This summer Andres Villas-Boas has taken the most difficult job in football, becoming manager of Chelsea FC. The wealthy London club don’t have the best repertoire of hiring and firing managers due to their multi-millionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovic’s desire for glory. However, winning the Barclay's Premier League or the FA Cup will not satisfy Abramovic, as former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti cruelly discovered in May. Having proved his success at his former club AC Milan and winning two trophies in his first season as Chelsea Manager, Ancelotti was fired for coming second in the league in his second season but mainly for losing a quarter final in the Champions League to arch rivals Manchester United. This cruel act of power displayed by Roman Abramovic demonstrates that the Russian’s iron fist rules Stamford Bridge and no matter how close you are to fulfilling his wishes, if you fail to become the champions of Europe then you will discover the harsh consequences. But although Ancelotti was unsuccessful at bringing the Holy Grail to Stamford Bridge, he was still a successful and experienced manager prior to being appointed by The Blues. This was also the case for other previous Chelsea managers such as Phillip Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Jose Mourinho. That is why it is so interesting and intriguing as to why Mr Abramovic has placed his faith in unproven 33 year old Andres Villas-Boas. Although he had a great debut in management last year with top European club in FC Porto, he does not have the experience that is so crucial to becoming successful at the highest level. However, it does now finally appear that Roman Abramovic has invested in the future by hiring such a young coach. Furthermore, it also appears that AVB wants to add young blood to his aging squad. Chelsea have made 4 signings this summer and at 23, creative Spanish midfielder Juan Mata is the eldest of these. This clearly indicates Villas-Boas' desire to build for the future at Stamford Bridge. Mata's signing has been hailed as a great success for the London club, with the Spaniard showing promise to becoming one of the finest midfielders in European football. Mata left Valencia for a reported £23.5million which makes him Chelsea's most expensive signing of the summer so far. Having also recruited Romelu Lukaku from Belgian club Anderlecht and still hot on the pursuit of Tottenham's Luka Modric, Andres Villas-Boas clearly wishes to add more younger players with creativity to the club. If Abramovic gives his newest employee time to adjust as Chelsea manager and bond with his players like Mourinho was able to then Chelsea could become a more dominant force in England as well as Europe. Andres Villas-Boas needs this reassurance as much as the players in order to form a winning relationship both off and on the field.
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