Blues boss defiant

The past eight days have seen Villas-Boas suffer what is arguably the biggest setback of his otherwise precocious managerial career, with back-to-back top-flight defeats sandwiching the John Terry racism inquiry, three red cards, and two - or possibly three - Football Association fines.

Saturday's 5-3 defeat to Arsenal - the first time Chelsea have conceded five goals in a home game for 22 years - raised questions about Villas-Boas' footballing philosophy, but while the 34-year-old accepts he and his players need to learn from their recent travails, he was defiant about his Stamford Bridge project, saying: "There's always a learning curve in winning and in losing."

He added: "I think you have to be frank and say that our progress was stopped in a disastrous week for us in terms of results. But you cannot say it's all gone to ruins. That's not true.

"There is, of course, back-to-back defeats in the Premier League, which take their toll in terms of the league table. But that doesn't mean that what's being built is wrong, that the philosophy is wrong, and that we're not on the right track.

"We are on the right track. What we are building is still right. We have been punished in the last week in terms of the results, but it's up to us to take on the challenge.

"We represent a massive club and we're not running away from the mistakes, but we have to move on."

Chelsea were wide open on Saturday and allowed their opponents in behind them far too often, much as they did during last month's loss at Manchester United.

Villas-Boas was asked umpteen times after both games whether he would curb his attacking instincts and the response was always the same.

He was even more emphatic on Monday, saying: "There'll never be a change of approach from me - never. The philosophy will never change."

Source: PA

Source: PA