Challenge clear for Chelsea boss

Last updated : 26 July 2011 By Team Talk

Villas-Boas replaced Carlo Ancelotti this summer after the Italian was sacked by owner Roman Abramovich following a disappointing campaign that failed to yield a single trophy for the Blues.

The 33-year-old arrived at the club having captured the Europa League as well as the Portuguese title, Cup and Supercup with Porto but knows that past success counts for little. Just ask Ancelotti, who led Chelsea to their first-ever double the previous season before becoming the fifth managerial casualty in seven years.

"It's pretty straightforward what you have to achieve at this club isn't it?" said Villas-Boas.

"You have to win trophies. If you have big success and you know the hunger of what these players want to achieve, I think it is straightforward, you have to challenge for the Premier League and also the other trophies and I see no reason why this cannot happen.

"You can see a pattern in the last four years in the Champions League, the semi-finals Chelsea have been present. It's just one more step. Will I be able to do it in the three years I have a contract with, or one or two, I don't know. It's a challenge that we want to take."

Villas-Boas is also unfazed by Abramovich's apparent unwillingness to grant his managers time to build a successful team.

"That is the decision of the owner and it is not for me to comment. He made the decision last year to end the contract with Carlo and it is not for me to comment on that situation," he added.

"Carlo was extremely successful at this club and he left his mark, a positive mark in my opinion not only because the players speak highly of him but because of all that they achieved.

"It maybe didn't go well for him last season and the owner decided to part company with him. You just have to respect the decisions made for this club.

"It's not a question of me bringing strategies, there's no magicians in this game. The players are successful because they were successful before and want to keep being successful. That is a good enough strategy for us."

One of Villas-Boas' more pressing tasks will be how to get the best out of striker Fernando Torres, who has so far struggled since his big-money move from Liverpool in January.

The Chelsea boss has preferred to focus on group responsibility rather than the Spaniard's faltering form and while admitting he prefers to play a 4-3-3 formation, has used pre-season games in Malaysia and Thailand to experiment tactically while insisting Torres and Didier Drogba can play in the same side.

Torres' start to his Chelsea career has begun to draw comparisons with Andriy Shevchenko, another striker with a big reputation who failed to hit the heights at Stanford Bridge.

Skipper John Terry, though, feels that is a premature assessment.

"I think that's unfair on Fernando, he had the injury he sustained at the World Cup and came into the season with that," he said.

"He would liked to have scored more goals than he did. He's in the same position as everyone else, he's looked sharp in training and in the games also.

"He's happy, there's a bit of pressure on him but that's why he's one of the best strikers in the world. He's wants to win the Premier League, that's one of the first things he said to me."

For his part, Torres has insisted the goals will soon start to flow.

Speaking to reporters in Hong Kong, he said: "I'm 27. Don't worry. I didn't forget how to score goals... I will score.

"It's going to be a big season. My form is okay, it's time to be fit and ready. We're trying to get into the best form. We have got big expectations and I can see the winning mentality we have."

Source: Team Talk

Source: Team Talk