HomeZ OLD CATEGORIESChelsea (NN)Why Villas Boas Can Succeed at Liverpool, Whilst Failing at Chelsea

Why Villas Boas Can Succeed at Liverpool, Whilst Failing at Chelsea

Problems at Chelsea

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After this success, Andre Villas Boas was appointed manager of Chelsea. His intention was to implement a similar philosophy at Chelsea. This idea also included ‘phasing out’ the older generation of players which were seemingly less suited to such a fluid, tactical approach.

o Andre Villas Boas’ signings included Mata, Meireles, Romeu and Lukaku, as well as other squad players.

o Andre Villas Boas also tried but failed to sign three players; Luka Modric (who once failed, tried to sign Moutinho, but again failed) and also Pereira from FC Porto

PLAYER ROLES

The player roles were almost identical to his roles at FC Porto:

o High defensive line, fullbacks join in attack

o DM’s role to recycle possession and break up play

o LCM’s role is to play incisive passes and help in attacks, whilst also dropping in if DM goes forward

o RCM drifts right to use space opened up by RW

One key difference was with the LW, who, with Mata linked more in the central play, but still offered natural width and had pace and skill to expose holes.

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Romeu:

Bought from Barcelona, he had a key role in the DM position. He has great distribution and is a quick thinker which made him a key candidate for Andre Villas Boas’ system. He was able to keep the ball moving and took pressure off other players by simply doing so.

Ramires:

He was most suited to this RCM role, with the directions to drift into empty spaces, due to his engine and pace. He can worry any defence by coming in from wide midfield positions and is a huge attacking threat (as FC Barcelona found out!!)

Sturridge:

A natural left-footer, Andre Villas Boas used him as an inverted right winger to much effect. He scored many important goals from this position, but also was frequent in voicing his opinion of how he wanted to play centrally.

Cole/Bosingwa:

The two fullbacks were also a success under Villas Boas, racking up many assists in the first half of the season.

PROBLEMS WITH THE SYSTEM AT CHELSEA

There is no denying there were problems in his system, otherwise he would still have a job. These are some of the main problems I saw:

o The High Line – simply, John Terry was not suited to a high line, and to the same effect, nor was Petr Cech. John Terry is a ‘body on the line defender’, rather than a quick thinker who can spot an attack brewing and step up. Also, Cech is a brilliant shot stopper, but not an aggressive sweeper keeper. Right here, the problems were seen, conceding too many goals due to defensive, or some would say stylistic errors

o Lampard – under Andre Villas Boas, the three centre midfielders consist of a defensive minded player who recycles the ball, a RCM who bombs forward, and another one who is the key play maker (but importantly, this key play maker does not play like Lampard did/does as the No.10 in a 4-2-3-1). This meant, seemingly, Villas Boas did not trust Lampard to take the only remaining midfield role (with the other two being occupied by Romeu and Ramires) simply because he was too attack minded and not disciplined enough.

o Torres/Drogba dilemma – Torres was the first choice, but due to his awful confidence and form meant Villas Boas had to look elsewhere, namely Drogba. However, it was evident that Drogba didn’t like being second fiddle was upset as a result. Also, Drogba going to the African Cup of Nations meant Torres had to play. So Villas Boas was left with an out of form striker or an unhappy one.

o Player Power – Terry didn’t like being made a fool by playing a high line, Lampard didn’t like not playing regularly and Drogba didn’t like playing second fiddle. Right there Andre Villas had upset the three most important ‘ego’s’ in the Chelsea dressing room. He also lost the dressing room due to his methodical nature, autocratic style of leadership and by ostracising the popular Alex and Anelka.

HOW IT COULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT

o Modric > Moutinho > Meireles: Modric was first choice when it came to playing the third, and arguably most important, third midfield place as the playmaker. Once it was evident Tottenham wouldn’t budge on their fee Moutinho was sought after. But again, possibly due to FFP, the fee was seen as too high. This left the inferior Raul Meireles, seemingly third choice in this role, to be purchased. He couldn’t reproduce his form from towards the back end of his first season at Liverpool and struggled.

o Moving too Fast: he tried to move too quickly and in the end upset a lot of people

o Stubbornness: Andre Villas Boas was quoted after the Arsenal 5-3 defeat that they wouldn’t sell their philosophy ‘cheaply’. In other words, he decided to continue with a style that didn’t suit his squad. Maybe he should have been more flexible and alter the philosophy temporarily until he could bring in other players more suited, e.g. Gary Cahill to replace John Terry, who is more suited to a high line, or Modric/Moutinho and Hulk

IN CONCLUSION

He isn’t a bad manager but he lost the dressing room, which in turn undermined him and left him vulnerable. It seemed as though the team weren’t buying into the plans and this resulted in his sacking. Whose fault was it we won’t know, but his failure wasn’t solely due to him. Finally, on page 3, we look at why Andres Villas Boas can succeed at Liverpool (Quick Link Below).

Page 1 Quick Link: Beginnings at Porto

Page 3 Quick Link: Why he can Succeed at Liverpool

Kate Cohen
Kate Cohenhttp://katecohensoccer.wordpress.com/
A football enthusiast from Sydney, Australia. You can read more of my work on katecohensoccer.wordpress.com and also follow me on twitter (@Kate_LFC_SFC)
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