This whole Villas Boas situation is an interesting one i feel like i have so much to say about. I honestly don't think blame can be attributed to any one entity. I think Abramovich, Villas Boas and the players all have to share the blame in what has been a mediocre season so far.
AbramovichThe last time Chelsea undertook a project to implement a new philosophy of football at the club is when they hired Mourinho over 5 years ago. This system has been ingrained in the club since then, since his departure and through a procession of managers in and out of the club. It is the same method of playing that has been there.
This season, the club hired Villas Boas with a mandate to revamp the way that Chelsea play. In my opinion it was the right decision as the system was getting less effective year after year and depended on a group of aging players past their prime. It was the right time for a change.
However the mistake was that for a change as big as this, Abramovich did not support it with the acquisition of players. If he was going and do this he needed to do this properly. To recap, when Mourinho first came to Chelsea with his project he was given:
- Drogba
- Carvalho
- Ferreira
- Essien
- Robben
- Del Horno
- Tiago
- Kezman
... among others. Villas Boas was given:
- Mata
- Meireles
- Romeu
- Lukaku
- Sturridge
Of these players, only Mata supports the philosophy AVB wanted to instill. Meireles is not much more than a utility player, Sturridge was already there and converted to fit the system and Romeu and Lukaku are squad players.
How on earth Abramovich expect AVB to implement such a drastic change using pretty much the same group of players is beyond me.
Andres Villas BoasIn my opinion, AVB's tenure is indicative of every lesson we've ever learnt about the pitfalls of organizational change in the corporate world. I have been less than impressed with the way he has gone about the transition and he needs to take a lion's share of the blame for the situation Chelsea is in now.
AVB simply tried to do too much too fast. As mentioned before, it is one thing if you bring your own players already familiar with your style of playing and methodology. When you taking your project to an existing core you need to secure a buy-in from the major players or you need to shift them out, otherwise yuh find yuhself just peeing in the wind.
The transition needed to be a gradual one bearing in mind that you dealing with players that understand one way of playing for years. Start from the existing foundation and work from there. For example he force a high defensive line onto a defence that does not have the personnel to make it work and pay the price from early culminating in the 5 goal loss to Arsenal, then eventually had to backtrack. Any coach worth his salt knows that when building you build from the defence first then everything else come after. Instead he sacrificed defensive solidarity for attacking play and that get figured out quickly.
In addition, he come with this high and mighty, "my way or highway" mentality which end up alienating him from the players. Now to a point it is necessary to take a firm approach, but how can you tell big men that you have no future at the end of the season and expect them to give you 100% in the interim. You need to at least fool men a lil bit to make them feel like they are central to your plans. At the end of the day, these are the professionals that you depend on for success in the interim.
Aside from that from a management perspective he has been questionable. He has yet to settle on his best team. Is it Lampard of Meireles? Is it Ivanovic or Luiz? Is it Torres or Drogba?
Not to mention that shit he pull benching Cole, Essien and Lampard for the Champions League because of bad mind was the icing on the cake.
The PlayersTorres - There is not much new to be said about him. It is the point now where I worry whether he will ever get himself back to a respectable level for the rest of his career. I have never seen a player so low on confidence to the point where he is even afraid to shoot. And they really try with him.
Lampard - Well past his best yet still exerting too much influence over the team. I see ragging AVB in the press about his playing time and his not getting along with the coach which is real low. Every time he get a pass, the time he takes to collect, turn, look up and pass off (usually back or lateral) negates any momentum. He simply no longer fits the team and needs to take a back seat.
Luiz - Somebody need to teach Luiz to defend and stop playing the ass. He could be a great player if he would simply learn to clear the ball in uncertain situations, but he gets caught trying to play too much in tight spots. He is that defender who has too much skill for his own good and to his detriment. If only he could read from the book of Lucio.
Malouda, Bosingwa, Mikel, Kalou - All seem to be regressing and badly. Malouda and Mikel in particular seem to be unable to match the tempo of the rest of the team and seem to be stuck in this slow, methodical way of playing. Bosingwa, while adaptable is a defensive liability and now is not even offering as much as he used to going forward. Kalou still here
ConclusionAt the end of the day, the team right now is at a critical juncture. Do they stick it out and put faith in AVB's long term project at the possible expense of Champions League qualification? Or do they cut their losses, bring in a name brand coach in the interim and try to secure CL qualification in the interim by squeezing the last bit of juice out of an ageing squad of professionals?
Sticking with AVB is a massive risk. If Chelsea don't qualify for CL, there is the knock on effect of not being able to attract the calibre of players necessary to support the squad revamp. It also makes it more difficult to get back to a top 4 level club (a la Liverpool) as other teams such as Spurs and City press ahead.
On the other hand, firing AVB means we abandoning the project and we right back to square one with an even older and more disgruntled squad.
Personally, I just hoping that Drogba last swansong is to carry us to the CL so that we could bring in Mourinho in the summer. That would be perfect.