Manchester City's Roberto Mancini Leads Way for Chelsea's Andres Villas-Boas

Andrés Villas-Boas' Chelsea side and Roberto Mancini's Manchester City side have many similarities off the field. Both clubs have foreign owners that have invested huge sums of money into building championship caliber sides by signing the biggest stars they possibly could.

However, this season, and the arrival of Villas-Boas in particular, has seen one major similarity develop on the field.

While the teams' respective success has been contrasting, with City running away with the Premier Division lead and Chelsea struggling with an aging and inconsistent team, both sides have the same core values to their identity on the field.

Petr Cech recently told Chelsea fans to blame the players rather than their new young coach for Chelsea's issues this season, and to an extent he is right.

There is a saying that once you make it to the top, you should never change what it is that allowed you to get to there in the first place. Villas-Boas has stuck to this principle by installing the same tactics that he used at Porto last season.

Tactics that Roberto Mancini's Manchester City side are executing to perfection this year.

Villas-Boas' vision is clear. Similarly to that of Barcelona under Pep Guardiola, his Chelsea side have attempted to pressure the opposition this year high up the field while playing a high defensive line.

The 34-year-old manager has never spent more than one season at any football club but was able to instantly implement his ideas wherever he was. That has not happened at Chelsea because of the limitations of the squad that he inherited.

When Roberto Mancini took over Manchester City two seasons ago, he was regularly criticized for being too defensive and cautious. What Mancini was also doing during this time however was establishing the most important piece to what is now the team's tactical identity.

Unlike John Terry, Alex and David Luiz, Mancini established a defensive line with the defenders who fit his system. Vincent Kompany, Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott all have the right combination of size, speed and intelligence to play in space.

This isn't something that can be said about any combination of Terry, Alex or Luiz.

While Terry and Alex are simply too slow and not agile enough to stick with strikers on the counter or intercept passes that are being made under duress, David Luiz is too rash and a liability in one on one situations.

Kompany, Lescott or Toure may not be the most celebrated of center backs but their solid showings at the back have been crucial for City's performances so far this season.

Mancini's real work began with the team's midfield however.

Of the five players that started the 1-1 draw in Anfield today, only two were at the club when Mancini arrived. It comes as no surprise that those two players were the two hardest working players at the club also.

James Milner and Gareth Barry are often overshadowed by the quality of David Silva and Yaya Touré, however their energy and defensive workrate is a vital cog in the Manchester City machine.

When you compare the trio of midfielders involved for City compared to Chelsea, there is a significant gap in athleticism. Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel have never been work horses in the middle of the field while Ramires has been very inconsistent during his Chelsea career.

Trying to press opposing midfielders with Mikel and Lampard in the side is essentially impossible. Unlike a Barry, Milner or Touré opposing midfielders will have no problem getting their head up and picking out a pass or running with the ball.

Mancini brought in Samir Nasri, Sergio Aguero and David Silva to bring the class and clinicism to the City attack that had been lacking in recent years. The quality that the trio brought in attack doesn't diminish the defensive contributions that they make also.

Silva, Nasri and Aguero, Dzeko to an extent also, are all agile and speedy receivers that are willing to put in a shift when asked to.

If you compare that with a trio of Fernando Torres or Didier Drogba, with Juan Mata and Florent Malouda. Outside of Mata, none of the trio upfront fit the system. The older forwards at Chelsea don't play with the same energy as the youthful forward line combinations that Manchester City can field.

As a team, Chelsea's attempts at pressuring the opposition are made redundant by the personnel.

Defending is a team effort and the Chelsea defenders are sold short by what they are asked to do and by what their midfielders are asked to do.

Because the team's midfielders cannot force the opposition into poor decisions or rush them into longer passes, the defenders at the back cannot take advantage of pressure. Under Roberto Mancini, Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott more often than not get what every center back wants, a long ball from the back straight down the field.

That is something that is created by the forward line.

Nasri and David Silva may be creating plenty of goals at one end, but they are preventing plenty at the other end also.

Chelsea's Roman Abramovich may be hoping for a quick fix to Chelsea's problems after throwing £15 million to bring in a manager that has had instant success elsewhere. However he is throwing in the wrong direction.

As Petr Cech said, the players are the problem at Chelsea, not the manager.

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