Ex-Blues boss says he ‘took on too much too soon’
Andre Villas Boas has admitted that he was out of his depth as Chelsea manager, after taking on ‘too much too soon’ in his career.
Villas-Boas took charge at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2011, on the back of a successful debut season at Porto.
He guided the Portuguese side to the Primeira Liga, Europa League, Cup of Portugal and Portuguese Super Cup during a very successful 2010/11 campaign.
But the 38-year-old lasted just nine months at Chelsea with the club battling to make a place in the top 4 in the Premier League.
Villas Boas then endured a difficult spell at Tottenham the following season, and was sacked from there too, but has now found his feet at Zenit Saint Petersburg in the Russian league.
And Villas-Boas, who has so far claimed three domestic honours during his two seasons in Zenit, admits his time at Chelsea came too early in his career.
“The Chelsea experience was too much too soon,” he said at the Aspire Academy Global Summit on Football Performance and Science.
“I wasn’t flexible as a manager at that time. I was communicative, but I wasn’t flexible in my approach. At Tottenham I learnt to be different.
“In professional football you have to live the day-to-day. The objective is the group performance, but every single individual requires a different response from a manager.
“You can’t be the same person to each player. At Chelsea the group was more important, I stuck to my methods too much.”
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10
