Dakar dream for crazy head AVB

Last updated : 01 October 2011 By Team Talk

Villas-Boas gave an insight into his life away from the game on Friday, admitting he was a petrol head who loved nothing better than racing motorbikes and cars in his spare time.

Indeed, the 33-year-old - who arrived at Stamford Bridge this summer with a reputation for being obsessed by football - appears to be just as passionate about motor sport.

He owns five motorbikes and is part-owner of a collection 12 cars, including some genuine classics.

Villas-Boas - who will see the vehicles when he returns to his native Portugal during next week's international break - does not just sit there and admire them either.

"I have a couple of bikes from the Dakar Rally that I own," he said, revealing he would love to enter the famous race before admitting: "It's expensive."

He added: "I'm a bit of a crazy head with enduro bikes as well, so I go into the mountains and almost kill myself!

"It feels fantastic.

"It's my escape, it's my passion and you feel well. You feel the need for it.

"It is very adrenaline-fuelled.

"All of us have our passions and we respond to it in different ways."

Most top footballers are forbidden from riding motorcycles but Villas-Boas never played professionally.

"The manager escapes!" he joked, before admitting he had seriously injured himself more than once.

"My first bike was a 350. I started straight away with a heavy engine.

"I went into a national competition in Portugal and then broke my arm.

"This was in a period when I was coaching Porto's youth team."

Villas-Boas is also a big fan of professional motor sport, so much so that 24 hours after Chelsea's Premier League win over Norwich a month ago, he attended the Belgian Grand Prix.

"I like Formula One a lot," he said.

"I like most of the off-road bike competitions, enduro, motocross and trials."

Villas-Boas, who this week found himself branded 'chippy' in some quarters for his defensive response to questions about Frank Lampard's Chelsea future, admitted it was important for him to take a break from the pressures of day-to-day management whenever the opportunity arose.

"It's a very strenuous position but there's an acceptance that you have to take it and it comes with the job," he said.

"The international break is always a good time for us to go back to our passions and to our family a little bit more.

"So, I'm looking forward to the international breaks."

He added: "I have tremendous passion for the game but I don't sell myself that I live it and breathe it for 24 hours.

"I think that's a stamp that people tend to sell, a couple of them, just in terms of pretending.

"When I decide to switch off, I switch off, and I don't watch second division German football or first division German football."

Villas-Boas' final duties as Chelsea manager before the international break will be performed in Sunday's game at Bolton.

That will see him reunited with close friend Owen Coyle, with whom he studied for his UEFA pro-licence in Scotland.

Villas-Boas revealed Coyle had exploited their friendship to try to get Daniel Sturridge on another loan deal this summer but was told "absolutely not".

The Chelsea boss expects Coyle to try again in January, adding: "He has no chance."

Source: Team Talk

Source: Team Talk