EPL: Chelsea's Shortcomings Exposed Under Andre Villas-Boas Against Liverpool

The reaction to Chelsea's 2-1 loss to Liverpool has predictably focused on their manager, Andre Villas-Boas. The 34-year-old they paid £13 million to prise from Porto has watched over two successive home defeats at Stamford Bridge, and finds his team 12 points adrift of league leaders Manchester City, just 12 games into his West London revolution.

Unsurprisingly, rumors of a breakdown in his relationship with Roman Ambramovich are already out there. The Daily Express claim Ambramovich is unhappy with his manager's start to the season and also his willingness to jettison big-name players in the name of progress. Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres can be put forward as recent examples.

The suggestion is the famously fickle Ambramovich may already be running low on patience, but Villas-Boas denies it. He maintains his position is under no immediate threat, and gives the impression his is a master plan in the making. "It's not a question of the owner having patience," he said. "We have set out to build something new at this club and the club is committed to taking what we're building to the future. The owner didn't pay €15 million to get me out of Porto to pay me another fortune to get out."

On Sunday, Chelsea were once again found wanting defensively. Having shipped five at home to Arsenal, they were twice cut to pieces by a ravenous Liverpool on the break and took their goals conceded total for the season to 17.

Under Villas-Boas, the Blues have conceded an average of 1.4 goals a game in the Premier League this season. When you consider they averaged 0.86 under Carlo Ancelotti last season, 0.68 under Avram Grant in 2007-08, and a remarkable 0.40 under Jose Mourinho in 2004-05 campaign, that's surely cause for concern.

Much attention has fallen on David Luiz, the shaggy-haired Brazilian central defender cast as the poster child for the Villas-Boas era. Luiz has made some high-profile mistakes, and in his cavalier performances has come to represent his manager's new vision for Chelsea.

Villas-Boas wants to get Chelsea playing exciting, ambitious football, and that's exactly why Ambramovich hired him. Even during the successes of the Mourinho period, the billionaire Russian is said to have longed for a more attractive version of events on the field. For the man who has everything, trophies alone are simply not enough.

The problem for Villas-Boas is striking a balance. As Liverpool proved on Sunday, his team are vulnerable to the counter-attack, and not yet clinical enough in attack to make their midfield possession count in the final third.

I would argue they were overwhelmed in the physical battle at Stamford Bridge, too. The Liverpool midfield pairing of Charlie Adam and Lucas, ably assisted by Dirk Kuyt, Maxi Rodriguez and Craig Bellamy, offered greater tenacity and a better sense of their individual responsibilities than their opponents.

Villas-Boas might be the man tipped as coaching's next messiah, but he was out-maneuvered by a manager nearly twice his age at Stamford Bridge. Kenny Dalglish's team attacked and defended as a unit and appeared at times like an army of unstoppable red Orcs on the rampage.

Over the next few months, Villas-Boas clearly has some big decisions to make. With the powers of Didier Drogba on the wane, Nicolas Anelka possibly eyeing a January exit and Torres still not firing, the Chelsea manager needs to find some consistency up front. The long-term answer may be Daniel Sturridge, but his selection at the expense of millions of pounds of talent seems unlikely to be greeted warmly by Ambramovich.

Midfield is also an area of concern. Chelsea looked lightweight with the three of Frank Lampard, Ramires and Jon Obi Mikel, and it may take the injection of physicality to allow the likes of Juan Mata to strut his stuff freely going forward.

At the back, the return of Alex can't come soon enough. The question is whether Villas-Boas believes Luiz can iron out his deficiencies to ultimately make good on Chelsea's investment. If he doesn't, then a defensive buy in January would surely be a wise move.

In the meantime, Villas-Boas can expect the speculation to grow in volume with every goal conceded, and every point dropped. As the BBC's Phil McNulty put it,"Roman Abramovich's legendary impatience ensures Stamford Bridge's clock always ticks faster in times of trouble."