had a good relationship with Roman, sending a weekly mail on the team’s progress but one disagreement sent it all tumbling down the drain.
Boas is contracted for 3 years and people at Chelsea will want him to stay for the long run and thus bring a change without a hitch getting in the transition phase. People have questioned how he will manage a top club at a top league which he has not done before, but he certainly knows or has seen how things are done at the world’s best clubs after having worked with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and Inter. Then of course comes the factor of clinching the holy grail, the Champions League. It is the trophy which Roman craves for the most and Chelsea’s performance in Europe’s premier competition will ultimately seal the new manager’s fate.
For Boas, grabbing the managerial hot seat at Chelsea is not exactly a dream come true because when you have worked with legendary managers like Sir Bobby Robson and Jose Mourinho in early parts of his career, you know you are special and destined for greatness. He is expected to start work straight from Thursday morning and when Chelsea Players come to the training field they can expect a DVD for them, but this time not made by the “scout” Andre Villas Boas but the “manager” Andre Villas Boas.
Written by Rajarshi Chakraborthi
