'We can't compete with City'– AVB risks Roman's wrath again

The Chelsea manager, Andre Villas-Boas, has risked further testing the patience of the club's owner, Roman Abramovich, by claiming his squad always lacked the quality to compete with Manchester City this season.

The 34-year-old, who is under increasing pressure, said that Chelsea were now in City's shadow when it came to signing the finest players in the transfer market.

Chelsea take on West Bromwich Albion today, trailing the Premier League leaders by 17 points and struggling to finish in the top four. While City have spent £360m on players over the past four years to turn themselves into title contenders, Chelsea have spent more than £300m for their current squad, breaking the British transfer record 14 months ago when they paid Liverpool £50m for Fernando Torres.

However, Villas-Boas feels he was at a disadvantage from the start this season. As he tried to explain why things have gone wrong for the club, he said that City had access to "the best players". When asked if he was not similarly blessed at Chelsea, he said: "Not to the extent City have, with their financial power. Maybe in the past we had it, but not in the sense of how it was applied this season. We have access to the best talent and we like to promote talent but I don't think that you can compare the two squads, to be fair. I think theirs is a lot better. It's a squad that was built. I don't know if their economic power has a direct influence on choice-making. People could have gone to City because of the project that was being built, the super-team being put together. As we know, the numbers being paid are top are extreme.

"When the top team has access to buy from their title rivals, you can build something extraordinary. We had it in the past and built something extraordinary. I think you can't expect Chelsea to buy from City and Manchester United [now]. Maybe Tottenham and Liverpool in the past. I think Chelsea is one of the most difficult jobs in the world, for sure. I'd never resign. It's not part of my education."

Villas-Boas also appeared to downplay the quality of Abramovich's £75m investment in January last year, which secured the defender David Luiz from Benfica as well as Torres from Anfield. He said: "One came from a team in title contention in Portugal, the other from a team competing for the top four in the league."

This all contrasted to earlier this season, when Villas-Boas maintained that his squad was good enough to win all four competitions they entered. But Chelsea have been out of the title race for months and were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Liverpool in the last eight.

They face an awkward FA Cup fifth-round replay at Birmingham on Tuesday and a very difficult second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie against Napoli a week later, when they will have to fight back from 3-1 down.

Asked why he thought his squad was no longer good enough to compete on all fronts, Villas-Boas said: "I haven't changed my mind. This squad has a responsibility to win four trophies, the same. But they [City] have a better squad, have more depth, with good players as well. We haven't had the results that we should have for the squad we have and in normal circumstances we would be ahead of Tottenham and Manchester United. We have been under-performing. But we can still improve for the rest of the season."

Statistically, Villas-Boas is the worst manager of the Abramovich era and his defence of Chelsea's failure to challenge for the title is bound to cause concern among the club's hierarchy, which is considered hiring another coach for the rest of the season.

This critique of the squad is just the latest in a series of odd public comments from Villas-Boas. Last month he said that it wasn't important for him to have his players' backing. Earlier this week he told a Portuguese radio station that he felt as vulnerable as Carlo Ancelotti was before the Italian was sacked last season, and he also compared Torres with Andriy Shevchenko and Mateja Kezman, two strikers who failed to impress at the club.

Last night Villas-Boas also said, surprisingly, that he would not try harder to improve his bond with the midfielder Frank Lampard, who complained that their relationship was not "ideal" following a 3-0 win over Bolton.

Villas-Boas said: "Will I talk to him about it? No. We are not married to each other. It's a manager-player relationship. I have to choose the team and choose the best team for every game. It hasn't involved Frank for a couple of times, but that doesn't mean I have a problem with him."

Chelsea have some good news – the strikers Didier Drogba and Daniel Sturridge are available after injury.

'Staying at the bridge is impossible'

Chelsea last night bowed to pressure to be more open about their stadium plans by releasing details of why they think it is unfeasible to redevelop Stamford Bridge.

The club had been accused by shareholders in the Chelsea Pitch Owners of not fully exploring the possibility of staying put before attempting to buy back the stadium freehold last October.

A club statement said: "It is clear to the board of Chelsea Football Club that a complete new build of a 60,000-seat stadium at Stamford Bridge has little chance of acceptability.

"A 60,000 new-build would cost over £600m and require the club to play away for at least three seasons and, even if the economics were acceptable, the planning risks would likely be insurmountable."

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/we-cant-compete-with-city-avb-risks-romans-wrath-again-7499414.html

Hail Cashley Ashley Cole, the epitome of undervalued excellence

The Chelsea left-back is perhaps football's only celebrity headliner to have fulfilled his potential as a player, apparently undistracted by glitz or physical frailty

Barney Ronay
guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 February 2012 17.03 GMT

Increasingly this week the top layer of English football has had the air of a rather raucous cliff‑top Viking funeral for André Villas-Boas, who seems set to go the way of all things flesh on the Chelsea touchline. It has been a fast-paced journey to obsolescence for a man who arrived in a fluster of excitement like some skinny‑tied, two-week teen sensation of the 1950s. But who these days seems glazed with a dawning awareness of peripheral mockery, wincing and twirling on the touchline with the wounded dignity of a small Edwardian dog dressed up in britches and waistcoat, and only now working out what all the laughter is about.

Villas-Boas will, I'm sure, be back to haunt English football, because this is what always happens. Older, raggedly bouffant, popping the seams of his dog-eared skinny-tailoring, he will eventually have his moment: eliminating England from some quarter‑final, mugging the Premier League champions, and performing his own lambada of revenge on some fevered foreign touchline.

For now, though, one of the most interesting parts of this saga of revolt and disappearance is the emergence of Ashley Cole as a significant actor. One of Cole's chief gripes with his manager is that he feels "like a robot" belted tightly within the Villas-Boas tactical blouson. It is a profound and even moving objection, relating not so much to personal advancement as to the basic texture and vitality of his game. It also reflects something I have felt about Cole for some time: that he is an undervalued and largely unexamined component of English football's central furniture. And that while he remains in his scampering pomp, this may just be the moment to appreciate him a little more.

Cole has perhaps been misread: or at least unevenly read. There is plenty that is dismal in English football, but it seems unfair that Cole – summoned reflexively as an epitome of monied gracelessness – should have become short-hand for so much of it. Google the words "Ashley Cole" and the three top search terms that come up are "gay Twitter shooting", which not only makes him sound more interesting than he is (Cole is neither gay nor on Twitter), but demonstrates how closely off-field farragos have defined his persona.

Chiefly there was the Cashley affair, the departure from Arsenal as detailed in his own wretched autobiography. It is perhaps a good moment to revisit this. Mainly because in retrospect Cole may have actually been on to something. The fact remains that since Arsenal refused to spend that little bit more than already-ridiculous on Cole – and others too – they have stopped being a team that win things. Perhaps it was in fact Arsenal rather than Cole who were swerving off the road at this point, the first jolt in a tectonic breaking-free from the disagreeable overspend of the boorishly successful. Perhaps some will even feel those wodges of faux Cashley banknotes should instead have borne the face of stingy Arsène, hunkered within his trophy-less mansion, heatedly fondling his balance sheet.

More than this, though, to object to Ashley's hang-up over an extra £5,000 a week is to misunderstand top-level footballers. Personally if I had the talent I'd play a single year and spend the rest of my life eating Doritos on a mattress made entirely from kitten throat. But elite modern athletes are not like this. Their lives are already financially meaningless. Instead they thrive on tiny margins of personal affront, obsessional – and sometimes laughable – details. This is why Ashley is still there: still furiously centre stage, still fording the twice-weekly agony of competition.

There have been other bits and bobs. There was the story about vomiting on a hairdresser in a car, the kind of shameful male behaviour that is, frankly, yet another a symptom of the universal shameful male behaviour gene. Perhaps the weirdest thing about this event is simply its widespread currency, the gossip-hunger that makes it so noteworthy in the first place. Search your heart. Let he who hasn't at some stage vomited on a hairdresser (or similar) cast the first stone. Plus, Cole did also shoot a student with an air rifle while engaged in harmless training-ground banter. This is a little harder to explain away. All I can think is perhaps he didn't mean to shoot a student. That perhaps he meant to do something else entirely, like opening up a direct debit to Amnesty International or reciting a poem, but instead got a little distracted and then, oh no, he'd accidentally shot a student instead.

Either way it still feels like a gathering irrelevance in the face of the undimmed, and even austere, majesty of Cole the footballer. The most important thing about Cole is that he is perhaps the only member of English football's recent slew of celebrity headliners to have fulfilled entirely his potential as a player, apparently undistracted by glitz, debauchery or physical frailty. Cole is a remorselessly fine left-back, a two-club man who at the end of his career will have left nothing behind in his calfskin man-bag, no cobwebbed corner of his personal talent unexplored.

It is Cole who has given me hope, periodically, that this England team might yet amount to something. Mainly because of the nature of his talent, which aspires not to grand explosions of the old school – the snorting box‑to‑box warrior, the foreigner-squashing aerial Tarzan – but is instead scurryingly insistent, relentlessly high class. This is the kind of player who turns up, rather quietly, in teams that win things.

Cole will also be remembered for moments of rare footballing excellence. The duel with Cristiano Ronaldo at the 2006 World Cup was up there with Paolo Maldini and Andrei Kanchelskis at Euro 96. Even the moment Ronaldinho left Cole in a jumble of twitching limbs at the 2002 World Cup before Brazil's equaliser had a wonderful substance to it, a recognition, in Cole's befuddlement, of a wound inflicted by pure, high-ceilinged football talent.

Strip away the periphery and this is a strangely old-fashioned, ultra-modern footballer, a refined and thrummingly well-conditioned talent that we might once have blithely admired from the stand. But who has beneath football's unblinking compound eye become a convenient shared repository for those lingering feelings of disdain for the captive princes of the Premier League. At 31 Cole will not be with us that much longer. Perhaps at the tapering edge of his prime it is the ideal moment to start appreciating a grand, understated and often undervalued excellence.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/feb/24/ashley-cole-chelsea-england

Lampard: AVB relationship 'not ideal'

By MARK GILBERT

Published: Today

FRANK LAMPARD has lifted the lid on the dressing room unrest at Chelsea and his frosty relationship with Andre Villas-Boas.

The England midfielder branded his rapport with the Blues boss as 'not ideal' after being in and out of the side all season.

Lamps was restored to the starting line-up and scored the third goal in the 3-0 win over Bolton today.

And he has urged his 34-year-old Portuguese manager to trust him and other senior stars like Didier Drogba and Michael Essien to kick-start their season.

Speaking about his relationship with Villas-Boas, Lampard said: "I think, from the outside, you can probably see that it's not been ideal.

"But the important thing is not to focus on individual relationships too much.

"There have been certain issues. Certain players, we don't like not to play.

"It doesn't mean I want to play every game but, if I sit on the bench, I want to see Chelsea win.

"I'm sure we're all frustrated at the minute.

"Everyone who's involved, especially people who have got Chelsea in their hearts, who have been here a long time and want to see us performing as we should do.

"But it's never a case of players throwing their toys out of the pram to the detriment of the club."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4154402/Frank-Lampard-My-relationship-with-Andre-Villas-Boas-is-not-ideal-Chelsea.html

Benitez 'would evaluate' Blues offer

Published: 23 Feb 2012

RAFAEL BENITEZ would be interested in talking to Chelsea — if Andre Villas-Boas is axed as manager.

Manuel Garcia Quilon, the former Liverpool chief's agent, insists the Spaniard is desperate to return to the Premier League.

Quilon said: "Benitez's priority is to coach in the Premier League.

"But there is nothing official — we have not been approached by Chelsea.

"We would only evaluate that possibility once there is an offer."

Chelsea have won just two of their last 10 Premier League games and are on the brink of a Champions League exit following their 3-1 defeat at Napoli in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday.

And with reports of unrest in the dressing room, it has been suggested Blues owner Roman Abramovich is considering a coaching change.

Benitez is available having been out of work since being sacked by Inter Milan in December 2010.

The 51-year-old has a track record of success having led Liverpool to Champions League and FA Cup glory, while also guiding Valencia to two La Liga titles.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4148361/Rafael-Benitez-would-evaluate-an-offer-from-Chelsea.html

AVB must avoid senior moments

Published: 22 Feb 2012

FORMER Chelsea No2 Ray Wilkins believes the secret to success for Andre Villas-Boas is how he handles his senior players.

And Wilkins has held up Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson as the shining example of how to achieve this.

Villas-Boas opted to leave England internationals Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole out of his side for last night's 3-1 Champions League defeat at Napoli, a result which piled more pressure on the beleaguered manager.

Wilkins, who was surprisingly dismissed from his role as Carlo Ancelotti's right-hand man in November 2010, hopes Blues owner Roman Abramovich will give the Portuguese time to succeed.

And he thinks Ferguson's management of established stars such as Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand, while also bringing through younger players, is an example he should follow.

He said: "It's very important that when Andre is dealing with the senior players that those discussions have to take place.

"You see how well Sir Alex Ferguson manages the likes of Scholes and Giggs and Ferdinand, he manages them magnificently well — not only the playing time but also as human beings.

"There has got to be conversation and if Andre is asking for their opinion, then he shouldn't be too shocked when the opinion comes back because they are very powerful and very strong personalities, these guys he's dealing with."

Wilkins admits he was surprised at the omission of Lampard, Cole and midfielder Michael Essien from the line-up in Naples.

He said: "I didn't understand the selection policy because Ashley Cole in my humble opinion is one of the best left-backs in world football, so I didn't quite see the point of putting a right full-back, Jose Bosingwa, across to the left side.

"I didn't quite see a reason for the exclusion of Frank Lampard or Michael Essien.

"It's a great shame as well that the best leader in the country isn't playing for Chelsea at the moment, and he's undergoing surgery on his knee. John Terry is so vital to Chelsea it's almost embarrassing."

Wilkins believes any improvement in Chelsea's form is dependent on them sorting out their defensive problems.

He added: "The defensive display last night wasn't good enough. It's been a problem they have had all year.

"They have used several formations at the back because of injuries and suspensions so it's not been easy to keep a regular back four, but they haven't as a unit performed well enough.

"Ninety-nine per cent of winning teams start from the back and they defend properly.

"Chelsea are no different, when they're winning stuff, they're very solid defensively, at the moment they're a little bit shaky."

Wilkins, however, insists Chelsea would be "back to square one" if Villas-Boas was sacked.

He said: "If they were to get rid of him it only means someone else coming in, the players that he's bought might not be this new guy's cup of tea, so it's all back to square one again.

"If they're going to give Andre the opportunity for three years, let him do it and see how they go."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4146390/Ray-Wilkins-says-Chelsea-boss-Andre-Villas-Boas-should-emulate-Alex-Ferguson.html

Get out

Rom wants to dump Chelsea rebel Cole

By MARK IRWIN
Last Updated: 23 Feb 2012

ASHLEY COLE is heading for the Chelsea exit after openly clashing with boss Andre Villas-Boas.

Owner Roman Abramovich is unhappy with senior stars criticising AVB and is set to stamp out a dressing-room revolt with a summer clear-out.

A club insider said: "When the players question the manager, they are questioning the owner's judgment.

"Andre Villas-Boas was Mr Abramovich's personal choice. In the past, the senior players have sometimes got their way over an unpopular manager.

"But this time Mr Abramovich is fed up with their moaning."

SunSport reported yesterday how Cole, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien were dumped to the bench against Napoli after slamming AVB.

Cole told the boss he would never win trophies with 'your tactics'.

AVB is not safe, either, with doubts over his ability to handle the job.

Cole, 31, and Lamps, 33, are under contract to 2013 but the club will now listen to offers in the summer.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4147378/Chelsea-mutiny-Ashley-Cole-heads-for-Chelsea-exit.html

How Villas-Boas lost his players

23 Feb 2012 | 09:37-Vitor Sobral

To AVB or not to AVB? That is the question Roman Abrahmovic is pondering.

If he takes the advice of the majority of English media, then Andre Villas-Boas’s tenure as Chelsea manager should come to a tragic, Shakespearean-like conclusion.

It’s taken a few months but I’ve finally seen just how vicious the English tabloids can be.

The Sun has seemingly made it a mission to have the young Portuguese manager sacked.

The tabloid publication has cited almost everything from tactical inflexibility (despite The Sun's reporting, AVB did change to 4-2-3-1 for the Napoli match) to playing Bosingwa at left-back (something Guus Hiddink did rather effectively against Barcleona).

Unfortunately they all seem to be missing the main point. While it’s obvious Abrahmovic wants to win, simply winning is not enough for the Russian billionaire.

He wants to win like Barcelona do and he’s realised to that takes a certain type of coach.

Villas-Boas fitted the bill almost perfectly. His FC Porto side played a ‘Barca’ type of football. He says exactly want you want to hear from a coach who wants to play possession-based, high-pressing football. An added bonus was he knew the club from his time under Jose Mourinho.

But as the season unfolds, Abrahmovic is finding out that while AVB was ready for that type of football, Chelsea wasn’t.

The Sun reported that Ashley Cole told his manager: “I came here to win medals and trophies but I’m never going to do that with your tactics”.

Despite the support of his owner,Villas-Boas has failed catergorically in selling his philosophy to the players.

Just like tactics and team selection, this is a fundamental part of any coach’s job and AVB’s inability to get his team to believe in his philosophy has already cost Chelsea dearly.

Jose Mourinho came to Stamford Bridge under similar cicumstances to Villas-Boas. He served a long apprenticeship as opposition scout and assistant coach before achieving success with FC Porto.

But Mourinho has no philosophy. He’s a coach who adapts to the circumstances of the players, the club and the country. He is also a master psychologist who convinces the team they will succeed with whatever tactics he chooses.

While Villas-Boas is different it doesn’t mean he isn’t an excellent coach.

Last season FC Porto won a treble playing superb, attacking football. It was more exciting and successful then Mourinho’s first full season at the club.

Despite only one major departure (Radamel Falcao) this campaign the Dragons sit second in the league, have been dumped out of the Portuguese Cup and Europa League and often playing football that can best be described as uninspiring.

While the current coach Vitor Perreira is competent, he does not posses the tactical acumen to take Porto to last season’s level.

So why was AVB so successful at the Dragao but not at Cheslea?

One of the reasons is that Porto has an in-built philosophy in the club. In keeping with the club ethos, the Dragons squad was put together to play a high intensity 4-3-3. The same can’t be said of Chelsea.

A few months ago, I wrote that Abrahmovic needed to back AVB in the face of a player revolt. While I still believe that the Chelsea owner should not sack his coach simply because some players in the squad don’t like him, there does need to be close scrutiny of AVB’s performance.

The main issue is that there are few signs Chelsea is evolving. The team is not able to keep the ball for long periods, it is unable break down opposing defences with ease and the team’s defensive pressing has not improved since August.

It may suggest that while Villas-Boas is an excellent choice as coach for a team well suited to the Barca type 4-3-3 system (which is why he’s on Marca’s shortlist to replace Josep Guardiola should he leave), he may not be the ideal candidate to make the transition such a system.

In that respect it’s no surprise Marcelo Bielsa – a man credited as a guru of the Barca way - has been linked with a move to Chelsea.

But perhaps given enough time, AVB can implement his philosophy successfully at Chelsea. The question is whether Abrahmovic is willing to sacrifice enough for that to happen.

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/vitor-sobral/blog/1094639/How-Villas-Boas-lost-his-players

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas admits Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole questioned his Napoli team selection

The Portuguese has conceded the England internationals were disappointed at his decision to leave them out, while bemoaning his side's lack of quality in the 3-1 defeat in Naples

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has admitted two of Chelsea’s most senior players, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard, questioned his team selection ahead of the defeat at Napoli.

The England duo were left out from the start with Cole replacing the injured Jose Bosingwa after just 10 minutes and Lampard coming on for Florent Malouda with 20 minutes to go.

Villas-Boas’ decision was not vindicated as Ezequiel Lavezzi's double either side of an Edinson Cavani strike helped the Italian outfit to a 3-1 victory.

And the Portuguese boss says he understands why Cole and Lampard were upset but claims it is useless making excuses following the bad result.

"Whatever explanations I gave you would be fantastic if we'd won but are now useless given the result of the game, so there's no point," he told reporters.

"We wanted two hard-working midfielders sitting in front of the defence. That's not to say that Lamps could not do it, for sure he could, but that was the decision we took.

"It was technical decisions. You can have your opinion but it was based on what was the best team in my thoughts.

"I had a conversation with Ashley and Frank. Normally, through the players that they are and the players with the experience they have, they felt they could have helped the team.

"That's perfectly understandable. Of course, they were disappointed but they were decisions they have to accept and move on."

The defeat leaves Chelsea staring down the barrel of elimination from the competition which owner Roman Abramovich is known to most covet.

Villas-Boas bemoaned his side’s lack of quality in front of goal but says they can turn things around at Stamford Bridge on March 14.

"In this game the difference was that Napoli were more clinical and efficient in front of goal," he added.

"We have big chances and paid a heavy toll for the mistakes we made but I am sure we can turn it around."

http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2012/02/22/2921357/chelsea-manager-andre-villas-boas-admits-frank-lampard-and

AVB: Speculation will continue

22 February 2012-PA Sport

Andre Villas-Boas admitted speculation over his future would only intensify after Chelsea lurched to yet another defeat that left it in danger of UEFA Champions League elimination.

Villas-Boas watched his Blues produce their latest defensive horror show to lose their last-16 first leg 3-1 and pile the pressure on the beleaguered boss.

A visibly drawn Villas-Boas acknowledged afterwards his side had shot itself in the foot yet again as it extended its winless run to five matches.

The Portuguese has repeatedly insisted he has the full backing of billionaire owner Roman Abramovich but this performance would have done nothing to convince the Russian to deliver the vote of confidence his manager now needs more than ever.

"Speculation will continue as the results don't happen," Villas-Boas said.

Having thrown away leads with alarming regularity both at home and abroad this season, Chelsea duly did so again as captain John Terry's injury absence continued to tell.

Juan Mata gave it the dream start but all three of Napoli's subsequent goals were the result of poor defending, even if Edinson Cavani's second carried suspicions of handball.

Villas-Boas said: "We have to solve these mistakes at the back.

"We need this concentration right and this efficiency right, for sure.

"At the moment, without John, a very important player for the team, we have suffered a lot of goals recently.

"We had improved a lot at the beginning of January, so we have missed John.

"But we have full belief in these players and we have to continue to work with them to get it right."

David Luiz's latest mistake was the most costly, gifting Napoli the third goal that made it firm favourite to win the tie.

"It's obvious that that player has become a target," said Villas-Boas.

"He's a fantastic young player with a big future ahead of him, and he has to work to try and be a bit better.

"We suffered three goals. If he's linked to one, he might not be linked to the other two."

As well as taking flak for standing by Luiz, Villas-Boas is bound to face criticism for his decision not to start either Frank Lampard or Michael Essien.

Much has been made of the Chelsea boss' relationship with Lampard in particular, but he insisted his team selection was purely tactical, while Ashley Cole did not start after only just recovering from injury.

"You can have your opinion but it was based on what was the best team in my thoughts," Villas-Boas said.

"Whatever explanation I give you, in the end it would be a fantastic explanation if we'd won the game.

"Any explanation is now useless given the result of the game, so there's no point."

Villas-Boas, who admitted one of the formations he had been toying with but did not end up using had been written on a piece of paper left at the team hotel, added: "I had a conversation with Ashley and Frank.

"Through the players that they are and the players with the experience they have, they felt they could have helped the team.

"That's perfectly understandable."

Only three teams have overturned a two-goal first-leg deficit in Champions League history but a defiant Villas-Boas said: "I want us to be the fourth."

He added: "It's a negative result, of course, but a result we are sure we can turn around at the Bridge due to the amount of chances we had."

Napoli boss Walter Mazzarri was delighted with his side's performance but rued the missed chances that might have seen it kill the tie.

Mazzarri, who watched the match in a room on his own after being banned from both legs, said: "Obviously, I was suffering from not being with my players.

"We saw two top teams playing against each other. Chelsea proved to be a very, very strong team.

"We did amazingly after conceding the goal.

"We had 10 or 15 minutes when we struggled a little bit after that goal but then we've been lucky in finding the equaliser.

"It was just a shame that we didn't get the fourth goal. That could have helped us massively in the return leg."

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1094521/AVB-Speculation-will-continue

Here's a word AVB should recognise: Sack!

Last updated at 11:00 PM on 17th February 2012

Do you remember the quiz show Call My Bluff? Contestants would invent definitions for obscure words and try to fool their opponents into believing them.

Whenever I listen to an Andre Villas-Boas press conference I am convinced the man would have been utterly brilliant at it.

He's been throwing out ultimatums from what appears to be a position of serious weakness for days now without a flicker of self-doubt.

According to AVB, he is absolutely sure owner Roman Abramovich is fully behind him.
What's more, he insists he is in complete control at Stamford Bridge, despite reports of a dressing room mutiny and some dismal performances.

Throughout, he employs a colourful vocabulary that quizmaster Robert Robinson would have been proud of in his day, drawing on his very expensive education at the Colegio do Rosario private school in Porto.

Villas-Boas instructed journalists that they had to become 'accultured' to owners like Abramovich, who say very little in public (i.e become familiar with).

He also said Chelsea needed to 'solidificate' their position in the top four. I checked.

There is no such word and it appears to be Italian, but the meaning was clear and it still worked in the context of his discussion.

As Villas-Boas croaks out these eloquent assertions with unwavering confidence everyone wonders if is he hiding a 'Bluff' card in his envelope.

It's a crucial question.

The players have to believe in him or Chelsea will fail.

They have to have complete confidence in his method or 'the project', as he calls it, goes under. There is no real indication the players have signed up to AVB's scheme as yet and no real evidence of what that grand plan actually is.

Even so, he continues bluffing like a master, announcing that the playing staff 'do not have to back my project' because the owner is the only man that matters.
It is an extraordinary remark.

Villas-Boas had better hope Abramovich has brought his boots then, because it is a risky ploy to set himself at odds with the dressing room.

News that a number of players confronted their manager at a team meeting on Sunday, disputing his methods on issues ranging from man management to tactics was seriously damaging.

Everything from him since then has been an exercise in damage limitation, played out under the inert gaze of Abramovich lurking on the sidelines at the training ground.

'I am not concerned about a mutiny,' said Villas-Boas. 'My authority is total - because it is the owner's authority.'

But history shows Abramovich is as fickle as an owner can be.

His backing may indeed be total now, but an FA Cup defeat on Saturday followed by a Champions League exit against Napoli and that will surely evaporate.

Besides, since I'm among the many not quite 'accultured' to the phenomenon of resolutely silent owners, we only have Villas-Boas's word for all of this 'support'.

Abramovich remains mute and unreadable as ever. Remember, too, that AVB has not yet delivered on any of the immediate challenges he faced at Chelsea.

He once pronounced 'problem solved' when discussing the lingering puzzle of his £50million misfit Fernando Torres.

It clearly remains anything but.

While at the back, for all his talents, David Luiz continues to perform with all the defensive acumen of a circus clown.

The 'project' itself has only threatened to flicker into life on occasion. Usually, it has delivered fairly routine, sometimes even dull, football and Chelsea's fans pay enough cash every week to expect more than a yawn and fifth place.

Throughout it all, Villas-Boas keeps his poker face on, says Abramovich will give him time whatever happens, and looks to where Chelsea will be in three years' time.
True or Bluff? The next few days could answer that.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2102871/Des-Kelly-Heres-word-AVB-recognise-Sack.html#ixzz1mgVCbkBi

Chelsea won't risk Terry

Soccer: John Terry looks unlikely to be risked for Chelsea’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Birmingham, despite recovering from the knee injury that has sidelined him for three weeks.

Blues captain Terry only returned to full training yesterday and manager Andre Villas-Boas cast doubt on whether he could play both tomorrow and in Tuesday’s Champions League clash at Napoli.

Ashley Cole (calf) is rated 50-50 for the trip to Italy, Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou will only be available next week after returning from African Nations Cup duty, but Ramires could return from a knee injury against Birmingham.

Chelsea provisional squad: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Hutchinson, Bertrand, Romeu, Mikel, Essien, Ramires, Lampard, Mata, Malouda, Meireles, Torres, Sturridge, Lukaku, Turnbull.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/soccer/2012/0217/1224311930425.html

Didier Drogba says missing out on the Champions League would be a disaster for Chelsea

Didier Drogba is not trying to fool anyone. This has been a turbulent week for Chelsea, with stories of impending sackings and open opposition to the manager, Andre Villas-Boas, from the players.

7:10AM GMT 17 Feb 2012

The striker was 3,000 miles away in Abidjan as the story rumbled on this week, but he was in no mood to use distance as an excuse for ignorance.

“We are having a difficult season – not only at this moment,” he says. “It’s not always easy when you change manager, when there’s new players to fit in the team. It is the hardest season I’ve known since I’ve been at Chelsea.

"You want to be in a better position in the league. We are used to being in the first two or three. It’s different.”

The main source of difference is in the dug out, or rather squatting on his haunches in the technical area, pointing and whistling. Once again, for the sixth time since he signed for Chelsea from Marseille in 2004, Drogba is working with a new manager. How has Villas-Boas changed things?

“He came with his philosophy which is playing a bit more football than the other managers,” Drogba says. “That’s how he succeeded in Porto so he wanted to do the same at Chelsea.

"It’s difficult because we are trying to change the way we play and to adapt to his philosophy so that’s why it’s taking time. Maybe that’s the reason why we are struggling a little bit to be in the first two.”

The most successful centre-forward in Chelsea’s history believes that were his club to fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League it would be “a disaster”.

Talking after he had captained the Ivory Coast to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, Drogba reveals that he has followed the Blues’ progress from afar throughout January and has become concerned about their position in the Premier League.

“When I came the club was second and I helped them to be first,” he says. “For me it would be a disaster if the club is not in the top four this year.

"I’ve had a successful eight years so I don’t want that to happen.”

Three championship winners medals, finishing no lower than third in his career in a Chelsea shirt, Drogba has been successful indeed.

Taking a couple of days off to inspect charitable projects in his homeland, he is able to reflect on the expectations he has helped generate with his club.

“You can win with different philosophies, but the best tactic is always the one which makes you win,” he insists.

“You can feel comfortable in a certain system like 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, but believe me when you win you forget about the tactics to achieve it.”

Nevertheless, the growing sense from outside the club is of a manager not entirely in harmony with his senior players. Drogba, though, insists this is not an issue.

“He is trying to motivate the players, he is a good motivator,” he says of Villas-Boas. “Training is good, it is not that different from what we were doing the previous season. He’s ambitious he wants to win, to succeed, to be successful in the Premier League.

"You know how it is when you come with a lot of ambition and it doesn’t go the way you want: it’s difficult. It’s not easy for him but he’s not the only one who’s responsible, we all are.

"When we don’t play well we make the club in this situation. In football everyone blames the manager first which is difficult for him because he is on the sidelines when we are playing. But I guess that’s football.”

And maybe that is why the man in charge is paid so well.

“Talking in generally, not about Andre, a manager is the manager and he knows he’s responsible for the wins and the defeats so he will be the one to be blamed first. But sometimes it’s more complicated than that.

"Players have to have responsibility because once we are on the pitch the manager can do nothing.

"You can train your team all the week and then if the night before the guys decide to go partying and the next day you play the manager can’t do anything about it when they can’t run or they are sick and don’t perform.”

Drogba can certainly speak from close observation of a wide range of managerial approaches.

“Yes that’s why I know a bit about it. I’ve had six managers but most of them won things and brought something to the club. They all helped the club in a way. Some didn’t win but they helped the club to improve and grow.”

Even Felipe Scolari, the manager whose removal the senior players like Drogba were rumoured to have instigated?

“Scolari is a good manager, he won the World Cup but it didn’t work at Chelsea. A lot of people say I didn’t get on well with Scolari but I always respected his choices for the team. I never complained, you can check that.

"For me if I’m not playing it’s not the manager, it’s me who needs to improve. I always respect the manager’s decisions even if sometimes you see me sulking on the bench.”

One thing that is different about the latest new man, though, is that he is the same age as a number of those in his charge, including Drogba. Does that have a bearing on the relationship?

“For me that’s not an issue, you have to respect his position,” he says.

“Even if he was younger than me you would have to respect him. He’s not the manager because he came and said ‘I’m going to be the manager’. He’s the manager because he proved he could manage a team and win trophies.

"I think he’s a big man and he’s also learning. There’s no age where you can say you don’t learn anymore. Even [Sir Alex] Ferguson is still learning with his team – that’s how you become better. He’s learning and he will be better year after year.”

Beyond league position, one of the young manager’s most pressing concerns is the future of his star striker. Drogba’s contract with Chelsea is reaching its conclusion. Does the player himself know what will happen next?

“We are still talking about it. Everybody knows I love the club, everyone knows I want to stay so we are discussing it and let’s see what comes out of the discussions.

"I’m optimistic it can happen but at the same time if it doesn’t happen that’s life. But you will never change the respect and the love we created together. My heart is blue.”

Chronology, however, insists time will eventually be called. And what then for Didier Drogba?

With his range of philanthropic activity, many have predicted a career in politics back in his homeland. But the man himself suggests there could be another possibility.

“Me as manager of Chelsea?” he says. “Why not? It would be interesting, it would be nice. I love this club and I always want to help the people I love, so why not?”

And, having watched half a dozen others do the job, Drogba has an idea of managerial requirements.

“If I wanted to be a manager I would give a lot to my players because I think it’s the only way for them to give back.

"You have to give them something, you have to show them that you care and that they are the best and then they will pay you back. But maybe I think it’s a bit early to speculate like that. First, I am a player.”

A player, moreover, on a mission to avert disaster.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/9087374/Didier-Drogba-says-missing-out-on-the-Champions-League-would-be-a-disaster-for-Chelsea.html

Chelsea stars 'criticise AVB in crunch meeting'
ESPNsoccernet staff
February 14, 2012

Andre Villas-Boas' position as Chelsea manager looks increasingly insecure following a heated clash with his players in front of the club's owner, Roman Abramovich.

Abramovich, who has presided over seven managers in eight years, called for a summit with his manager and players following Chelsea's 2-0 defeat at Everton on Saturday - their fourth Premier League game without a win.

The Russian blamed the players for the club's slide to fifth place and Villas-Boas gave his underperforming squad a dressing down. However, the players reportedly hit back at the Portuguese manager, telling him exactly what they thought of his training and tactics.

It is also believed that goalkeeper Petr Cech came in for criticism from team-mates over his distribution. "The players stuck with AVB until the New Year because they realise he was under orders to change things," a source is quoted as saying in the Sun.

"But his plans are obviously not working, the atmosphere in the dressing room is tense and more and more players are beginning to wonder if he's the right man for the job. It's reached a stage where many of them don't care whether he's there or not.

"No one foresaw this situation - but the results simply aren't there and he's suffering because of them."

Abramovich has taken an unusually close interest in training recently, but the Blues maintain Villas-Boas' position is not under threat and that the owner's active interest is perfectly normal.

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/136094.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

Abramovich splashed out 28 million pounds on AVB. I doubt hes going anywhere soon.

First time I've ever felt embarrassed to be a Chelsea fan, I barely watch EPL as is but now I'm probs not gonna watch any

Are Chelsea any better off under Roman Abramovich?

11 February

~ It is mid-February and Chelsea are clinging onto fourth place. The team is a little too dependent on some ageing stars, but also in possession of some talented young players. Claudio Ranieri is under pressure to guide his side into the 2003-04 Champions League competition. Nine years, a Russian oligarch's investment, six managers and three Premier League titles later, and, on the surface, surprisingly little has changed. Some other Premier League teams could finish in the same position as they did in the 2002-03 season: Manchester United (first), Liverpool (fifth), Fulham (14th), Aston Villa (16th), Bolton (17th), West Brom (19th) – but none of these has had £1 billion pumped into them.

Chelsea supporters could be forgiven for wondering if we are any better off. Obviously, if we merely look at our league position, which sees the Blues outside the top three and facing a tough battle for fourth, no progress has been made. However tempting this simple conclusion may be for pessimistic fans and opportunistic rivals, it does not tell the whole story.

Sticking with matters on the field, the quality of the Premier League has improved over the past decade. This Chelsea side would be clear favourites to beat the 2003 team, and possibly even the sides that finished above them. In Europe, Ranieri's team crashed out in the first round of the UEFA Cup to Viking Stavanger, while André Villas-Boas has taken his players to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Financially, the club recently recorded losses of £68 million for the year to July 31, 2011. This does not make good reading – especially with FIFA's financial fair play standards looming – but £28m can be attributed to the summer's managerial upheaval. In addition, it was revealed this week that Chelsea's revenues of £210m are sixth highest in the world – up from tenth (£112m) in 2003.

If Chelsea fail to qualify for next season's Champions League and Abramovich decides he has had enough, things could crash and burn. But this seems unlikely and neglects Chelsea's largest gain from the past nine years – experience. The club has played in the Champions League before and, having only once finished outside the top two in the Premier League, knows how to get there.

Abramovich also has gained from his venture. His transfers, Fernando Torres aside, have generally proved more shrewd recently and he also looks to have more patience for managers. The club has spent a reported £64m on managerial changes over the past four years, but Villas-Boas appears confident of retaining his job into next season.

Despite the temptation to state grandly that the Russian has wasted his money, that Chelsea have wasted their time and that this sordid experiment has yielded no progress, this is clearly not the case. William Turvill

http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8312/38/

United facing Bridge too far London
February 5, 2012

ANDRE Villas-Boas may have conceded Chelsea is out of the Premier League title race but his side's superb home record against Manchester United means it can still influence the destiny of the championship.

Alex Ferguson's United last won in the league at Stamford Bridge 10 years ago and the rivalry between the clubs burns as fiercely as ever, despite the 12-point gap that separates the two sides.

United is locked in a battle with its near neighbour Manchester City at the head of the table, while Chelsea's immediate challenge is to tighten its grip on fourth place.

Ferguson is well aware of the challenge posed by Villas-Boas' side.

''It's not an easy game going to Stamford Bridge. We haven't beaten them since 2002,'' said the United manager. ''In that period, Chelsea's rise to prominence has been obvious and the last seven years we have battled with them for league titles. Therefore, you expect a hard game.''

But Villas-Boas warned a Chelsea victory could derail United's title bid, just as its win over City last December had triggered a dip in form.

''The leader in mid-December, Man City, was undisputed but they lost against us and continued to lose games and continued to drop points,'' said the Chelsea manager, who knows three points would strengthen his position after a week in which Jose Mourinho was linked with a move back to the club.

''Man United in the last five games have three wins and two defeats, surprisingly, and that is the situation of the league and we can never tell,'' he said.

John Terry's absence could mean a first start for Gary Cahill, while Frank Lampard could return after a calf injury. Midfielders Ramires and John Obi Mikel are injured.

Ferguson faces an anxious wait on a goalkeeper, with Anders Lindegaard likely to be out for up to six weeks with ankle ligament damage and David de Gea also facing a fitness test on his own ankle injury.

Ferguson expects de Gea to recover in time to play, meaning young Englishman Ben Amos - who made his league debut in the 2-0 mid-week victory over Stoke - will be on the bench.

The injury news is almost entirely positive for Ferguson elsewhere as Wayne Rooney, Nani, Ashley Young and Tom Cleverley will all be in the United squad.


Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/soccer/united-facing-bridge-too-far-20120204-1qz1q.html#ixzz1lQPa5jr8

CHELSEA'S £1BN TRANSFER DROP IS GETTING THEM NOWHERE


Thursday February 2,2012
By Tony Banks

CHELSEA spent £15million in the transfer window that closed on Tuesday, making them the biggest spenders in England and taking Roman Abramovich’s nine-year investment to more than £1billion.

Of the players they bought, £7m centre-back Gary Cahill has not featured in the three games since he joined, though undoubtedly he will soon, Kevin de Bruyne has been loaned straight back to Genk, the club he was bought from, and Patrick Bamford, the 18-year-old from Nottingham Forest, will go straight into the reserve set-up.


But the fortunate 1-1 draw at Swansea which preceded the closure of the window underlined that while Chelsea may be planning for the future, the present is rather more troubling.


Without the injured John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ramires, the Blues were outplayed by a vibrant Swansea and lucky to get a point after a heavily deflected shot from Jose Bosingwa three minutes into injury time.

It was the latest in a whole string of underwhelming performances and it saw them in fourth place, seven points behind Tottenham, their main competitors for the top-four finish that Andre Villas-Boas now admits is their minimum target.

Yet Chelsea boss Villas-Boas said: “We are happy with what we did in the transfer window. We needed to strengthen one position [centre-back] and we did that. As for the gap, it goes up and down. Last week we reduced it, now we are back to where we were, seven points behind. That is nothing.


"The top teams have also lost ground. Of course it is never satisfying to just get a point, but Tottenham are within our reach.”


Eden Hazard of Lille and the Brazilian Willian at Shakhtar Donetsk were among the big names courted by Chelsea during the transfer window but proved beyond their willingness to spend.
Villas-Boas will now have to wait until the summer when he plans major movements in and out of Stamford Bridge. But building for the future with young talent appears to be the underlying message. 


So it was deeply ironic that it was Scott Sinclair – sold to Swansea in the summer of 2010 after being unable to break through at Chelsea – who did the damage in South Wales.
Sinclair had six loan spells away from the Bridge as his career stood still after joining from Bristol Rovers at the age of 16, and it is only since rejoining his old Chelsea youth team coach Brendan Rodgers at the Liberty Stadium that he has blossomed.


“When you go out on loan so many times, you come back and you don’t feel part of it,” said Sinclair. “It was frustrating for me. I took a pay cut to come to Swansea. I’d much rather be at a club where I am playing every week.


“We were disappointed not to win, but the boss said that shows just how far we have come.”


Bamford, De Bruyne and Josh McEachran, who is currently on loan at Swansea from Chelsea, should take note.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/299621/Chelsea-s-1bn-transfer-drop-is-getting-them-nowhere

It really is a shame to see such a classy footballer so down on luck and form