• Chelsea manager hits out at media critics
• Villas-Boas brands Neville’s remarks as ‘comic criticism’
André Villas-Boas has launched a scathing attack on Gary Neville, over the pundit’s “ridiculous” criticisms of his Chelsea players. The Portuguese manager also suggested that other former professionals working in the media spoke from a “biased position in their opinion-making”.
Villas-Boas claimed in midweek that Chelsea had been persecuted in the media in recent months, and said that his team’s qualification for the knockout phase of the Champions League would be a “slap in the face” for their critics. He maintained his theme as he prepared for a home match against the Premier League leaders, Manchester City, on Monday.
In an emotional seven-minute critique that was reminiscent of José Mourinho in his Chelsea pomp, Villas-Boas dismissed remarks made by players who have become pundits.
Recent Chelsea performances have been criticised by the likes of Alan Hansen – who said their defending was “catastrophic” – Mark Lawrenson and Graeme Souness, all former Liverpool players. However, Villas-Boas seems to have been angered most by Neville. The former Manchester United and England defender, who now works as an expert analyst for Sky, said David Luiz’s performance against Liverpool was that of a man “being controlled by a 10-year-old on a PlayStation” and suggested in the buildup to the Champions League game against Valencia on Tuesday that he would not have relished being a Chelsea player ahead of that fixture.
“I’m nobody to criticise [Neville's] opinion, but when he takes this ridiculous route I have to defend [my player],” said Villas-Boas. “You cannot be a top English defender like [Neville] was, and a top Manchester United defender like he’s been [and say this] and I’d say this to his face with most pleasure.
“You cannot approach a top Brazil central defender, a player of tremendous aspirations and talent, saying he’s commanded by a kid with a PlayStation. That’s ridiculous. He plays for the team with most titles, so be careful with what you’re saying.
“Nor can you speculate about Chelsea’s dressing room. What does he know about the Chelsea dressing room? … Have you been here? Do you know where Cobham is? You don’t even know how to get here. You cannot speculate or invent based on assumptions or speculation. Some people can have more or less an idea. But not him. He cannot know. I’m normally indifferent, not watching on the telly to see what these people say. But I was watching the television at that moment, and I was gobsmacked.
“When it is comic criticism, and the lack of in-depth criticism from top ex-professional players, I think I have to defend myself and my players. I have to be aggressive. That’s fair. We know most of these people we are speaking about have a direct past related to single clubs, which are their favourite clubs, which in the end brings a likely biased position in their opinion-making.”
The Chelsea manager shrugged off the suggestion that he may be perceived as oversensitive – “You can say what you want,” he said – but was scathing of the Newcastle manager Alan Pardew’s argument that the referee Mike Dean’s unwillingness to dismiss David Luiz for a professional foul on Demba Ba early in last Saturday’s victory at St James’ Park contributed to the injuries subsequently sustained by Danny Guthrie and Steven Taylor. The yellow card shown to David Luiz sees him suspended on Monday.
“Alan Pardew made a big scandal out of this but the guy [Ba] is offside,” Villas-Boas said. “Maybe the linesman should have done his work, and maybe Pardew was lucky. He even got a free-kick which Ryan Taylor could have scored from, Luiz got a yellow card and I got a player suspended. So maybe, now, I should get the card rescinded. And this is the same manager, who got a [dubious] penalty at Old Trafford to get a 1-1, making a big scandal out of this. And then it was ‘it got our players injured, because David Luiz wasn’t sent off’. Come on.”
Chelsea approach the visit of City hoping to close to within seven points of the leaders. Villas-Boas suggested his team’s start to the season – they have taken 28 points from 14 games – had been made to look inadequate by the leaders’ excellence. In support of his argument, he produced a laminated chart that compared his side’s points tally with those achieved in the past few years.
“Chelsea, at the moment, have the same points as the champions last year and the same points as the champions three years ago,” he said. “And they have two points less than the champions four years ago.”
André Villas-BoasChelseaGary NevilleDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk
