Source: Team_Talk
No regrets for Villas-Boas
Andre Villas-Boas insisted he had no regrets about sending on Salomon Kalou for Frank Lampard in Chelsea's Champions League draw at Valencia.[LNB] Villas-Boas' recall of Lampard for the Group E clash was completely justified, with the midfielder scoring what looked set to be the winner at the Mestalla.[LNB]But the Chelsea's manager's 83rd-minute substitution of his fellow 33-year-old proved disastrous, with replacement Kalou immediately conceding a needless penalty which saw Roberto Soldado make it 1-1.[LNB]Villas-Boas rejected suggestions he should have sent on a more defensive-minded player, with his side under pressure at the time.[LNB]"No, no, no, no," he said.[LNB]"Putting on a striker is nothing to do with being more offensive or putting on a defender sometimes is nothing to do with being more defensive.[LNB]"I think it was the right choice bearing in mind what we were looking at, which was the fact that Valencia were coming out on the left side and doing a lot of two against ones against Bosingwa."[LNB]He added: "We controlled the left side. The goal doesn't come from that situation.[LNB]"If you bring on a defender, you suffer the goal the same.[LNB]"So it's nothing to do with that in my opinion."[LNB]The build-up to tonight's game was dominated by speculation about Lampard's future after his reduced role in recent weeks and Villas-Boas yesterday declared himself fed up of answering questions about the midfielder.[LNB]Lampard arguably benefited from his manager's decision to hold him back for the bigger game and Villas-Boas said: "It was a good performance, a good display from a top player, one of the best players in the squad.[LNB]"A goal always comes at a good time for Frank. He's been a goalscorer all his life.[LNB]"His abilities are never in doubt and we trust him 100% - like I told you."[LNB]Chelsea should have been further than 1-0 ahead before Lampard's substitution as their wastefulness in front of goal returned.[LNB]"It was a pity," said Villas-Boas.[LNB]"We had very, very good opportunities to reach 2-0 and we just couldn't find the back of the net. It was very, very unlucky.[LNB]"The performance was solid and a draw away from home, if it's proposed to you before you take it.[LNB]"So near to a win, it leaves you with a strange feeling but we're in a good position still in the group.[LNB]"We're looking forward to the Genk game - they're going to be difficult games, of course.[LNB]"But if we get six points out of them, we're almost ensured qualification."[LNB]Villas-Boas had no complaints with Valencia's penalty and refused to condemn Kalou for conceding it, saying: "I'm not going to criticise him.[LNB]"These things sometimes happen in football."[LNB]Chelsea's frustration boiled over at the final whistle, which witnessed a flurry of yellow cards after the referee blew for full-time after awarding Chelsea a free-kick.[LNB]Villas-Boas said: "We wanted to organise ourselves and that could've been a chance for us.[LNB]"But the referee decided to end the game and we reacted a bit to suffering the penalty so late."[LNB]Valencia boss Unai Emery was delighted with his players' never-say-die attitude.[LNB]"I'm really happy with my players' performance, especially with their attitude on the pitch," he said.[LNB]"They've been fighting for every single ball on the pitch tonight against a great team like Chelsea and I believe that it was a fair result in the end.[LNB]"We got a point, we had some chance to maybe score more goals but, in the end, a point is good enough for us."[LNB]Emery's decision to drop goalkeeper Vincente Guaita and hand Diego Alves his first start of the season proved a masterstroke, with the Brazilian making a succession of stunning saves.[LNB]"The good news for Valencia is that we have two fantastic goalkeepers," Emery said.[LNB]"After tonight's performance, I'm going to wait a bit until I make my mind up whether I'm going to carry on playing Alves in the Champions League."
