Chelsea FC: Let The Game Begin

Villas-Boas has a huge task on his hands

Chelsea FC completed the move for Andres Villas Boas yesterday and pronounced him the new manager for the club, thus making him succeed Carlo Ancelotti who was sacked last month. Despite the incessant rumours about Guus Hiddink becoming the manager of Chelsea doing the rounds for weeks after weeks, Villa Boas or as they called him ‘AVB’, has become the surprise appointment in a matter of days after he quit Porto.

As we ponder whether AVB is the right man to bring the Champions League trophy home, we also have to look at what he is bringing from Porto. Villas Boas rose to the echelons of the elite managers in the world at Porto having won the treble in his first year. People always draw comparisons between him and his former mentor Jose Mourinho as they both worked together at Stamford Bridge during the Special One’s era. Their style is alike, their ways of thinking are the same. It’s just that Mourinho is far ahead with two Champions League titles in his hand and he won it with two different clubs, something AVB is yet to achieve.

Can he do it at Chelsea? He has given a hint about the theme he is about to bring at Chelsea as the new manager gave words in an interview with Chelsea’s Official Website. Asked about the philosophy that he will employ, he said:

“We are a technical staff that focuses a lot on unlocking potential. Everybody has a little bit more to give and in day-to-day life, that is how everybody progresses in their careers. We feel that the players are the same and you have to stimulate them and motivate them to look for the things that they didn’t try before. We are a technical staff that incentives a lot of freedom of choice because in the end when the players are on the pitch, they face different situations that they have to solve without the help of their manager.

“That this is the kind of stimulus that we want the players to have, responsibility and making decisions, because in the end the game is decided by them on the pitch. It is a clashing together of two good organisations and in the end it is the relationship between all of our players that can lead us to success, and that is what I want to work on.”

There is a lot of work for AVB to do despite being appointed well ahead before the start of the season. Formation and positions of players are the first thing he needs to think of. In the interview, he was asked whether he will apply his favorite 4-3-3 formation. He replied:

“It’s not a question of only formation that would be too narrow. The game is very chaotic and very frenetic and sometimes it doesn’t run as good as you want and maybe when you don’t expect it to run in a certain way it runs very, very well. The most important thing is for people to be involved again with the first team and to feel there is change going on, to feel a new leadership and to feel a new way of communicating, and to excite people, excite the players, excite the supporters and try to create empathy with everybody to reach success.

“It is much more about players, motivation and raising new ambitions for the future than the arrival of one man to change everything, because I don’t want to change everything. Our past reflects extreme success so let’s keep it that way.”

The next thing that a club with superior spending power like Chelsea should do is to buy more quality players. With excellent players like Ballack and Joe Cole gone while the remaining stars like Drogba, Lampard etc at the twilight of their careers, Chelsea need the injection of young blood, at least one for every position. Lukaku, Neymar, Pastore, Sneidjer and all the other players that are rumored to sign for Chelsea and it is important that deals be struck as soon as possible.

Porto had recently stated that players such as Hulk, Falcao and Joao Moutinho are ready to follow former manager AVB and if Chelsea could pay the clause, the players are theirs. But in my opinion, Roman Abromovich knows better. He won’t sign players that he doesn’t recognize in terms of talent and the way those players play. AVB also has to deal with egos existing in the locker room as age tells the story. Didier Drobga and Frank Lampard are on par with their new manager in terms of age and in time, egos may rise and a misunderstanding might occur.

I hope for the best, but only time will tell whether AVB is a success or not at Chelsea.