After another defeat in the Premier League Chelsea are in serious danger of not reaching the Champions League next season. Things do not look good at Stamford Bridge; under Villa Boas they have come in fits and starts, they have been a shadow of the Chelsea of the past 10 years and after rumours of confrontations and accusations in the aftermath of the game this young manger appears close to losing his job. Others have lost it for less. And yet, there is still a chance this season may end well. The trophy that Abromovich desires the most has been his most elusive.The Champions League is his pinnacle of achievement, does he possess the right man to bring that home this year. I believe so.
The new manager offered a lot on his arrival, after winning it all in Portugal and showing that he can win in Europe also, he appeared the perfect man to guide Chelsea to the promised land. He was effectively as close to Mourinho as possible or so it seemed. Quite amazingly he came in prophesising that he would get this team playing like Barcelona and credited Pep with his desire to play attractive football, ignoring any influence that Mourinho had on him. It would appear the he chose the wrong man and the wrong style for this team.
What he didn’t seem to take into account was the players and the style that he inherited. These were players who had been bought and used in a certain way. People naively believe that players are malleable, that they are all the same yet are played in certain ways because of different managers and tactics. Believing that a new manager can instil immediate change, and that simply saying “don’t pass long, pass short” will result in a team becoming Barcelona is nothing short of madness. Yet this is what Villas Boas did.
Right now Villas Boas’ reign at Chelsea is perilous at best. I am sure that Abromovich saw Villas Boas as a long term manager, after his performance at Porto he would have saw a manager who could come in and revolutionise the team by winning trophies along with creating a free flowing attacking side. He must not have thought it would be as turbulent as this. The old cliché about Rome has never appeared so true when looking at Chelsea. Football, as with life is not easy. If Villas Boas wishes to change the club’s philosophy to mirror Barcelona then it may be a long time till Chelsea are competing for the title again. However, if he wishes to be successful in the short term then he should stay with the style that has been so fruitful in the past 10 years. The only thing keeping Villas Boas above water is the opportunity for Champions League success, and this can be only be won if he plays more like Jose and less like Pep.
Pundits have criticised Villas Boas for his decision to stick with the older players when he should be looking to create a new team. However, what has been evident is that the new influx of players are not strong enough, physically or mentally. Mourinho knew what was required to succeed in England; physicality and most importantly strength of character are essential attributes in order to achieve in England. Technical skill is important and can win a match yet without strength of body and mind a team will struggle to be win anything.
The present Chelsea side appear short on these attributes, very unlike the teams that Mourinho and Ferguson assemble. It is amazing to see that a team that possessed so much power, strength and discipline has been transformed to resemble a weak, disorganised and certainly ill-disciplined rabble. Mourinho developed as a coach through his success yet more importantly difficulties. Villas Boas' managerial career has been plain sailing up until this season, he had not been affected by failure, even going a whole season undefeated with Porto. Thus he has not learnt how to deal from setbacks. He will be stronger from this experience, whether with Chelsea or a new team. If Villas Boas wishes to retain his job and achieve something this year then needs to strip this team back, re-create the spine and alter his tactics to suit this group of players. This is the only way that Chelsea can achieve anything this year.
How possible is it for Chelsea to win the Champions League? I believe that a great example is of Milan under Ancelotti. In his 8 years at Milan the Scudetto was won only once however he won the Champions League twice (should have been three). Milan possessed an ageing team of very good footballers who struggled with a long league campaign. What they were excellent in was knockout, short tournaments. In Europe they built their success on a defensively strong 4-3-3 with experienced players creating a strong block and attacks coming from fast and precise counter attacks. This is the key for Villa Boas to go and win in Europe. It has been shown to be an effective method in European football and has been shown to work against the best in Barcelona. I have always felt that Barcelona found Chelsea their toughest opponents in recent years. The best opportunity for Chelsea is for Villas Boas to play the Mourinho and Milan way. They need to revert to a trusted and successful method that has served them well in the past. Even this year their best performance was against Valencia at home where they played deep, were compact and organised and counter attacked efficiently.
By trying to implement a way of playing too quickly the team has become disillusioned, this has led to Villas Boas being questioned about his tactical ability by the media and his own players. He has tried to do too much too soon; playing a high line with players who lack pace is a remedy for failure. He resembles Benitez at Inter who vowed to improve on Mourinho’s tactics by being more open and flowing. He failed catostrophically. Managers seem to believe they have to change a defensive team to an attacking team overnight, this is wrong. Gradual change is much more beneficial, even Wenger took his time to implement his philosophy, as he knew the team would not be transformed overnight. Villas Boas was naïve to believe he could change this team in a matter of weeks and was more naïve to tell the world he was going to. Quite dramatically he has failed in his want. And yet, he still stands a chance of success and of potential redemption. The Champions League offers him this opportunity.
Revolution does not happen in one night, this Chelsea team is clearly a team in “transition” between the Mourinho era and a new one. On present viewing, this new generation is not good enough to keep Chelsea competing. The style that Jose adopted worked at Chelsea, it was efficient and successful. There is nothing wrong with being defensive, how does the old saying go, defence wins championships.
These next few weeks will be one of the most important in this Abromovich generation. It may be the last time that this group assembled by Mourinho a play together in the Champions League and they must be eager to have one last go at the trophy. The team assembled by Mourinho was built on physicality, organisation and solidity in defence matched by speed, power and precision in attack. The current team lack a togetherness and efficiency; Torres has been a failure and should be discarded, he doesn’t fit the system and doesn’t work with Drogba, of the two it is Drogba who offers more. Lampard must be restored to his old position which provided over 20 goals a season and the back four needs stability. With Essien back in the team he can play the holding role enabling Ramires and Lampard to support the attack. It may sound nostalgic wanting to see the older players recapture their great days however when required to perform in big games they do it and they offer more hope of winning than the "new generation".
Right now Napoli provides a stern test to Chelsea’s ambitions, many people believe Napoli have a real chance to progress, however I believe Chelsea must be favourites. Napoli are unproven in the Champions League and in this competition experience is everything. What Chelsea possesses is one of the most experienced teams in the competition, who have a hunger to win the one trophy that has eluded them in the past decade. With the league out of the question, the Champions League is Chelsea’s and Villas Boas’ only route to success this season, however in order to succeed they must go back to being the Chelsea of Mourinho.
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