At a cost of £13 million in compensation to his former club, Chelsea knew they were buying startling precocity, a manager who had built one of the most exciting and successful clubs sides in recent history at Porto.
The visit of Liverpool to Stamford Bridge is his 18th competitive game since taking over just under five months ago and, with a fixture against a title rival following on hard from some mixed results, it seems like an apt moment to assess how this managerial star has settled at Chelsea and whether he has improved the team he inherited.
Working practice
Villas-Boas has an ambitious and holistic approach to fostering his football philosophy.
A lot of it is about positive reinforcement of his ideas.
There are flat-screen televisions placed strategically around the Cobham training ground — in the dressing room, the canteen, the reception — that show footage from their games this season, edited clips carefully selected by the technical analysis team to reflect instances when the team have conformed most closely to their manager’s ideals.
The screens also broadcast the next day’s schedule: when training starts, when there is a team meeting and so on.
Villas-Boas is not the draconian disciplinarian he has been painted but does have a code of conduct by which players must abide (late for training or the team bus and you get fined).
This is about fostering the player’s responsibility to the collective.
He is also collective in his approach to coaching.
He has his own office on the first floor by the open plan area in which his technical team work.
“We all sit together in one office and exchange information,” said Roberto di Matteo, the assistant coach.
“Andre likes communication, he likes to talk and exchange information and ideas. He is very open with us in the technical staff.”
Villas-Boas has an intense work ethic and demands the same from his team. “It’s early out and late back,” Di Matteo explained.
“He’s very committed, very passionate and focused in training.”
He is as intense there as he is in the technical area, constantly shouting instructions and encouragement and he frequently ends training hoarse.
The sessions, which normally start at 10.30am and begin with a huddle, are meticulously planned with the technical team and duties delegated.
The final training session before a game focuses on strategic issues and is when Villas-Boas makes his final decisions on selection.
Selection
Ever since Jose Mourinho declared members of his squad ‘untouchable’ team selection has been political at Chelsea.
With a powerful, experienced dressing room, Villas-Boas has been scrupulous in not showing bias.
“He has had a very fair approach to every player, giving them all the opportunity to prove themselves,” added Di Matteo.
He has dropped Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres and in doing so shown there will be no special treatment.
“It’s a fresh start for everyone, we’ve had to come in and prove ourselves, even though he watched every game last year and he knows a lot of the players anyway,” John Terry said. “He said anyone can lose their place.”
He has won respect by repeatedly reinforcing the importance of what is technically best for the team in each game.
“We don’t set out a team for an individual to flourish,” he said.
In this he is proactive, selecting a “specific team for a specific game” such as bringing Alex into centre back and switching Branislav Ivanovic to full back to combat Blackburn’s set pieces in their last game.
Tactics
This has proved the most controversial and divisive area since Villas-Boas took over.
There is no question that, since Jose Mourinho left, this has been the most radical attempt to change the way Chelsea play football.
Carlo Ancelotti brought more ball possession and patience to the team but preserved the deep defensive organisation.
Villas-Boas has asked his defence to play with a higher line, for his team to press more intensely and for his attacking players to counter-attack hard and fast.
“I think that’s a pretty good analysis of what we’re trying to do,” Di Matteo added.
“I think we have more possession in games than previously but the key is having possession with vertical penetration and integration.
"We are working a lot on the pressing of opponents and sometimes we look to have the defensive line a bit higher, to keep the team nice and compact. It all takes time, to make these kind of changes and bring a new philosophy to the players.”
In trying to fast-track this team into playing more like Porto or Barcelona, Chelsea have been exposed as they grapple with the new approach.
They have conceded 15 goals in their first 11 league games; Mourinho’s team conceded three in the same number.
Even the more expansive Ancelotti team only conceded eight. In the defeats at Manchester United and against Arsenal they looked vulnerable in the way Chelsea have not for years.
As Villas-Boas has the temerity to be only 34, this has been dismissed as naivety on his part.
Not surprisingly, Di Matteo dismisses this argument.
“He is very mature for his age but then he has been in the football industry for many years, since the age of 17, so he has gathered a lot of experience.
"He is up to scratch, no question. I have had many managers in my career and Andre is very, very good.” Villas-Boas is asking for the faith of the club and supporters.
“There is always scepticism when you are nine points behind the leaders,” he said.
“I think the fans must rationalise it by realising what has been achieved in terms of the quality of our game.”
He is determined to change Chelsea and, certainly in the short-term, it will be painful at times.
The instinct is to reach for the security blanket of the old ways when results turn. So far he is holding his nerve.
Discipline
Last season Chelsea were the fourth cleanest team in the Premier League in terms of cards received (59 yellow and one red) while so far this season they are the dirtiest (28 yellow and three reds).
They have also had two players sent off in the Carling Cup. Has Villas-Boas created an aggressive team? It is a bit more complicated than that.
Both Drogba and Torres were sent off for two-footed lunges but in the other three instances the player was the last man.
With the highest number of bookings in the Premier League it would suggest that with players adapting to the change in style — with a high defensive line and hard pressing — opponents are getting in behind them and forcing carded fouls.
Ashley Cole has already picked up six bookings, more than he did in the whole of last season.
The concession of goals might not be the only by-product of trying to change things on the pitch.
Di Matteo dismissed this as “a coincidence” and he may well be right. It is worth pointing out, though, that at Porto, Villas-Boas’ team collected 77 bookings while winning the title while the previous season there had been only 60 (64 and 50 the seasons before that).
Perhaps his brand of thrilling football demands higher risks and results in more cautions.
Villas-Boas has made it clear he has been profoundly unhappy about refereeing decisions in both the Manchester United and QPR defeats. He has been charged by the FA for his comments after the latter.
This has been construed as his being under pressure or playing up to the role.
Well, it seems more likely that it is simply in his combative nature.
Porto won every game bar three draws last season.
The first two times they dropped points, Villas-Boas was sent to the stands for protesting a sending off.
After the first he apologised to the referee after the second he was suspended for 10 days.
At no stage has he been the victim of a major miscarriage of justice and he will find complaining about referees repeatedly will undermine any genuine issues.
Verdict
Villas-Boas has been gutsy to stick to his guns amid the various distractions that come with being Chelsea manager.
Aside from initially misjudging the seriousness of the allegations against Terry he has handled much of what has been thrown at him astutely.
Chelsea are still in all competitions and while they cannot afford to let the gap at the top grow larger in the league, they are well-placed in the Champions League.
The hard thing will be keeping the players — and more importantly the owner and those around him — convinced that his way is the right way if results take a sustained dip.
If he can nurse the team through its metamorphosis there is no limit to how good they could become.
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