Former Chelsea boss Villas-Boas talks about his time managing Chelsea and admits the damage done to Portuguese club's fans
Villas-Boas left the Portuguese club FC Porto for Chelsea in June 2011, with Roman Abramovich coughing up a then-world record £13.3 million fee to price him from his contract. Boas had a lot of expectations to give Chelsea a new level of success.
Boas previously worked as an assistant coach for Chelsea under Jose Mourinho and carried the expectations to usher in a new era of football with young players such as Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku, and Kevin De Bruyne.
But Villas-Boas’ bizarre tactics and team selections saw him win just 20 of his 40 games at the helm. He was given the chop in March 2012, with his successor, Roberto Di Matteo, going on to secure a historic FA Cup and Champions League double.
Villa-Boas went on to manage rivals Tottenham as well as Zenit, Shanghai SIPG, and Marseille. Some fans have still not forgiven Villas-Boas for walking out on them when Chelsea came calling nearly 13 years ago.
But in a bid to defend his actions, he made a bizarre speech while referring to himself in the third person no less than six times. Boas told O Jogo:
“There are three people who know the truth about my departure: Mr. Pinto da Costa, Mr. Antero and Andre Villas-Boas. And there are three people who knew that Andre Villas-Boas was fighting with interested clubs to get them to pay the €15 million clause.”
“Andre Villas-Boas received half of what the highest paid coach in Portugal earns for Chelsea. He received little more than what the coach of the team that was 21 points behind FC Porto in 2010/11 earned. “
“Before talking about Chelsea coach Andre Villas-Boas, you need to have full knowledge of the universe of his departure and not believe in certain things that only a few people are willing to say.
“The wound suffered by Andre Villas-Boas, the FC Porto coach who left for Chelsea, for some fans is irreparable. Other fans have already forgotten that wound and it has already healed. And these are the ones who now welcome Andre Villas-Boas with open arms. There are others who cannot overcome.”
Villas-Boas’ move seemed to anger a number of Porto fans at the time, who were of the belief that they were building something special under him. But Boas now confirms that he had his reasons and did what he had to do at the time.
The now-46-year-old has explained, saying that he doesn’t want anyone to think that the move happened with money in mind. Although the Chelsea managerial job is one of the highest-paying jobs in the football world, it is perhaps surprising to hear that the Portuguese boss could have earned similar money elsewhere.
The former boss continues to explain the shocking situation he had when he took the managerial job, as he was getting half of the payment, which the highest-paid manager earns at a Portuguese club.
Villas-Boas is now running to become the president of his former club, Porto, and when asked about the situation, he said he has a “great name” and he feels positive about his presidential job results.
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