London: Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has rarely ventured pitch side and believes in letting his players drive the ball without fussing too much about the outcome.
At Fratton Park, when Chelsea recorded a 1-0 victory against Portsmouth on Saturday, Villas-Boas spent the entire 90 minutes glued to his seat in the dugout, only venturing pitch side once to deliver instructions, reports a daily.
During the match, Villas-Boas stayed true to the 4-3-3 formation that has served Chelsea so well since it was introduced by Jose Mourinho seven years ago. The only surprise was the lack of change in personnel, style and tactics. Some of the problems of last season were also still there – a lack of width, insufficient accuracy when exchanging passes, and another unconvincing performance from 50 million pound striker Fernando Torres.
Villas-Boas, who cost 13 million pounds to poach from Porto, is just taking stock of his assets. He has not come to Stamford Bridge to shake things up and stick a rocket up collective backsides. Instead he talks of learning from the players, and giving them freedom to play, which in itself is something new if not particularly sexy.
“It`s not about taking my ideas, it`s about expressing themselves and finding new ideas and new spaces, and taking better decisions,” he says.
ANI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.