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| Andre Villas-Boas (l), Roman Abramovich (r). Image from Telegraph.co.uk |
For those who may not know, I am a Chelsea supporter and have been so since 1998. I am their greatest fan but at the same time I have been their greatest critic - remember no football team is perfect. When I first supported Chelsea, the likes of Gianfranco Zola and Marcel Desailly were at their peak, loving football for what it was - a beautiful game. Today, we continue to sign the best players in the world. Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole to name a few - but this is not a blog post to rave about Chelsea.
It was announced this afternoon that Andre Villas-Boas has "parted company" with Chelsea after recent poor performances. Winning just three matches in twelve Premiership games, on the verge of being eliminated from the Champions League at the expense of Napoli, struggling in the FA Cup and the prospects of not qualifying for the most prestigious European competition next season meant the Portuguese coach had to go, according to the Blues' executives. Chelsea lost 1-0 to West Bromwich Albion away from home on Saturday which confirmed Villas-Boas's time in London was limited.
He came to Chelsea with so much expectation. At 33, he was convinced to coach the Blues by owner Roman Abramovich after the Russian spent £13.9 million on him after success in Portugal. Villas-Boas had a vision to guide Chelsea to a new level, hoping that his legacy would be greater than the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho and Claudio Ranieri. If you're telling me, for a person that young - he piled a lot of pressure on himself to place his name in the history books. He had every right to. He has an impressive CV. His mentor was a Chelsea hero Mourinho and last season with FC Porto, he was the youngest manager to win a European Championship defeating Braga in the process. In addition, he guided Porto to a Portuguese league title and with an impressive unbeaten run. They were ahead of runner-up Sporting Lisbon by 21 points, so you could see Chelsea's attraction to him.
When Villas-Boas was first appointed Chelsea coach, I was never too sure about him. Initially, I disapproved of him as I knew he was just months older than the likes of Drogba and Frank Lampard in addition to his inexperience in the English leagues. But at the time, I was glad the Blues got a manager after a month of uncertainties. There was a lot of speculation about Dutchman Guus Hiddink returning at Chelsea boss after his successful three month role and my mind was set on him replacing Ancelotti after the Italian got fired last May. Instead, Chelsea got Villas-Boas (known to many as AVB) so we had to live with that.
The summer was an interesting one for Chelsea. They sold a significant amount of second string players and focused on buying youth players for the future. Romelu Lukaku and Oriol Romeu are certainly footballers Chelsea fans can look forward to seeing consistantly in the first team in years to come. The biggest signing without a shadow of a doubt was Juan Mata from Valencia. Chelsea paid £23 million for him and on transfer deadline day, Raul Meireles was bought from Liverpool. Buying two prominent midfielders did mean however, the likes of Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda were to see more of the bench than playing football. Lampard has played a considerable amount of times but there has been no hiding that his relationship with AVB was not a positive one.
These changes did seem radical as the likes of Malouda and Lampard were among the best players in the last two seasons under Ancelotti but it is either the manager's way, or no way. Michael Essien was also left out of the team due to long-term injury at the start of the season but has been introduced to the startling lineup since giving Malouda especially, very little hope in getting back to the starting eleven. I unfortunately expect him to leave in the summer.
There were changes in the strike force too. This season, Drogba has taken the leading forward role with Daniel Sturridge and Juan Mata supporting him leaving £50 million Spaniard Fernando Torres out of the team whereas under Ancelotti, he was given many opportunities. When Drogba represented Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations in January, Torres was given chances but failed to take them. Only scoring four goals this season was much unexpected. Silent alarm bells (to Villas-Boas at least) have been ringing for a while suggesting Torres cannot play in a 4-3-3 formation and would be perfect for the 4-5-1 tactic with an attacking midfield supporting him. The Spaniard must think why he ever joined Chelsea in the first place. Furthermore, forward Nicolas Anelka was also left out of the team as well as defender Alex after Jose Bosingwa was re-introduced in the team. Both Anelka and Alex therefore left the club in January, understandably. The latter has been replaced by former Bolton Wanderer's captain Gary Cahill who was known before joining Chelsea to be clumsy conceding forty goals for his previous side now facing a relegation battle. His form has continued since his £7 million move. From his debut against Manchester United last month (score line 3-3), Chelsea have conceded ten goals in six games in all competitions.
Regardless, the drastic changes didn't go well in the Chelsea camp and had bewildered fans and critics alike. Lampard remains the top scorer so far this season with just twelve goals while the disciplinary record is poor with the likes of Torres and Ashley Cole already seeing red this season. AVB managed forty games in total in which ten of them Chelsea lost. In Mourinho's three years, Chelsea lost 18. I know I shouldn't be comparing the pair but it goes to show that managers can influence the players on the pitch.
Should the players claim responsibility for poor performances this season? Of course. Despite making changes to the team, Chelsea still remains to be Chelsea. They have an initiative that if the players don't like the manager, they won't play to the best of their ability. Under Luiz Filipe Scolari for example, great manager, superb reputation, loved by millions around the world, the Chelsea players did not like him. Chelsea used to be a mature team when I first supported them. Most people respected Chelsea. Zola, Gianluca Vialli and Frank Lebeouf graced the Premier League and we all loved Claudio Ranieri. Since Roman Abramovich has taken over, the players have turned into spoilt brats. Perhaps less Frank Lampard and John Terry as they've been at Chelsea before the Russian took over from Ken Bates in 2003 but they still want £150,000 a week wage which to me is astonishing. People talk about Rupert Murdoch's tabloid culture being bad but nobody can "support" The Sun like it's a football team. No Sun in the shops, there's always The Daily Star to read.
Roman Abramovich has a lot on his mind recently. Remember, he could still be sued for £3 billion by Boris Berezovsky. According to the BBC Berezovsky was "betrayed" and "intimidated" after being "forced to sell" his shares in Russian oil company, Sibneft for a "mere £800 million". Yes, that is worth only a quarter of what Roman has in his bank account but that is still a considerable amount of money to lose just like that. In addition, he is still contemplating whether Chelsea should remain at Stamford Bridge and moves to, as suggested before, the site of Battersea Power Station. That could cost a shed-load amount of money and it doesn't help when Chelsea lost £67.7 million in 2011 and £70.9 million in 2010.
When Roman first came, Chelsea needed the money, Chelsea wanted success. He provided this almost instantly. Now he's treating Chelsea as if it is his toy. He thinks hiring and firing managers for £14 million at a time is a laugh? Hasn't he realised that football has never been a laughing matter? I'm sick of this attitude and it has spread to the players' minds to. It's even gone to the minds of the young Chelsea supporters who only supported them because they were doing well. This isn't why I supported Chelsea. I can understand non-Chelsea fans are frustrated and angry with the Blues but trust me, you're not alone. Having seven managers in eight years isn't something we're proud of either.
I sympathise with Villas-Boas, I really do and I appreciate his contribution to Chelsea but I felt his record wasn't pleasing. He could not cope with the intensity of the English Premier League. I think he has now realised it is a tougher division than Portugal's top flight. He lost seven times in the Premier League in 27 games and with Chelsea's past records he did not live to the Blues' high expectations. It is also worth mentioning that despite lasting only nine months in London, the longest time he's spent coaching a club has been FC Porto having lasted there for a year. He was successful but in his previous role, he was with Academica for eight-and-a-half months losing ten of thirty games. You can say he is now considered as a "one year coach" and as a 34-year-old now, that track record is not good. Schoolboy error from Roman Abramovich to have appointed him in the first place just because he has won a European Championship - perhaps this was one mistake far too many. A lot of uncertainty is surrounding Stamford Bridge as Chelsea is in search for a permanent boss. It would be suggested that Roman Abramovich would explain himself to everyone to why he's hiring and firing for fun but we're not going to get that, are we? I wish Chelsea do go for another owner who is passionate about Chelsea and we can get our respect back. Okay, Roman has the money but I think I'll speak for many Chelsea supporters and say we have pride over money any day.
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