What can Chelsea fans expect from Villas-Boas? [Part 3]
This word “Identity” was used by Ancelotti when he talked about Chelsea’s problems before he took the helm, he wanted to create an identity for the club, similar to the way that Johan Cruyff wanted and succeeded in creating an identity for Barcelona when he was the manager there.
A more accurate translation for identity in English is philosophy, the problem you have when you have a revolving door managerial problem at a club with no defined philosophy of it’s own is that each manager who are bound to have their own “identity” enforces their ideas on the club, but, it’s short lived. Mourinho as an example will always be further down on any managerial shopping list that Barcelona curate as there would be a clash of identities between the clubs philosophies and the managers.
The club with the most clearly defined identity is Barcelona.
“We train the youngsters to be good people with a healthy lifestyle and help them to be happy with their way of life,’ says Albert Capellas, the club’s senior youth coordinator.
“It’s very important for us that the boys have respect for others. They have to be good people, like gentlemen.
“When they play matches we impress on the boys three objectives,” says Capellas.
“Firstly, they must be the more sporting team, committing fewer fouls and being less aggressive. Then they must try to win by playing very well, more creatively than the opposition, with attacking football. And finally they need to win on the scoreboard. But we don’t want to win without the first two aims being fulfilled.”
As you can see identities are not limited to your approach to the game, but also your values in life and your values as a person. In terms of personality there’s an argument that a managers character is reflected into his teams, Mourinho’s Chelsea were defiant and bullish, Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea can be considered too passive, right now Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal can be as erratic as he has been on the touchline. I believe that for instance, Arsene Wenger’s footballing ideology and the instructions he sends his players out to complete is only part of what forms the team’s identity.
Understanding Andre Villas Boas personality rather than just his footballing ideology can give us a window into what will be the character of our team.
A good man
Dacourt who worked with Andre Villas Boas at Inter Milan was quizzed on his character, he told BBC Sport:
“Andre can be a better manager than Mourinho.
“We have seen the student outgrow the teacher in the past and this can happen now with Villas-Boas at Chelsea.
“He learned much from Mourinho but is very different. He is more human.”
He added:
“He is young, but he knows so much about his job already. And as well as being a top coach, he’s a fantastic person.
“I had some problems with Mourinho, but Villas-Boas always acted like nothing had happened. When a player has a problem with the manager it usually affects relationships with all the coaching staff, but he was brilliant.
“He has a great human touch and the players all loved him.”
Olivier Dacourt’s comments is not the first reference to José Mourinho’s ‘cold side’ it’s interesting to see that Villas Boas doesn’t seem to share that trait as he’d maintain a relationship with those players. At this point it’s difficult to distinguish whether or not having a ruthless side has been detrimental to Mourinho, there can be an argument that having such a ruthless side can be positive as it creates a ‘fear’ that can keep players in line, however, when someone receives such treatment without just or valid reason it is surely a negative character trait.
Glen Johnson has said that he has not forgotten or forgiven Mourinho for the way he was treated during his time with Chelsea.
“I got the feeling that I was finished at Chelsea the day Mourinho signed another right-back, Paulo Ferreira.
“Mourinho told me that wasn’t the case. The lowest point was when Chelsea were set to play Barcelona in the Champions League.
“We had a couple of Premier League games to play before we played Barca, and Mourinho picked me for one of those games and told me in front of five witnesses that if I played well I would keep the shirt.
“I immediately told my agent that it didn’t matter how well I played I would be dropped – because Mourinho wouldn’t want me anywhere near the team for the Barcelona game.
“Sure enough, I was voted man of the match – and I was dropped from the squad. You would have to ask Jose Mourinho what his reasons were, but I know it was because he didn’t want to see me play well again and be forced to pick me for the Barcelona game.
“Managers have to stick to their word. You have to be able to trust them. “It was obvious Mourinho didn’t believe in me.”
Continue Reading on Page 2…
Makelele also wrote in his autobiography Tout Simplement.
“Between 2004 and 2006 the solidarity in the Chelsea camp was amazing. Mourinho then broke all that when he banned key elements to make way for certain players who were treated as ‘stars’. “During that third complete season under his control, I was stunned to see how Mourinho forgot the value of his players and claimed all the credit for for everything.
“To him, individuals didn’t make the team work well, his methods did. At the end Mourinho gave the impression that he felt threatened as soon as a player was in the spotlight more than him.”
Is it in Andre Villas-Boas character to alienate squad members and have rifts that damage relationships?
Analysing Andre Villas-Boas squad use he seems to have gone out of his way to include and use his full squad to its full ability.
Falcao has said:
“he has made 24 players at this club feel relevant and important – and that is not easy.”
As Falcao says, it’s never easy to keep a whole squad happy, there are always likely to be fringe players, but, in terms of values as a man as Glen Johnson has said managers have to stick to their words and you have to be able to trust them.
In his plans for success this season, Villas Boas claimed he still relied on every one of his squad members, and had no plans to sell anyone in the January transfer window. Fringe players such as Andre Castro and Ukra, as well as summer signing James Rodriguez, had featured little before January, but Villas-Boas insisted they all still remained in his plans.
“They are important players. I have praised both Castro and Ukra publicly and privately. I don’t want to lose them. James has incredible potential and I intend to make him realise it. He will have an opportunity against Juventude Evora. This will be a good opportunity for him, but it’s not definitive. It won’t be his last, that’s for sure.
“I have good options. The squad here is big, but it is a manageable number.”
I think the honesty displayed here by Villas-Boas is very positive, despite Porto’s embarrassment of riches in terms of midfield and attacking options, Rodriguez did force his way into the starting line-up with increasing frequency.
In the last game of the season Rodriguez put in a memorable performance, scoring a hat-trick and setting up two goals as Porto won the Portuguese Cup final 6-2 against Vitoria Guimaraes. Having a manager that is honest to his players and willing to reward them with a chance when they deserve is I suggest a a very positive character trait for an incoming Chelsea manager to have.
In terms of egoism and the placement of credit, I think it’s normal for a manager to publicly insist that the players deserve all of the credit.
Andre Villas-Boas detailed how he was proud of his Academica players as they started to pick up victories that they were estranged from up until he had become manager.
“I’m very satisfied. The victory belongs to the players. They have progressed from a team that trains well to one that applies what they have learned on the pitch,” said a delighted Villas Boas in the post-match interview.
The young coach refused to take all the credit for Academica’s radical turnaround in fortunes.
“It’s not only my arrival that has changed things. The players have applied themselves on the pitch. The idea is to get the maximum out of every squad member.”
Mourinho has also publicly shunned credit instead asking for praise to be redirected towards the players, but in his actions, it was always clear that he wanted the lime-light. At this point it does seem that Villas-Boas isn’t as concerned with being awarded with all of the praise, but, as with Mourinho time began to unmask some of Mourinho’s less desirable qualities, there is still time for some of Villas-Boas undesirable qualities to come to light.
Positive character traits that both José Mourinho and André Villas-Boas do share is both passion and ambition, an ice-cool customer off the pitch, the Villas-Boas was nevertheless one of the Primeira Liga’s most expressive characters during matches, and could be seen urging his players on, I think that a common misconception is that Villas-Boas is always very calm.
In an upcoming piece I detail the problems with temperament that André Vilas-Boas had that saw him receive multiple match bans, as well as his ongoing exchange of words with rival managers. Doesn’t that remind you of someone else we know? The piece following this article however, looks specifically at Andre Villas-Boas teams footballing identity.