Its about a team ethic - AVB

Last updated : 22 June 2011 By Team Talk

Villas-Boas worked under Mourinho during his Chelsea reign and followed the same route to Stamford Bridge by guiding Porto to success at home and abroad.

But while Mourinho arrived at Chelsea declaring himself 'the special one', 33-year-old Villas-Boas has vowed to focus on fostering a team ethic at the club who paid a reported release fee of ?13.3million for his services.

"The main important thing that people have to reflect on is that I don't see the game as a one-man show, I see the game as the getting together of ideas and collective ideas and good players," he told Chelsea's website.

"Chelsea appointed me basically for human qualities and that is what I want to bring into this club again.

"The most important thing is to motivate the players to get their ambitions right, to reflect again on what the club has achieved in the last six years and we need to keep this route to success.

"We are a technical staff that focuses a lot on unlocking potential. We are a technical staff that incentivises a lot of freedom of choice because in the end, when the players are on the pitch, they face different situations that they have to solve without the help of their manager.

"This is the kind of stimulus that we want the players to have, responsibility and making decisions, because in the end the game is decided by them on the pitch.

"It is a clashing together of two good organisations and in the end it is the relationship between all of our players that can lead us to success, and that is what I want to work on."

Despite his relative youth - Villas-Boas will be the youngster top-flight manager next term by four years and is the same age as both Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard - his experience at Chelsea and a CV which includes a hat-trick of trophies last season, marked him out as the standout candidate to replace Carlo Ancelotti.

Nevertheless, he is well prepared for the inevitable mentions of Mourinho's name.

"Coaching was not a kind of obsession (for me) and neither did I use Jose as the way to arrive into this path, it was something that happened naturally," he said.

"I think there is no way you can avoid comparison, it is something that is the interest of the media. I didn't take the Porto job nor the Chelsea job because Jose made the same steps.

"They are two of the most sought-after clubs in the world and in the end I had the opportunity and was able to make them find something in me that they thought would continue their route to success."

Villas-Boas comes to the club after the departure of Ancelotti, for whom two trophies in his maiden season were not enough to save him from the axe after a barren 2010/11 campaign.

As such, the new manager is aware of the expectations which will surround him in west London and is ready to meet them.

"Chelsea is a club that in the last six years has achieved so much and people are expecting us to be the same way," he said.

"There is not going to be more or less tolerance for me if I am not successful so this is the challenge I face and I feel confident that we can motivate everybody, not only the players but also the structure.

"I feel confident I can respond to the ambitions of the supporters and the ambitions of the owner and the administration."

Chelsea confirmed that Villas-Boas is due to begin work immediately on a three-year contract worth in the region of ?4.4million a year.

"Andre was the outstanding candidate for the job. He is one of the most talented young managers in football today and has already achieved much in a relatively short space of time," a club statement read.

"His ambition, drive and determination matches that of Chelsea and we are confident Andre's leadership of the team will result in greater successes in major domestic and European competitions."

Source: Team Talk

Source: Team Talk