It could be tough for Chelsea’s new manager at a club full of hardened professionals his own age
There were one or two comments when I got the Fulham job [in 2003]. There will be people making negative comments about André Villas-Boas now, hoping it goes wrong just so that they can say: “See, I told you so.” But I would love to see him do well because I know what it feels like to be a young manager.
I was certainly conscious of how young I was when I started at Fulham. I remember my first few team-talks, looking around the dressing room at people like Edwin van der Sar and players who were strong characters. I think in this situation the most important thing is to be yourself. You explain to them exactly what you’re looking for and make sure that you don’t babble on – sometimes when you’re nervous you can talk too much, which is the worst thing in front of a dressing room full of professional footballers because if there’s a weakness, rest assured, they’ll play on it. Players like the manager to be assertive. If you’re soft and easy, they’ll exploit that. What players want is to look at you and see someone who is going to improve them as an individual.
If there is a hint of fear or uncertainty in his voice or in his body language, the Chelsea players will recognise that and jump on it. You mustn’t be a bully, but you do have to take charge of the situation immediately and let them know who is the boss.
Villas-Boas hasn’t played at the top level but if he’s making sense, his methods are good and he’s improving the players – they won’t care whether he kicked a ball or not. If his training methods aren’t what they should be, and they don’t buy into that, they may fall back on that argument and say: “What’s he ever done as a player?” But what they will have to look at is that this is a guy who has won the Portuguese title and the Europa League.
At Fulham, I looked at the stronger characters in the group and pulled them aside early on. We almost had a little committee that would sort out problems, and on the rare occasion they couldn’t, they would come to me. I’d imagine Villas-Boas would explain to all of the squad how he sees things going forward and then he will have three or four who are going to be in the team every week who will form a core group of players. Nine times out of 10 those players will repay your faith in them, for showing them respect.
You can’t have favourites – if he is seen to be giving preferential treatment to certain players because of who they are or because of their reputation, it’s not going to work. Everyone has to step in line, and you know the players that you can press certain buttons with. Every now and again, though, everyone needs a bollocking, and you’ve got to be prepared to give that out and tell them things they’re not going to like.
Villas-Boas did really well managing Porto, but managing Chelsea is a completely different kettle of fish. I’m sure he’s got confidence in himself, otherwise he wouldn’t have taken the job. He’ll know, though, that he’s got to boss the situation right from the start.
André Villas-BoasChelseaFulhamguardian.co.uk
