Chelsea must focus on the League before Europe, says Villas-Boas
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Andre Villas-Boas begins his career as a Premier League manager tomorrow when he takes his Chelsea side to Stoke.
While insisting that regaining the league title is "always the priority", he was adamant that the football "philosophy" he spoke about so passionately yesterday would not be compromised for pragmatic gains.
Expectations are high at the club with Villas-Boas brought in this summer after the sacking of the man who took Chelsea to the league and FA Cup double in 2010, and the Portuguese said he could "only dream to emulate" Carlo Ancelotti's debut season at Stamford Bridge.
Despite the talk that improving in Europe was his brief, Villas-Boas insisted that "the domestic title is always the priority". The random element of a knockout competition, he said, made European success harder. "We're not that far away," he said, "but it depends so much on the draw, in the group phase and the knockout phases. There has been a pattern in the last four years, I know, but that luck is needed still in the Champions League."
For all his praise of Ancelotti's achievements, though, Villas-Boas wants to change the approach at the Bridge, saying that Chelsea's "game looked slow last year". Having won the Portuguese league, cup and Europa League in his only season as Porto manager, Villas-Boas is an unashamed purist for attacking football. "I have a love for football that is well played," he said. "We want the ball as high [up the field] as possible, and as much as possible. It's about getting the team, the line, all pressurising together."
Despite the exceptionally direct and physical approach of Stoke at the Britannia Stadium, he has no intention of compromising. "Our philosophy has to stick, independent of challenges we will face," he insisted. "Their philosophy is there and you know they play this way. We just hope we can build a different philosophy for ourselves over the course of the season that's different to what we had last year."
Fernando Torres should be available tomorrow but Branislav Ivanovic is an injury doubt and David Luiz is out while Danny Sturridge is suspended. Villas-Boas confirmed that another young striker, Romelu Lukaku, would be a Chelsea player "within days or hours".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments