Andre Villas-Boas spoke to TOI exclusively about his roller-coaster journey
Far from flaunting that constant frown while manning the technical area at the Stamford Bridge or White Hart Lane, Andre Villas-Boas now wears a relaxed and happy smile.
The Portuguese coach, once considered the brightest young phenomenon, won the Europa League with FC Porto when just 33. He was patched and peeled at Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur; enjoyed a decent ride at Zenit St Petersburg. His last tour stop was Olympique Marseille, where he had a raucous year and a half. Here on a three-day visit, where he has held football sessions with underprivileged kids and made a visit to the Taj Mahal, Villas-Boas talks about the game he loves.
Excerpts...
You started taking coaching lessons when you were 19. Isn't it too early? What inspired you to choose this as a career?
Yeah, my path was very strange, different from the normal. I finished high school and went straight into coaching badges. I took the coaching badges very early, and then the pro license. And then I grew within the youth levels of FC Porto. So I was coaching all the age levels till I got to the senior team.
So meeting Bobby Robson was a trigger?
Yeah. That was the trigger because I was going into journalism. My grandfather was a sports journalist. So I decided to go into journalism. When I was about to take that decision, I met Sir Bobby, and then everything changed.
What are the best moments of your coaching career so far?
The biggest reward for me was coaching my own team (FC Porto). I was born in Porto and from that day itself I became a member. I have 44 years of membership in Porto. I have coached Porto through all of the youth levels, including the senior. I have been a scout for them. That period was very, very special for me. Having developed with my team, we won four trophies. That's an emotion that cannot be explained.
And next, traveling to England. How was your stay in England?
England was not so great, to be fair. I was very strict in specific situations. My problem with Chelsea was that we were very irregular in terms of results. So we were always up and down. We never found the stability to gain what we call the dynamics of win. We started very well. But suddenly we had two losses, Arsenal at home and Queens Park Rangers away. That poorly affected the team's belief. So from then on, we were inconsistent. Chelsea wasn't a great experience. To be fair, I don't have any fond memories.
And White Hart Lane?
I have fond memories of Tottenham and I'm very sad how it all ended. For me certain things are non-negotiable. That forced me to take up positions against the club. Both at Spurs and at Marseilles. Probably a colleague of mine would have continued but I could not. We had a wonderful first year in Tottenham where we beat the record of points. And I was very happy in Russia. We won all the trophies there. We had great results in the Champions League as well. China too was enjoyable and the time I spent in Marseilles was singularly passionate.
And beating PSG in the Le Classique...
It was special but we didn't play well that day. The year before we went to Paris Saint-Germain and we set up a more open approach to the game and we lost 4-0. When we met next, we approached the game a bit more defensively and we won 1-0. I was very sad to leave Marseille.
Tell us about your association with Laureus Sports
I have been associated with Laureus Sports since 2013-14. This gives me an opportunity to visit India for the first time. Though it is a short visit, the interaction with the kids as part of the Slum Soccer initiative is extremely rewarding emotionally. It's not easy to come face to face with this reality sometimes. But this is also, at the same time, inspiring. On the other hand, with the small gesture, like an organising a football session, how much happiness and joy you can bring, even for a few minutes, to these kids' lives. I understand that this moment is not going to improve their life immediately and economically for sure. But it will open their hearts to dreams.
Does the difference between a working-class club and an elite club still exist in Europe?
The clubs are being traded and new owners bring new philosophies. Plus, what is happening within this dynamic is directors, CEOs and sports directors are also becoming transferable assets. Now football lives in disruption. Normally you see more results where there is stability like in the cases of Manchester City, Liverpool, Ajax, Porto. Chelsea is an exception.
Pep Guardiola's philosophy is most discussed. Is it the philosophy that wins or the players that win games?
I think it takes a bit of both. To implement a philosophy, you also need to know precisely where you want to go, what you want to achieve and how to achieve it. And Guardiola has achieved that in Spain, Germany and England with great success. The philosophy is based on attacking football and positional play. Guardiola has rationalized time and space for the players with the ball. It's all about positional play and the way that you use the ball and the way that you move your pieces around the ball and the way that you make your opponent move its pieces. In contrast, Klopp's philosophy is much more transitional, depending on speed and counter-attack.
Which teams at the Qatar World Cup are you waiting to watch?
This World Cup in the middle of a European season can be interesting in terms of players' freshness and quality of the matches. And this can translate into high-intensity games. It's a few outsiders that I'm curious about. Morocco and Senegal have probably the best generation ever. That will be interesting to see. Argentina now have finally found stability in terms of the coach and the method with which they won the Copa America. So they have this new-found belief and that can play a role. France, Germany, Brazil are always favourites.
And Portugal?
We have a wonderful generation. It will be difficult for us. If we find the right balance, we can spring a surprise. It's not easy, but it's not impossible.
