Chelsea FC: 5 Ways Andre Villas-Boas Is Letting the Blues Down

Chelsea suffered a major blow to any slim chance they had of winning the league over the weekend. Their droll goalless draw to Norwich saw them drop two points in a game where they clearly dominated.

The following day Manchester City scraped out a 3-2 victory over Tottenham on a last-second penalty to put them alone atop the table and now a distant 13 points ahead of the Blues.

Despite the incredible disappointment of this weekend’s results, I can live with them.

Norwich is not exactly the best team in the world, but is playing well right now, sitting in ninth place and currently on a five-game streak without a loss. Playing away against a side that has scored its fair share of goals, it was refreshing to see the shaky Chelsea back line hold its own.

And what is there to say about City? It just seems to be their season. Even the optimistic Chelsea fan could look at this weekend as a glass half-full scenario with the teams sandwiching Chelsea at third and fifth (Spurs and Arsenal, respectively) both going home empty-handed.

However, I am angry.

I am furious and it is not because of what happened on the pitch, but rather what happened after the match. The increasingly quotable Villas-Boas delivered another muttering and eye-wandering clip of uncertainty as he discussed the game for reporters:

"

In the first half the chances were split between the two teams, which made for an entertaining game; the second half was all ours and we finished with 12 shots on goal and we couldn't find the back of the net again.

We tried to find the goal that we wanted but it was a frustrating day. We were dominant but couldn't find a goal. For a super-motivated Norwich (the result) is not bad; for us in the league it's not enough. 

He (Torres) had a good couple of chances, and for you to have chances you have to position yourself to have those good chances and he was there present. With a little bit more luck he will find the back of the net. 

We created enough opportunities to win the game, not only for our striker but for our midfielders coming through. I think we are in the top three for teams creating goalscoring chances, it's just finding that efficiency. It's been happening all season.'

"

There are numerous moments in just these paragraphs alone that beg for explanation. Let’s go through them one by one.

(Video here)

Statboy

Reread the first quote from the slide intro: "In the first half the chances were split between the two teams, which made for an entertaining game; the second half was all ours and we finished with 12 shots on goal and we couldn't find the back of the net again."

Here we are presented with the very real problem of statistical analysis.

Back in the 70s a man named Bill James began to advocate the use of sabermetrics, an in-depth statistical analysis of baseball players. Since that time it has become a prominent part of sports and everyone from fans, gamblers and coaches have used to understand their opponents and their own teams better.

However, the idea of advanced metrics to understand a game that is best read holistically like football can lead to misconceptions about play and form. Villas-Boas is known for being a statistical hawk. His origins in scouting and youthful progressive approach has led him down the deceptive path where the stats suggest play that did not actually occur.

Yes, Chelsea got 12 shots on goal. You could even add in further stats that showed they were the better side: 58 percent possession, 20 shots total and 11 corners.

Go even further into what I like to call subjective statistical analysis and you will see further great play: 17 interceptions, 12 key passes and 45 accurate long balls. (stats courtesy of whoscored.com)

But what did this result in? A 0-0 draw and pretty much being eliminated from the title race. It does not matter Norwich’s stats because it is no different if they had had zeros across the board or if they doubled Chelsea’s numbers because they are not at all indicative of result.

There are only two stats that matter in this sport—goals and goals against. Everything else is merely for entertainment purposes and gives the fans something to grovel about on blogs and message boards.

But for a coach to ever point to statistical facts as an excuse for poor results is playing into the pettiness of the numbers game and really faulty logic in the end.

Elitist

Reread the second quote from the slide intro: "We tried to find the goal that we wanted but it was a frustrating day. We were dominant but couldn't find a goal. For a super-motivated Norwich (the result) is not bad; for us in the league it's not enough.”

Who are you, Andre Villas-Boas? What gives you the right to belittle a team like Norwich City? A club with less than half the resources, yet is still able to play you tough twice in the league.

I find this quote to be nothing short of disgusting.

Here is the all-mighty Andre Villas-Boas, a 34-year-old "prodigy" manager, with a single solitary season of good football under his belt, in a paltry league like Portugal, describing it as a “not bad” result for a “super-motivated Norwich.”

And why was Chelsea not just as motivated, Mr. Villas-Boas? Why was your team not trying just as hard to win that game? What about Norwich made them far beyond the concerns of your greatness?

You could even ignore his misguided attempts to justify motivation and just focus on the fact that he may have had the better team on the day, but by season’s end Norwich boss Paul Lambert is the one that will be toasting with his club to a successful season, not on the hot seat as you Villas-Boas will be. 

In my opinion, a manager who moved his club from League 1 to ninth place in the EPL in just 30 months is far more accomplished than one who inherited a team of superstars and is now struggling to get them into Champions League next season.

Did I also mention one club is backed by a conglomeration of a couple thousand fans with varying amounts of shareholdings and the other a Russian billionaire who treats he club like a rich man's toy?

I don’t understand the reasoning behind such a statement. If anything it only injects more fervor for the Canaries heading into next season.

Arrogant

Reread the third quote from the slide intro: "He (Torres) had a good couple of chances, and for you to have chances you have to position yourself to have those good chances and he was there present. With a little bit more luck he will find the back of the net.”

Luck? Really? That is how you are going to describe the shortcomings of the £50 million striker you were brought here to fix? You are going to hinge it on some inanimate ethereal idea that is out of your hands and solely created through the human need to reason the unexplainable?

We as fans have always discussed luck in some term or another. When things don’t go our teams way we like to point as luck being the reason. When a ball hits off the post, it was misfortune that kept it out, not the inaccuracy of the shooter. When a ball deflects off of a Chelsea defender, it was pure luck that it went in. And when Essien went down with an ACL tear in preseason, it was just another unlucky moment in his otherwise bright career.

Take a look at what I just wrote. I am sure few of you could deny what I said as we are all guilty of it. But what we are really guilty of is how luck is mainly used in defense of poor form and rarely credited as the reason for success.

And why would we as human beings want to give credit to something that does not exist for our achievements. We are going to say that the shot that Torres put off the inside of the post for a goal was fine finishing, not fortunate it did not hit off the outside and miss.

It is much easier to use it as a tool for blame, but only for fans.

Villas-Boas blaming luck, or lack thereof, is perhaps the most atrocious thing he has said in charge at Stamford Bridge. He needs to find an answer for Torres’ misfiring, not pin it elsewhere. Like stats, all the movement and positioning is encouraging, but ultimately means nothing for a player who’s goal scoring ability as vanished.

I have written before that I think he, as the manager and leader of this club, needs to take every bit of blame upon his shoulders to lessen the load on his underperforming players, but to actually place it on something that is as artificial and inconsequential as "luck" is cowardice on a whole new level.

Egoism

Reread the fourth quote from the slide intro: "We created enough opportunities to win the game, not only for our striker but for our midfielders coming through. I think we are in the top three for teams creating goalscoring chances; it's just finding that efficiency. It's been happening all season.''

A perfect way to top sum up this piece. A culmination of insults, inaccuracies and just plain blindness to reality.

I have already gone over the idea of stats being decisively misleading in this sport, so no need to bash “creating goalscoring” chances.

I already touched on the notion that he sees this team and his accomplishments are on par with the very best, so let’s ignore “I think we are top three” in anything.

And also “finding that efficiency” is the Torres quote all over again.

So while I could dwell on each of these as further evidence to what I have already provided, I want to instead highlight the last sentence, one that tells the story of Andre Villas-Boas’ failures thus far more than anything else this season.

He is absolutely right “it’s been happening all season,” so my question as a fan to you the manager is simple—why?

Why are you allowing it to happen? If you see it, why have you not changed it? Why are you allowing who you think you are to get in the way of the improvement of this team? Not some fabled fantasy you may have of a conglomeration of Spanish and Portuguese superstars plucked from the best youth academies on the mainland. Why can you not make these players win?

This stubbornness to adapt, to change philosophy has been his undoing and the direct result of a club diminished.

A stubborn need to play a formation that is just not going to work with these players. An insistence on blaming other factors than yourself for failures. A constant look toward the future without concern for the present. An egoism stemming from media hype more than accomplishment.

These are the reasons “it’s been happening all season,” and you Villas-Boas is the only one who can correct it.

Conclusion

As hard as it may be to believe I don’t want Villas-Boas out at Chelsea. I think he is a good tactician and understands the game on levels that only some of the very best can. All of his issues with managing that are reflected in poor results by the club are concerned with how he handles himself and his team.

Unfortunately at this level, that is one of the most critical factors of the position.

The distance between the players on paper of City, United, Chelsea, Spurs and others is minute, if not indistinguishable. Even the gap between the bottom feeders and top dogs is nothing more than two or three stars.

This is why Villas-Boas, even if he gets the players he wants and who play his style of the game, will still have to rise to the occasion and be able to do something he did not have to do at any other managerial position: weather the storm of poor form to bring his club back to their best as quickly as possible.

It is easy to coach when all is going right. Spirits are high, the fans love you and the media is off your back. But right now Villas-Boas does not have this luxury and is showing signs of why he may have not been the best choice for this position.

However, we are stuck with him for better or worse and all we can do as fans is hope that he understands that if he can change, it will only mean success for the club and glory for himself.