With Villas-Boas' time running out, Abromovich needs to make the right choice to take this team forward.
In the wake of another loss Chelsea appear to be in a situation where they will not experience Champions League football next year for the first time since 2003. Since Abromovich took over this team has been one of the best sides in the English league. So what has happened this season?
Many fans want Jose back, even chanting his name in recent games. His success at Chelsea was undeniable and you cannot blame the fans for wanting him back. However, Chelsea need a manager to come in and revolutionise this team. Jose is a great coach yet is a man who relies on short term projects with little or no thought to the future of the team. He buys experience and develops a tactic to suit that team. He is often successful and this is why fans love him, yet Jose is not the man for Chelsea, they cannot offer him what he wants, which is money and a team challenging for the title.
Villas-Boas’ failings this season
Was Villas-Boas the man for Chelsea? The appointment of Andre Villas Boas in June last summer was taken as a sign that were Chelsea looking to develop a new generation with a new, young manager. For the fans, it was possible as good as Jose returning; young, successful and Portuguese. Yet the outcome has been anything but Mourinho. Villas-Boas made it clear that he was not Mourinho, that in fact he was more Guardiola. It appeared that Roman was going to get the football he has lusted for in his time at Chelsea.
Villas-Boas has made many mistakes this season, most importantly he came into the job promising football to rival Barcelona. This was a very naïve comment to make, heightening expectations that were simply never going to be met. He inherited a team built on power and strength. They had not played tiki taka football before and so could not be expected to change overnight. His signings did not reflect real change except for Mata. The style has caused a once formidable defence to become porous due to a high line and lack of organisation.
Another major failing was his belief that he was not the “special one” but in fact the “group one”. At Porto Hulk said he Villas Boas was excellent with all the players and treated them all very fair. Based on the achievements it would appear that was true. With such emphasis on team building and togetherness it seems crazy to see how he has handled players and issues this season. Dropping Cole for disputing his tactics may appear justified but listening to his views and experience may have been more conducive.
He has instead appeared to favour the Portuguese speaking players along with Mata, in Luiz, Bosingwa, Ramires and Meireles . Of all the players who have performed poorly this year, aprart from Mata and Ramires these three are some of the worst performers yet most consistently played players in the team. Not exactly a spine or platform to build on.
I agree that the Chelsea side needing to be revamped yet the way he has managed players this season indicates a real failing of his management and ego. Experience is so important and for Villas-Boas it would have been imperative that he was able to motivate these experienced players.
He has divided the team, already getting rid of Alex and Anelka with immediate haste and one must question the logic behind this and why the experienced players don’t believe in him. Is it that he simply is not good enough?!
Frank Lampard has been a great servant to the side and even though he has lost some of his mobility he brings a lot of experience with him, what he also brings is the media and the way he has been treated has been fed on by the media who have taken offence to the handling of their man. Alex Ferguson shows how to treat experienced players yet he is a man of experience and has grown with these players. Barcelona style football?
At Porto he did excellently, this cannot be disputed. His record in one season was impressive yet he was not ready for a top job. Why? Simply because he had not failed. The quote “you learn more from defeat than you will ever do from winning” appears perfect for Villas-Boas. By not experiencing any defeats or failure, he had not developed his coaching and management to deal with it when it happened. In the 3-1 defeat to Man Utd Villas Boas experienced something he had not done for over a season. It was a tough result because Chelsea did play well in that game, yet they did not take their chances and were punished.
However, the biggest game which defined Chelsea’s season was the loss to QPR. This was a sign that the players did not understand or did not respect the manager’s tactics. Luiz was a liability and the sendings off of Bosingwa and then Drogba indicated a lack of discipline in the team. He was credited for a good second half performance yet they could not score and that game put in motion the difficulties of the season.
The loss to Arsenal at home indicated that his “style” and tactic did not suit the side which had been drilled in to defending deep and being organised. This team were very much now open and unorganised. He was playing to his own philosophy without taking into account the players at his disposal.
I argued before that he must go back to the style which servedthis team under Mourinho, Grant and Ancelotti so well. A more defensive, organised game, which may at least provide stability and give the team the results required. This could give him longer to develop his style and bring in the players needed for his brand to be effective. He forced his way of playing onto a side unwilling to adapt and attempted to revolutionise and evolve this team.
The end of the road?
With this season looking to be without any success; a tough game against Birmingham away and 3-1 down to Napoli do make prospects look promising. Being 5th in the league too does not help Villas-Boas’ cause either. It is important to note that Villas-Boas was not the first choice last summer, it was in fact Hiddink. However, he pulled out claiming he wished to honour his contract with Turkey.
As much as I like to see young managers excelling, I believe that Villas-Boas has made too many mistakes this season and must be moved on. It will be more money lost for Abromovich and so his next decision must be correct. Rumours surfaced a few weeks ago that Rafa Benitez was offered the job. He apparently rejected the call, yet is Bentiez the man to save Chelsea?
Questions must be asked of his time at Inter, where his tactics did not take in to consideration of an old and slow team, asking them to play high, resulting in some poor performances, notably against Spurs at White Hart Lane. He did win the World Club championship and the deeper issues at Inter have been pronounced this season. It is understandable why he would be considered however I believe there is a perfect fit for Chelsea with a certain Frenchman.
Who Chelsea need
In 2004 Claudio Ranieri’s Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League in the semi- final by Monaco, it was a major upset and ultimately cost Ranieri his job. A final against Porto was the outcome and it was reported that the winning manager would be crowned not only European champion but also the new Chelsea manager.
So it was between Mourinho and Didier Deschamps; interestingly the Porto/Monaco final would prove to be the last time squads from a league outside of Germany,Spain, Italy, and England made the finals. We know what happened and the rest they say is history. But imagine what could have been if Monaco won? It is this man who I believe is the answer for Chelsea.
Didier Deschamps is not a name discussed much regarding the Chelsea job. He has a history with the club, in his time with Chelsea he won an FA Cup. As a player Deschamps was a world class defensive midfielder and had a prolific international career, people talk of the Makélelé role, yet it was Deschamps who made the position fashionable. He was captain for France in their 1998 World Cup squad. As head of the "Golden Generation” he has the most caps for France after Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram, and Thierry Henry. This man has experience unrivalled by many managers in today’s game.
He has also taken the step to management very well. In his time at AS Monaco he began his ascent from world class player to world class manager, he led the team to the 2004 Champions League finals, and was then taken to Juventus in the summer of 2006, the season during which Juventus was going to play in Serie B following the Calciopoly scandal. Deschamps successfully led Juventus to promotion, but resigned on the night the team secured promotion due to conflicts with the Director of Football.
Finally, in 2009, he took the manager position at Marseille. He led the club to its first league title in nearly two decades, since he had won it as a player. He has also captured two cup titles as well in his time at Marseille, mostly with teams that do not feature nearly as much star power as rivals Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain,.
Why Villas-Boas should go, why Didier Deschamps?
The man simply succeeds without nearly the amount of resources his contemporaries have. His most star studded team was probably the relegated Juventus squad, which itself had been gutted and only had stars in select positions. He showed in his playing career an ability to lead a team of great players and this is important for Chelsea
He has succeeded in France through the use of youth players, as well as an amazing eye for non-name players who can do a job. Deschamps is flexible with his tactics, he loves a 4-3-3 with two wingers for width and two center midfielders with an anchor man, but he has found success for Marseille this year by playing a 4-4-2. He shows variation and an ability to get the best out of his players. This season they lie in 8th yet have a lead of Inter in the Champions League.
His style, tactics, emphasis on youth development and ability to buy good young players and make them into top quality players will be the essential requirements needed for the Chelsea role. He has a history of being with the club and has a playing career which has seen success in France, Italy and England and nationally has won the World Cup and Euro championship. He is a manager ready for a big role, one in which will give him a chance to showcase his skills with a top team.
Villas-Boas was not the right man for the job, he lacks the experience of playing and management to work with the players at Chelsea. His English is not great and his tone is somewhat uninspiring. He appears to have lost the confidence needed for the role and seems to admit that he has lost the players and possibly the backing of the board. He also lacks the charisma with the media and all in all he has shown that he is simply not yet ready for this level yet.
This is not a criticism as such, it would have been difficult to resist an offer from Chelsea, yet in retrospect he should have stayed with Porto and experienced another season and a new challenge in Champions League football. I am sure he will be a great manager, yet he has failed in his time with Chelsea. Another team will benefit from his failings this season, yet at the end of the season Chelsea must part ways with the Portuguese and look to France.
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