Villas-Boas bites back at Hansen

Last updated : 24 September 2011 By Team Talk

Almost a week has gone by since the Blues' controversial 3-1 loss at Old Trafford but Villas-Boas was still smarting over the fallout from the game.

The former Porto boss, who had not lost a league match as a manager for 17 months prior to Sunday, began this week by venting his frustration at the performance of the officials in Manchester, revealing he had made a complaint to referees' chief Mike Riley.

Villas-Boas has now turned his guns on Hansen after being branded "naive" in the former Liverpool captain's newspaper column on Monday.

Describing Hansen's assessment as "completely false", Villas-Boas said: "It's just an unwillingness to make a correct comment on the game by having pleasure in criticising others."

He added: "People like that go against their own principles.

"They don't know what to say and they basically just live by lowering others, which I find quite extraordinary.

"It doesn't annoy me because I respect to the fullness the opinion of people.

"It's just when it's football people, I find it really strange."

Hansen accused Chelsea of being "wide open" at Old Trafford, where they found themselves 3-0 down at half-time, despite dominating in an attacking sense.

Villas-Boas retorted: "The fact that the three goals happened doesn't mean that, defensively, we were in chaos."

Chelsea had 19 shots at goal on Sunday and their manager admitted they lacked "efficiency".

But he added: "The other team had seven or eight opportunities and the other team is United at Old Trafford.

"The three goals happened with two offsides and a ricochet, so where is the naiveness in that?

"Or is the person being naive when he's writing the article?"

Villas-Boas' first three matches in charge of Chelsea saw them criticised for a lack of fluency, something they were hardly guilty of at Old Trafford.

The Blues boss accused the naysayers of wanting it both ways, saying: "They judge it on the weekend basis based on the result. They take the easy part.

"Sometimes, you take the option to criticise people who get results but get results with a certain lack of flair.

"When it goes the other way round, it looks like people don't know how to position themselves."

Villas-Boas declared he would not waver in his attacking approach.

"I would do the same all of the season," he said, admitting that was a risky strategy at a club like Chelsea, where a failure to win trophies has always seen the manager sacked.

"We are here to take risks in life, no?"

He added: "You cannot be so closed-minded not to understand that at a club like Chelsea, the most important thing is to win trophies.

"We aren't putting the attacking path, the good football path, ahead of the results but we're trying to mix it together.

"It's a more difficult path but you can win trophies as well.

"You can take various different ways in football and be extremely successful."

On Saturday Villas-Boas will be reunited with another manager who is wedded to his footballing principles in Swansea's Brendan Rodgers.

The pair were both part of Jose Mourinho's coaching staff at Stamford Bridge and, highlighting the "nobleness" in Rodgers' approach to the game, Villas-Boas said: "There is a dignity in the path that he chooses, because it's a difficult path for a team that needs points.

"He privileges good football and football well played and attacking football.

"When you try to that at a club like Swansea, it's something that for me is more prestigious."

Chelsea's defeat at Old Trafford left them five points behind United and on Saturday is an ideal opportunity for them to put pressure on the leaders, who travel to Stoke in the early-evening kick-off.

The Blues' game will be finished by then and the Britannia Stadium is widely regarded as one of the toughest grounds on which to get an away win.

But Villas-Boas - who may change all 10 of his outfield players following Chelsea's Carling Cup penalty shootout win over Fulham on Wednesday night - was concerned about how Stoke would cope physically after their own midweek cup tie with Tottenham went to spot-kicks.

He added: "They are in the Europa League as well, so those legs will be tired.

"I don't know what's going to happen but it's a difficult game for United, like we have a difficult game against Swansea."

Source: Team Talk

Source: Team Talk