Last week Steve Bruce became the first English Premier League manager of the season to be sacked, a break that will hopefully allow him time to get rid of his rare case of Bells Palsy in which it appears to have affected both sides of his face. Discounting Steve Kean, who appears to be harder to get rid of than an uncared for tamagotchi, Andre Villas-Boas is the next manager on every bookies list to get the bullet. So should the Chelsea manager be next to go?
For me it’s a no. Although the Chelsea manager may have lost more home league games in the first 13 games of the season that his ill-fated predecessor Carlo Ancelotti, I think Villas-Boas is in the job for the long haul. If you look at Villas-Boas’s track record than the guy is a born winner, albeit with little managerial experience at the top level. Currently Chelsea sit fourth in the league table, 10 points behind Manchester City with 24 games left this season. There is still a lot of football to be played this season and while I’m not saying that I think Chelsea will get the maximum 72 points in their remaining games, I think it’d be stupid to discount them from playing a part in the title race.
For me, the main problem that Villas-Boas is facing is the fact that he has inherited an ageing squad who may not be used to playing football the way he wants it to be played. It is clear that he is also living in the shadows of his more successful predecessors, principally a certain Mr Mourinho. Of the 14 players that played a part in Saturdays 3-0 win over Newcastle, 6 were mainstays of Mourinho’s squad despite the fact that he left the club in 2007; then you can add Malouda and Mikel who did not feature but are prominent squad members bringing the total to 8. Compare that to the 3 players in the 14 that were signed by Villas-Boas and it is clear that he has not yet had the chance to mould his own squad.
Four of the starting line up on Saturday – again, all signed by Mourinho – were also over the age of 30. This is not necessarily a bad thing as all four have given the best years of their careers to Chelsea Football Club, a fact that I’m sure the fans appreciate. A more worrying stat for those fans would be that only three of the squad that featured on Saturday are under the age of 25; Tottenham and Arsenal both had five under 25s at the weekend in their respective games at the weekend with less over 30s in both squads as well.
On Tuesday night against Valencia he went some way towards changing this by bringing in the young Spanish defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu, a player so classy and effective that on the pitch he makes Obi Mikel look like Obie Trice. Romeu is one of a few young players that Villas-Boas has in his squad, players that I think he should be building the core of his future Chelsea team around.
In Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge, Chelsea possess two of the most exciting forward players in the league. Mata may look like a Russian doll version of Villas-Boas but he is the kind of player that excites the fans every time he gets the ball. On the other flank, Sturridge is an electrifying frontman who hopefully in time will learn to score from his first chance and not the seventh like he has done in the last few games. When playing a 4-3-3 formation there is no-one better in the Chelsea squad for the role of centre forward than Didier Drogba. He was quite simply exceptional against Valencia as both a hold-up man, but also as a willing runner to take defenders away and create space for Mata and Sturridge.
Whether Drogba stays for another couple of years or not remains to be seen but it seems like Villas-Boas has already planned for the future with the acquisition of Romelu Lukaku, a young Belgian who grew up with his walls adorned with posters of his footballing idol, a certain Mr Drogba. Lukaku may only be 18 but he already possesses a wealth of first team experience in the Belgian league with Anderlecht where he finished top scorer in consecutive seasons despite only being in his first couple of seasons as a pro. Although he was courted by many teams over the summer, Lukaku made it clear that Chelsea were the team for him, citing a school trip to Stamford Bridge when he was younger that helped him figure out that Chelsea were simply the greatest team in the world to play for.
It is obvious to me that Villas-Boas has already started building the nucleus of a Chelsea team that can challenge consistently for the title, in the same way that Sir Alex Ferguson has had to rebuild his team four or five times during his twenty five year reign. The core of this team will consist of the young players like Mata, Sturridge, Lukaku, Romeo and Ramires. In addition he also has the 19 year old Belgian goalie Courtois who was signed from Genk then immediately loaned out to Athletico Madrid in the summer for more game time; surely a player who is viewed as the long term replacement for the stalwart that is Petr Cech.
The other players that are there just now will serve a purpose until Villas-Boas sees fit to find a replacement. For starters a new centre back is required now that Alex has put in a transfer request and David Luiz is shakier than Michael J Fox on a rollercoaster; someone like Gary Cahill would fit in nicely with the new transfer policy. In Ashley Cole, Villas-Boas has one of the best left backs in the world (even though it pains me to say it), and at right back Jose Bosingwa will always offer that attacking flair while Ivanovic will simply be solid and impossible to break through. The Chelsea defence this season has been flimsier than we have become accustomed to in recent months and this is something that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.
The thing I like most about Andre Villas-Boas is the fact that he is simply a football man. He became the national coach of the British Virgin Islands at the age of 21, a time when most young men are concentrating on another type of virgin. Since then he has earned his stripes at some of the biggest clubs in Europe under some illustrious names and had a ridiculously successful season at Porto last time around. Maybe this job came a year or two too quickly for him but surely that is not his fault.
I would say that putting Andre Villas-Boas out of a job would definitely do a lot more harm than good to Chelsea. This is a club that has gone through five managers in the last four years and is crying out for a bit of stability. Villas-Boas is on a five year contract and the money spent paying him off if sacked would be much better spent on bringing new players into Chelsea to take them back to the heights that they have become accustomed to under the Abramovich era.
If not, AVB he could easily become a Bond villain instead. He even comes with his own readymade stunt man, Juan Mata, for those scenes that require a little bit more than just crouching next to a dugout!
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About the Author
Having made his comedy debut in September 2008, Ray has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting new acts on the comedy circuit. A two time Scottish Comedian of The Year finalist, Ray has travelled the lengths and breadths of the country telling jokes to anyone that will listen, making his name as an MC for various promoters.
Ray is a Partick Thistle fan who has an unhealthy obsession with Jean-Yves Anis and Paul Walker. The only players who have ever come close to such admiration since are Emile Heskey, Marlon “Fox in the Box” Harewood and Charlie Adam (his left foot only.)
Ray currently manages a saturday morning amateur team known as the mighty West Glasgow, where he is affectionately known as the “Ginger Mourinho” or simply the “Dick on the touchline”. A keen footballer, Ray likes to think his dead ball skills are similar to Shunsuke Nakamura, but at time they are more like Hiro Nakamura from Heroes. As a well known John Hartson impersonator, Ray is versatile in the emergency striker role when needed and can also kick Eyal Berkovic in the face upon request.
“Very funny” – STV
“a very promising writer, able to create some enjoyably twisted punchlines” – Chortle
“Has a Clear Comedy Gift” – Edinburgh Evening News
“Funnier than a falcon…” – Frankie Boyle
You can follow Ray on Twitter: @comedyray
Check out Ray’s Website http://raybradshaw.co.uk/
