Chelsea Report Card: Rating Andre Villas-Boas' Time in Charge So Far

Ever since Jose Mourinho decided to leave his post as Chelsea manager, the position has become something of a poisoned chalice. Sating Roman Abramovich's thirst for glory is no easy task.

Andre Villas-Boas is the latest man to take on the job, and after seven months in the job we take a look at how well he has adapted to life in London

To rate the Portuguese's performance, three factors will be taken into account: transfer dealings, tactics and match performance.

Transfer Dealings

When Villas-Boas was given the title of manager instead of Chelsea's preferred 'head coach' tag, some saw it as a sign that he would have more control over transfers than his predecessors.

However, transfers at Stamford Bridge are never that cut and dry, so it is hard to tell how much of the responsibility AVB shoulders. Below are the most meaningful ins and outs so far in his reign. 

IN

Juan Mata, £29 million

Romelu Lukaku, £20 million

Oriol Romeu, £4.4 million

Raul Meireles, £12 million

Gary Cahill, £7 million

OUT

Yury Zhirkov, £13.2 million

Yossi Benayoun, Loan

Gael Kakuta, Loan

Nicolas Anelka, Undisclosed

Juan Mata has been an excellent buy. With Frank Lampard not quite looking like the dominant player of old, someone was needed to inject some skill into the midfield.

Mata has notched seven assists and four goals in 19 league starts for the club and looks like a good buy already.

Romelu Lukaku is definitely a buy for the future. The 18-year-old Belgian has had very few opportunities for the club and has been underutilized by Villas-Boas. A loan move should be on the cards soon.

Raul Meireles has been a solid but unspectacular addition to the Chelsea squad. His work rate and range of passing has been impressive but he could do with scoring more goals.

At the price Chelsea payed for him, Gary Cahill comes without the pressure of being a possible big money bust.

He won't need to adjust to the Premier League, which has been a problem for various other Chelsea central defenders.

With John Terry coming to the end of his career, Cahill could become the rock of the Chelsea defence for years to come.

His speed will be a bonus but he does need to work on his positioning if he is to be a true top class defender.

In terms of players going out of Stamford Bridge, AVB has had no particularly hard calls to make.

Yury Zhirkov never really settled into the Premier League and when the millions of Anzhi Makhachkala came calling, it was a no-brainer to let him go.

Gael Kakuta's loan move to Bolton turned out to be an unsuccessful one, but this has nothing to do with Villas-Boas. On paper it could have had the same success that sending Jack Wilshire to the Trotters had for Arsenal.

Kakuta has now joined French side Dijon in what already looks to be a better fit for him.

Chelsea are flush with strikers at the moment, and an aging Nicolas Anelka was not benefiting the team in any way. As with the Zhirkov move, this was not a hard call to make.

Chelsea are always a team to watch in the transfer window and could make a big money move before January is finished.

So far, what Villas-Boas has achieved in the transfer windows can only be described as moderate success.

Grade: B

Tactics

Villas-Boas has been unable to adapt his tactics for certain situations. In the Premier League draw against Wigan, he decided to adopt a defensive approach while leading by a goal.

He took off Juan Mata for John Obi Mikel and replaced goalscorer Daniel Sturridge with Florent Malouda. This was two points squandered and the blame is completely AVB's to shoulder.

His handling of Fernando Torres has also been baffling. Torres looks like a player who needs a bit of confidence to start firing in the goals. Yet, Villas-Boas has seemed at times to do everything he can to rob the Spaniard of the last shred of confidence he has.

Torres has had to sit on the bench and watch while others consistently get chances ahead of him. Now with players away at the African Cup of Nations, Torres is playing regularly but looks bereft of confidence. What a surprise.

Torres should be sent back to Spain on loan for the rest of the season. He is doing absolutely nothing at the moment and needs to rediscover his touch. Then he can come back to Chelsea, hopefully at his best.

Grade: D

Match Performance

With 22 games played, Villas-Boas is doing just enough to keep his job but if things carry on the way they are, he may have trouble hanging on to it past the end of the season.

Losses against Aston Villa and Liverpool are to be expected over the course of a season, but it is the draws that need to be turned into wins.

Consecutive 1-1 draws with Wigan, Tottenham and Fulham are not acceptable for a team supposedly harboring title ambitions.

They are currently fourth in the league, 13 points behind leaders Manchester City. While it is not inconceivable that the gap could be closed, it does seem very unlikely.

This means that performance in the Champions League is critical. Failure to provide Abramovich with any silverware is a surefire way to find yourself joining the queue at the employment center.

Grade: C+

How well do you think Villas-Boas has done in his time in charge so far? Comment below.