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Strange comments from Marcel


Oblivion

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Forget the Sun, Star and the Mail (spits three times), there's a fair more objective piece in the Guardian based on the same comments:

Marcel Desailly: André Villas-Boas must hit the ground running

• Former Chelsea defender says new manager is under pressure

• Villas-Boas's inexperience and age 'could be a problem'

Marcel Desailly has cited André Villas-Boas's age and lack of managerial experience as potential problems at Chelsea and suggested senior players within the squad may doubt the Portuguese's credentials if his tenure does not start smoothly.

While Desailly considers Villas-Boas to be a good manager after the 33-year-old's eye-catching exploits at Porto and has had few dealings with him personally, the former France defender does speak with the authority of a World Cup winner who spent six years at Chelsea, the final season of which was Roman Abramovich's first as the club's owner. He had previously expressed surprise at the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti, but claimed convincing an experienced senior squad, which includes nine players 30 or over, of his own pedigree is Villas-Boas's most pressing task.

"All the pressure is all on the shoulders of the coach," Desailly said. "It's all up to him. The next step is to get the consideration of the players. If I was in the squad like this with a young coach like this with not too much experience, who has had one [successful season] with Porto, it could be a little problem. The Chelsea players are really established players. If I was there, a World Cup winner, I would be expecting the coach to show me during the training sessions, and in his substitutions and tactics during games, how clear he is in his vision.

"If he makes any mistake then you will see that they will not follow him. Subconsciously, not necessarily on purpose, they will be thinking that the guy who is supposed to be managing [them] is not on their level. He has to be clever on how he manages his team.

"This is the challenge for the manager. It's a big consideration for me, given the young age that he is. His first few weeks could be vital. It's vital in that if they don't perform – like Liverpool last year [under Roy Hodgson] early in the season – the players and their consideration will change. The manager needs the players to follow him, and to follow his vision."

The early indications are promising. Chelsea still have one more match of a successful tour of east Asia to play, against Aston Villa in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy on Saturday here, though the most beneficial aspects for the players of the two-week spell abroad have arguably been the opportunity to cocoon themselves away with the new manager. Virtually every aspect of the tour appears to have been micromanaged by Villas-Boas – from training schedules to the players' commercial commitments – with the side showing signs now that they are starting to click.

There have been regular double sessions in sweltering heat to test their stamina, and improvements in the team's play on the pitch to suggest they are finding their rhythm and understanding the tactical tweaks the manager is attempting to implement. They will return on Sunday with one more friendly to play, against Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday week, before their Premier League campaign begins with an awkward trip to Stoke City on the opening weekend.

Then the real test begins, with Desailly insistent an impressive start will be critical for Villas-Boas's continued success. "If Manchester United get a bad result at the beginning of the season they remain calm even though the media is very hot," Desailly said. "The players stay with the programme, the training sessions, and they stay confident. They come back slowly and it comes good. But Chelsea will face problems if the players don't follow his vision and are less confident. Not long ago I was a player in the reality of the league, and that's my feeling.

"I've seen him in the press conferences [in east Asia] and I could feel he was already annoyed. He is the guy with the vision and ambition. Come on, you are the man – show us. He should be talking up the players saying: 'Come up.' Luckily he has Roberto Di Matteo at his side [as assistant manager], and he is calm."

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And now this:

Andre Villas-Boas hits out at 'unfair' Manchester City

"I think it's unfair. I think it's pretty clear that they are building a squad to fight for the title," he said ahead of Chelsea's clash with Aston Villa in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy tomorrow night.

"It's for Mancini to say what his objectives are but my personal perspective is that they are making good signings and that they can threaten for the league."

Its pretty obvious to me that what he's trying to say is that its unfair to discuss other teams transfer policies. Ofc someone runs with the bull sh*t angle and everyone else follows:

Villas-Boas: City spending 'unfair', Villas-Boas slams City's 'unfair' advantage, ,Chelsea's Villas-Boas: Man City get unfair advantage

And now I'm reading fans calling AVB a hypocrite for it :laugh2:

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I watched Desailly's interview live on the Premier League show. He was just very realistic. His comments on V-B were after he was questioned about Villas-Boas' age being a hindrance. Desailly then said it was important for ANY manager to win over the dressing room with his vision etc. and command the respect of the players from the start. He also repeatedly referred to AVB as a 'career coach' which placed him at a different level and also talked about Chelsea' history of player managers.

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