Source: Daily_Mail
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas: From the shadow of Mourinho comes the Special One II
For all his protestations to the contrary, there remains a touch of the mentor about the protege. [LNB]Andre Villas-Boas, aged just 33, takes charge of the Chelsea team at Stoke in the Premier League, which represents an extraordinary achievement. [LNB]The teenager who used to badger Bobby Robson about team selection in the hallway of the manager's Oporto apartment block, the man who was a mere functionary of Jose Mourinho's backroom staff two years ago, and who has just 20 months' experience of coaching first-team football - but four trophies to his name - has risen to one of the most important jobs in world football.[LNB] Coming to the front: Andre Villas-Boas is keen to emerge from Jose Mourinho shadow[LNB] He expects incredulity and almost invites scepticism. 'I had the same in Porto,' he said. 'Exactly the same. "This guy is done", "this guy is no age", "player power", "the pressure". Exactly the same. Because it's normal. This is a 33-year-old leading Chelsea. "Are you crazy?" But why? Why cannot people be competent at a young age? It doesn't annoy me. But I've lived through it.' [LNB]Graeme Souness, for example, suggested Villas-Boas, who is just a few months older than his senior players, was too young for the job.[LNB] 'No, no,' he said. 'Souness made comments about it's easy to win at Porto. But when Souness arrived at Liverpool, it was easy to win at Liverpool in the Nineties and the Eighties, wasn't it? But he was five years there and didn't win anything.'[LNB] Pointing the way: Villas-Boas gives instructions to Fernando Torres[LNB] It is pure Mourinho, an aggressive defence of his status but it is factually wrong: Souness won the FA Cup in 1992. It is an uncharacteristic error for a man obsessed with detail. [LNB]The scouting reports he prepared for Mourinho displayed the thoroughness one might expect of an academic, perhaps unsurprisingly, given that his father, Professor Luis Filipe, is a chemical engineer who completed his PhD at the University of Kent and who sits on the board of Lisbon University.[LNB] Little wonder this upstart came to the attention of Sir Bobby during his years as Porto manager. Sir Bobby's son, Mark, says that his mother, Elsie, remembers him well. [LNB] Big influence: Andre Villas-Boas says he learnt a lot from Bobby Robson when he was in charge of Porto[LNB] 'Mum used to have the dinner ready for Dad when he'd come back from training,' he said. [LNB]'But as soon as he stepped into the apartment block, Andre would be waiting for him by the lifts at the bottom of the stairs.[LNB] 'He'd be firing questions at Dad, asking how training had gone, asking questions and giving opinions. Dad would be patient and polite and probably give him far more time than any other manager of a big club would. [LNB]'They would end up in conversation by the lift and it would go on to the point where Mum would come out of our apartment and shout Dad to hurry up because his dinner was being burned. She laughs about it now but it made her pretty annoyed at the time.' [LNB]Charlie Woods, Sir Bobby's chief scout at Ipswich and Newcastle, was a regular visitor to the Robson family apartment and recalls how they would often be joined by an uninvited guest. [LNB]'The doorbell would ring as we were sitting down having dinner or just chatting, and it would be Andre,' said Woods.[LNB] Jumping for joy: Villas-Boas celebrates Porto beating SC Braga to win the Europa League final [LNB] 'After a shrug and raised eyebrows from Bobby, this tall kid would come in and sit down with us as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He was very polite and well-mannered and he'd ask lots of questions. When he left, Bobby would turn to me in disbelief and say, "He's 16 and he's not really interested in playing. He just tells me he wants to be a scout. I've never known anything like it".'[LNB] It is not an exaggeration to say Robson changed Villas-Boas's life. Not only did he send him on his first coaching course at Lilleshall when he was 17, but he invited him to some of his staff's social evening at restaurants by the River Douro, where he would first meet Mourinho. [LNB]So while Villas-Boas's well-to-do peers were at university, he attended his equivalent of Oxbridge: the Scottish FA's national centre for coaching at Largs, where Mourinho also studied, where Jock Stein used to lecture and Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes still do. [LNB] Impact: Villas-Boas did his coaching badges with Bolton's Owen Coyle and new Rangers boss Ally McCoist[LNB]He completed his course with Owen Coyle and Ally McCoist, who both warmed to the young Portuguese.[LNB] Having obtained his badges, he took on a surreal adventure when, at the age of 21, and armed with a reference from Robson, he became technical director of the British Virgin Islands national side.[LNB] Infamously, his team lost 9-1 to Bermuda under his direction, with Manchester City's Shuan Goater scoring five goals.[LNB] 'I don't know much about him other than the fact he picked the wrong team and the wrong formation when we played them!' said Goater. [LNB]Villas-Boas protested: 'I wasn't the manager. I was technical director. But it was my fault because I take it as a collective responsibility.'[LNB] Mourinho's team from left to right: Fitness coach Rui Faria, Mourinho, scout Andre Villas Boas, goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro and assistant managers Steve Clarke and Baltemar Brito [LNB] He was recruited by Mourinho to join him at Porto and followed him to Chelsea and then Inter, only breaking the relationship in 2009 when he was given the chance to manager struggling Academia de Coimbra in Portugal, where he took over a side without a win and guided them to 11th.[LNB] 'That is the most challenging job I had in my short career,' he said. [LNB]'The impact of going down a division in Portugal is much more penalising [on your career].' [LNB]That success earned him the Porto job, where he won the League and Cup, the Europa League and the Portuguese equivalent of the Community Shield. [LNB] Villas-Boas' team from left to right: Fitness coach Jose Mario Rocha, assistant Roberto Di Matteo, Villas-Boas, coach Steve Holland and scout Daniel Sousa[LNB]Until then, his most high-profile appearance had been a clash with the then Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, at the end of a Champions League tie at Chelsea in 2005.[LNB] 'It was stupid,' said Villas-Boas. His apparent aggression meant he was seen as a true disciple of Mourinho. [LNB]Although he would like his staff to defend him in the same way he defended his old boss - 'it gives a sense of being to the squad' - he also claims to be 'a completely different personality to Mourinho'.[LNB] And he is. He has said he rarely speaks to Mourinho - the suspicion is that the Special One only has love for subordinates, not potential rivals - and when Villas- Boas won the Europa League, he dedicated the win not just to Robson and Mourinho, but to Pep Guardiola. [LNB] Dedication: Villas-Boas dedicated Porto's Europa League win to Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and not Mourinho[LNB]Given the hateful words Guardiola and Mourinho had exchanged during a spiteful series of Real Madrid-Barcelona games, it was a pointed tribute, for it is to Guardiola's style he aspires, not Mourinho's.[LNB] Part of his brief from owner Roman Abramovich is to transform the playing style, a point he has emphasised to players in pre-season, encouraging them to play with more freedom and panache. [LNB]And he has spoken of the need to emulate the positional intelligence of the Barcelona players. [LNB] Crouching tiger: Villas Boas his failure position on the touchline during games [LNB]He has also won the confidence of some players by emphasising the importance of the team. One player has noted that Mourinho's style was to personalise everything, good and bad while Villas-Boas is happier sharing the spotlight. [LNB]He appears to have moved from the egotism and pragmatism of one mentor and embraced the natural charm and entertaining instincts of his original influence.[LNB] If he can maintain that in the Premier League, the late Sir Bobby would doubtless beam with pride. Even Elsie might forgive him those burned dinners. [LNB] CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE FANTASY FOOTBALL GAMEVillas-Boas fears it could be lights out for Chelsea if Lamps suffers injuryChelsea ready to meet Pereira's ?25m release clause as Juventus move for AlexAll the latest Chelsea news, features and opinion[LNB]
