Chelsea Transfers: Did Andre Villas-Boas Make the Right Moves?

There are very few reasons to welcome the coming of February. Sure, there is that nice, four-day weekend in the middle of the month with Lincoln’s birthday and President's day, but that means little to our friends across the pond. For them it is more of that last stretch of cold, wet winter (most years at least) before spring.

However, if you’re a football fan, a real football fan, the first of February can be one of the happiest days on the calendar. With the winter transfer window closed, we can stop wading through meaningless and opaque rumors set out by malicious agents and get back to the game itself.

This window was an unremarkable one, to say the least. When the big moves involve names like Bobby Zamora and Taye Taiwo you are not exactly going put this down in the record books, but then again, if you are a Chelsea fan you just might.

For the second winter in a row, Chelsea spent the most money of any English Premier League team, acquiring defender Gary Cahill from Bolton and forward Kevin De Bruyne from Genk for a total of £13.6 million.

Thankfully not approaching anything they spent last January, Villas-Boas was not exactly a penny-pincher relative to everyone else. But then again, could you blame the first-year manager whose side is effectively out of the title race and has the FA Cup as their best hope for silverware? You could see why he would want to buy up some talent to avoid being the first manager hired under Roman Abramovich to not win a trophy in his first full season.

At the same time, I think we need to take a look at what the transfers actually mean to the club. I do not mean a deep, statistical analysis of player’s abilities and skills in relation to what they need. That has been exhausted numerous times. Instead I would like to look at them holistically, from the perspective of a fan and critical thinker concerning myself with the present state of the club as much as the future.

So let’s start by taking a look at his first move of the winter. No, not Cahill and not even Lucas Piazon. I am talking about the transfers he made back in November, when in front of the entire team Villas-Boas reportedly sold off Alex and Nicolas Anelka.

If you have read any of my articles before, then you are well aware of how I feel about this situation. If the reports are true, Villas-Boas harshly criticized each member of the team in front of everyone else before telling Anelka and Alex that they were no longer wanted at the club and would not be allowed to train or even park their cars with the first team.

Many have rushed to the defense of the manager, suggesting that Alex and Anelka had expressed their displeasure with their lack of playing time and handed in transfer requests. Yes, these facts are true, but then again how many times have we seen such statements and transfer requests used as negotiation tactics? Did Luka Modric not hand in a transfer request this summer as the tension grew between him and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp? Those two seem to have put their quarrels behind them as they fight for the league title.

In the end they are now only referred to as former players at the Bridge, Anelka to who-knows-where China and Alex to PSG, reuniting with Carlo Ancelotti. Both players seem happy and perhaps the move was for the better, but it is not as much about what the move means in terms of personnel as it is in terms of its effect the club.

We will never know exactly what happened on the training grounds that November day, but what is certain is that Alex and Anelka were made examples of. A team that was on the brink of a schism between the old guard and the future had run aground in form and were beginning their slide out of the title race.

Villas-Boas enacted his first power move in charge at Chelsea. For the first time, he was not seen as the lovable, bright-eyed, high-spirited young prodigy. He had turned stern, and his demeanor was no longer the open-arms policy he had established his first few days in charge.

Though I may not agree with the circumstances under how this change occurred, I cannot blame the manager of a poorly-performing team for trying a different tactic. Things were not going right, and something had to be done.

However the question still remains—what effect did this move have?

Anelka is off in the Far East making £175,000 a week, and Alex has joined a first-place team and has a better chance of being in Champions League next year than any Chelsea players. So for the two involved, it might have been the most beneficial berating they ever had.

But what about how the move by Villas-Boas affected the team today?

Well on a surface level, not too well. Before that day, when Anelka and Alex were still a part of the team, they had a measly .500 win percentage. Following the absence of those two? Wouldn’t you know it, still .500! So obviously the motivational tactic has not worked in terms of record.

I’ll admit, that can be a misleading stat. They played more games with the two than without and had more draws without than with. But at the same time you could also say they faced stiffer competition (United, Valencia, Leverkusen away) and scored more than they have since. The debate could go on and on, but in the end it comes down to wins, and neither with or without has a noticeable difference been made.

So what about on a deeper level, one that looks more at the team from a comprehensive criticism?

To answer that question, all you have to do is ask yourself this simple question: Are you happy with Chelsea right now? Don’t have an eye toward an uncertain future or try to reason poor form though the false veil of “rebuilding.”

Are you happy right now?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. It is completely based on your own expectations for the club.

I can answer this question myself by just looking toward this weekend’s matchup against Manchester United. In the time I have been following this club and made it a part of my life, this is the very first time I do not expect a victory for the Blues.

This article may have taken a turn some paragraphs back that you were not expecting and never found its way back to that initial trail, but I think looking at the winter transfer window from this point of view can be much more beneficial.

I am hopeful for Cahill and confident that De Bruyne can develop into a truly great player, but this is future. In sports, with a club competing at this level, the future is only one game away. Right now that future does not look too bright.

So did Andre Villas-Boas make the right moves this January?

We will see Sunday.

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