The curious case of Andre Villas-Boas

It is often that we have to take a step back in order to take two steps further forward. And that is quite the case here. In order to clear our path into the murky land that we shall now step onto, we have to first track back and admire what happened quite a few months back, when the Premier League season was just about to start- as the Blues from London were eagerly awaiting the descent of a miracle worker, from the same heaven that had brought unto them, a man named Mourinho.

Does he have the answers?

Andre Villas Boas was voted one of the best coaches in Europe in the past year, by SportsKeeda for his lofty achievements in The Dragon’s Den. This man, rather boy was Andre Villas Boas- and it was the prodigal son’s return to Chelsea, in a bid to take them to the height where his predecessors had taken them. Yet, from that date, a lot has happened, and much has fallen apart for the Blue brigade and their young boss. So now, let us look into what has gone wrong, and how the man from Portugal can settle it all before he is victim to yet another Roman sacking.

A year and half back, Chelsea started as juggernauts. At the beginning of the last Premier League season, the Stamford Bridge dwellers were rampant and deadly. They left weaker teams flattened in their wake, and a title seemed probable. Yet, they lost their spark in the middle of the season, and never recovered. As the disappointment ended, it cost them the job of their beloved gaffer, Carlo Ancelotti. Yet, there was hope when a new name was floating around the capital. This boy-turning-man from Porto would surely turn this squad into a champion team, as he did with his other clubs. But it was not to be. Now, the fact of the matter isn’t that Chelsea have been downright poor under Villas Boas; but in all honesty, they are short of the spectacular driveforce they were expected of being. And here are the reasons why:

The English League:

It is no joke, when the English League is touted as one of the most competitive leagues in the whole world. Being a young coach in this league is tough, no matter how old you are or how clever you can be. Even proven mid-table coaches have struggled when they have made the migration to bigger clubs (Ask Mister Hodgson) leading to an ugly sack, or the detriment of the team. And this year, the struggle wasn’t about to get any easier. With the rise of clubs such as Man City, Tottenham and Newcastle, the race for the top four spot has become more grueling than many past seasons. And with the two halves of Manchester sitting pretty at the top, the vying for the next two spots has been the concern for five top class teams. The pressure to come against such quality is a huge task in itself, and though Andre hasn’t done a perfect job, he is slowly coming to terms with it.

The league, tougher then ever.

The English Media, and his Team:

Chelsea FC are full of top-class players, and the English media are known to be pricking needles in any manager’s coat. Honestly, controversy and publicity has come together in a very ugly way in Villas’ first season at the Bridge to make his tenure harder than it should already be. Claims of racism from his captain, numerous players underperforming, and a few sex-stories emerging from the bridge has left the young gaffer with more than he can grasp on to. He has tried everything, from calming down dressing-room egos, to asking the players to celebrate with him, after scoring. He also has to deal with the misfiring Fernando Torres and justify his pricetag to the owner, while making sure the Spaniard is well motivated.

Villas is often seen, nowadays, defending his players and captain for things that are remotely related to football. On top of that, with players like Malouda and Kalou delivering lukewarm performances, at other times, he has to answer to the media and the fans for mistakes or complacency that the team reflects while on the pitch. In the end, Boas will have to cope with this kind of phenomenon if he is to carry on his charge of the Blues, but sometimes, you just feel sorry for the man.

Troubled times for Villas-Boas.

The Chelsea backline:

The Chelsea back four are not the palisades that they were a season ago. With John Terry leading the backline with his heart, and everyone around responding, it was very hard to break the Blues down. Yet, with John Terry out for some part of the current season, that confidence and stability in Chelsea’s defence seems to be lost. David Luiz seems a tad bit immature at times, and gets caught out of position too often. Iva, on the other hand, seems to be a rock, but loses his head at times, making him a tad bit volatile. Their combination at the back has been a solid one of late, but it seems to be undone quite easily- which isn’t good news for the Bridge faithful. Also, Cole and Bosingwa are seemingly slipping up too often as well, leading to troublesome patches for their goalkeeper, Petr Cech, who himself has hit a bad area of late.

All-in-all, Villas Boas was known to be a great tactical coach, and his comprehension and organizational powers need to be exercised to the brink in order to settle the fiasco that the defence is turning out to be. We hope the man finds a way out soon.

They need to get it right.

This article was written after Chelsea suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison park. There were rumors floating around, of the eventual sacking of the Manager by Roman Abramovich, but we do sincerely hope that it doesn’t happen anytime soon. Though he hasn’t coped well with the pressure of the Chelsea job yet, Andre has every ingredient in him to be a great manager, and a hero for the Stamford Bridge faithful- and we hope Roman gives him the time and space to carry on and onto greater things, and better times.