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AVB feels the heat after another defeat
Source: Agencies |
February 23, 2012, Thursday
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ANDRE Villas-Boas's gamble in leaving Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Fernando Torres on the bench backfired spectacularly when Chelsea lost 1-3 at Napoli on Tuesday, increasing speculation over the coach's future.
Chelsea's defeat in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 tie in Naples leaves it on the brink of elimination from the competition and means it has now gone five matches without a win.
Chelsea can still turn the tie around in the second leg at Stamford Bridge on March 14 and is lucky to still have the chance after a late goalline clearance by Cole, who came on as an early substitute for the injured Jose Bosingwa.
Whether Villas-Boas is still Chelsea's coach by that time was the subject of some heated debate in English media, with reports saying he omitted the big names because of a dressing-room power struggle.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is not noted for his patience.
"Speculation will continue as the results don't happen," the 34-year-old Portuguese said. "We have to solve these mistakes at the back. We need this concentration right and this efficiency right, for sure."
A day that began badly for Chelsea with news that skipper John Terry needs surgery on a knee injury ended with the team trudging off the San Paolo pitch with Villas-Boas looking stunned.
Chelsea started a roller-coaster match the better of the two sides and went ahead after 27 minutes when Juan Mata capitalized on a mistake by Paolo Cannavaro to pick his spot. But Napoli responded with goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani before halftime, with Lavezzi scoring a third midway through the second half to put Napoli in command of the tie.
"At the moment, without John, a very important player for the team, we have suffered a lot of goals recently. We had improved a lot at the beginning of January, so we have missed John," Villas-Boas added.
"But we have full belief in these players and we have to continue to work with them to get it right."
Relationships between the coach and some senior players are also reportedly strained and may have been reflected in his team selection. Villas-Boas, however, said his decision not to start Lampard, Cole, Torres and Michael Essien was purely tactical. "You can have your opinion but it was based on what was the best team in my thoughts," Villas-Boas said.
"Whatever explanation I give you, in the end it would be a fantastic explanation if we'd won the game. Any explanation is now useless given the result of the game, so there's no point. I had a conversation with Ashley and Frank. Through the players that they are and the players with the experience they have, they felt they could have helped the team. That's perfectly understandable."
In Tuesday's other match, CSKA Moscow scored a last-gasp equalizer to draw 1-1 at home against Real Madrid.
Chelsea's defeat in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 tie in Naples leaves it on the brink of elimination from the competition and means it has now gone five matches without a win.
Chelsea can still turn the tie around in the second leg at Stamford Bridge on March 14 and is lucky to still have the chance after a late goalline clearance by Cole, who came on as an early substitute for the injured Jose Bosingwa.
Whether Villas-Boas is still Chelsea's coach by that time was the subject of some heated debate in English media, with reports saying he omitted the big names because of a dressing-room power struggle.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is not noted for his patience.
"Speculation will continue as the results don't happen," the 34-year-old Portuguese said. "We have to solve these mistakes at the back. We need this concentration right and this efficiency right, for sure."
A day that began badly for Chelsea with news that skipper John Terry needs surgery on a knee injury ended with the team trudging off the San Paolo pitch with Villas-Boas looking stunned.
Chelsea started a roller-coaster match the better of the two sides and went ahead after 27 minutes when Juan Mata capitalized on a mistake by Paolo Cannavaro to pick his spot. But Napoli responded with goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani before halftime, with Lavezzi scoring a third midway through the second half to put Napoli in command of the tie.
"At the moment, without John, a very important player for the team, we have suffered a lot of goals recently. We had improved a lot at the beginning of January, so we have missed John," Villas-Boas added.
"But we have full belief in these players and we have to continue to work with them to get it right."
Relationships between the coach and some senior players are also reportedly strained and may have been reflected in his team selection. Villas-Boas, however, said his decision not to start Lampard, Cole, Torres and Michael Essien was purely tactical. "You can have your opinion but it was based on what was the best team in my thoughts," Villas-Boas said.
"Whatever explanation I give you, in the end it would be a fantastic explanation if we'd won the game. Any explanation is now useless given the result of the game, so there's no point. I had a conversation with Ashley and Frank. Through the players that they are and the players with the experience they have, they felt they could have helped the team. That's perfectly understandable."
In Tuesday's other match, CSKA Moscow scored a last-gasp equalizer to draw 1-1 at home against Real Madrid.
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