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Chelsea Sack Andre Villas-Boas

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TacticalBlues

TacticalBlues 2,817

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Very interesting regarding AVB:

Why leaving Torres on the bench could be the making of AVB as a top boss

How do you turn a problem into an afterthought? By doing what Andre Villas-Boas did at Sunderland on Saturday.

After his pre-match press conference was dominated by the question of Fernando Torres' form and fitness, Villas-Boas may not have anticipated the headlines that followed his insistence that he would only stick with the Spaniard until the point at which the team's interests were "compromised".

But by choosing to omit the striker at the Stadium of Light, with no attendant fanfare, Villas-Boas succeeded in lancing the boil before it grew to a size when that painful compromise might have been reached.

Torres did not exactly look thrilled as he sat on the bench at Sunderland, although he is likely to be restored to the starting line up as Chelsea begin their latest quest for the one bauble that Roman Abramovich truly craves against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.

he £50million man, however, cannot complain if he is being treated merely as part of the squad rotation and Villas-Boas' move was clever indeed.

Had Torres started and not scored once again, the pressure - on him and the manager - would have been cranked up another unwelcome notch.

Yet by leaving Torres out for a game in which everybody expected him to start, Villas-Boas proved he will pick his teams on a match by match basis.

Torres is not an automatic first team selection - nobody is - which means that not selecting him will not be, in itself, a big deal.

In the short-term, Villas-Boas has done some excellent strategic thinking.

It buys time for both himself and Torres, although another blank at the Bridge this week, or a flop at Old Trafford next Sunday, will ensure Torres' failure to score remains high up the agenda.

More importantly, too, it portrays Villas-Boas as a man of conviction and strength, more than prepared to pick the players he believes should play and omit those who should not.

Villas-Boas was at pains to suggest there was nothing significant in the move, although his post-match suggestion that Torres has been "playing magnificently well" so far this season was a step beyond what was truly credible.

But the Chelsea manager is right that he cannot allow the Torres factor to "compromise" the team.

The Portuguese knows that the performances of Torres, as much as those of the side, will be the barometers by which internal judgement on his first year will be reached.

Torres was Abramovich's latest and greatest vanity purchase and the Chelsea owner expects him to justify that astonishing British record outlay.

If Torres does not fire and Chelsea fail to reach their targets, scrutiny will fall on Villas-Boas. For all the justifiable suggestions that Chelsea is not run in the manner of a proper club - ask Carlo Ancelotti - there will be plenty queueing up to show they can do better. That is the nature of football.

But if Torres scores the goals he was bought to score, even if Chelsea fall short of the club's lofty aspirations, it will reinforce the argument that Villas-Boas has established a springboard for a genuine trophy assault next season, with the Spaniard his spearhead.

With the transfer window shut and the relentless grind of the season, with its incessant rhythm of Premier League, Champions League and domestic cup games now starting, Villas-Boas has his own stage.

It is about how he directs the Principals. And Torres is supposed to be Hamlet and Henry V in the course of the season.

Here's the source:

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/martin-lipton/Chelsea-Why-leaving-Fernando-Torres-on-the-bench-could-be-the-making-of-Andre-Villas-Boas-as-a-top-boss-Martin-Lipton-column-article798002.html

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manpe

manpe 10,861

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0:09 was my favourite when I saw it live :D It's like he's living through what the players are living through... He's heading an airball and then gets angry when he misses. Is there a gif of that or can anybody make a gif of it? I'd appreciate it. Absolutely love that passion.

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Randall

Randall 315

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I really like how animated he gets on the touchline, it's like watching what I'd be like and even though I'm always screaming that he's an idiot during games, when he makes substitutions I don't like, they seem to be working. 4 wins and a draw away at stoke? I think we'd have taken that at end of last season. AVB :yes: :cfc:

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