Villas-Boas takes a swipe at Chelsea

Andre Villas-Boas’s bitterness at his sacking by Chelsea last season surfaced again Sunday after he said that his new club Tottenham did not seek scapegoats if they went through a bad patch of form. The 34-year-old Portuguese manager lasted just 256 days at Chelsea before owner Roman Abramovich sacked him after a run of just one win in six Premier League games. Villas-Boas said Spurs chairman Daniel Levy had a better feel for football than Abramovich. “I met the [Spurs] chairman [Daniel Levy], and saw the way he goes about his business at the club,” said Villas-Boas, who had arrived at Chelsea after guiding Porto to several trophies including the league title and the Europa League. “He knows what he is doing, approaching the market in a different way. He is a person [with a great understanding of] football, and he had the effect of giving me the assurances I wanted in terms of building something.” Villas-Boas, who succeeded Harry Redknapp as Spurs manager, said that Tottenham’s adventurous style of football should suit him down to the ground. He said he wanted to emulate the achievements of legendary coach Bill Nicholson, who in a 16-year reign delivered a domestic double in 1961 as well as two further FA Cups. Nicholson also won the 1963 Cup Winners Cup and 1972 UEFA Cup. “Tottenham are linked with great football in the past,” said Villas-Boas, who earlier in the week claimed he should have received some credit for Chelsea winning the FA Cup and Champions League under his replacement Roberto di Matteo. “It is something they have always valued highly. There is a wonderful history of attractive football, and Bill Nicholson left these messages of football played [being] well and things [done] in style, which is what I want to achieve as well. “The structures that surround Tottenham are extremely good. There are competent people in and around the football club. The club is driven towards success, and everybody knows they must play a part in achieving that success. “They are not looking for certain scapegoats, and when so many people are striving forward, [that] makes your job easier.” Villas-Boas, whose side will contest the Europa League after Chelsea’s Champions League win saw them take Spurs place in next season’s premier European club competition, said he had not received the promised backing for his project at Chelsea. “Words did not meet the actions of what we were doing [at Chelsea] in terms of the project, so I think I was cut short,” he said. “This club [Tottenham] is much more important than me ... What I have to do is try to take them to success and not make it a personal issue.” Villas-Boas said that he was willing to let Croatian Luka Modric go but not Dutch playmaker Rafael van der Vaart. “With Van der Vaart, at the moment I am absolutely counting on him.” “It is a totally different situation from Luka [Modric], who has been chased by different clubs in the past two seasons and is continuing to drag interest. “We have to make sure the club’s interests are met and it is up to the chairman to decide that.” From DailyStar