Bayer Leverkusen vs Chelsea preview - Villas-Boas: `Execution' calls inevitable
Posted Wednesday, November 23, 2011 by PA
Andre Villas-Boas has admitted speculation he could be sacked was inevitable as he sought to arrest Chelsea's worst start to a season since Roman Abramovich bought the club.
The Barclays Premier League campaign is only three months old but Villas-Boas' position has already come under scrutiny following a run of three defeats in four matches that have seen the Blues crash out of the top four.
The 34-year-old defiantly predicted billionaire owner Abramovich would not press the panic button after Sunday's defeat to Liverpool but acknowledged tonight that speculation the Russian might choose to act would only intensify if Chelsea did not bounce back soon.
Their current slump has raised fears of a repeat of last year's winter of discontent at Stamford Bridge - dubbed a "bad moment" by Villas-Boas' predecessor Carlo Ancelotti, but which proved long enough to cost the Italian his job.
Ancelotti's successor refused to shy away from the reality of his predicament ahead of Wednesday night's crunch Champions League clash at Bayer Leverkusen.
"When results like this happen, the head of the manager is called for execution," he said. "I'm not worried by the comments.
"I want to get my team back to winning ways, and we'll try and do that against Leverkusen.
"As we enter a run of results, the negative spiral that this team went through last year, we don't want to go into a similar run of nine games.
"We can turn the results round. The emotions that these people lived last year are enough to make people to want to avoid that stigma this time."
Nicolas Anelka has not made the trip for the Leverkusen showdown, fuelling speculation he is close to agreeing a January move from the club.
The French striker was left back in London on the day it emerged he had been made a lucrative offer to join Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua.
Right-back Paulo Ferreira also stayed at home, as did the ineligible Romelu Lukaku, with long-term injury victim Michael Essien the only other absentee.
Leverkusen boss Robin Dutt has backed Villas-Boas to get it right at Chelsea before vowing to pile the pressure on his opposite number.
He said: "He has achieved quite a lot with Porto and, if Chelsea pay 15 million euros for a coach, they must consider it worth it.
"He's well respected, has made a good reputation, and his quality is there to see. He'll do well at Chelsea."
Leverkusen can only dream of paying £13million for a manager or £50million for a striker, as Chelsea have done in 2011.
Dutt said: "The finances in England are completely different to over here, and Schalke reaching the semi-finals (last season) was a huge achievement.
"In Germany, the game's more efficiently run. Chelsea have a `world' squad. We have to beat the money tomorrow."
Leverkusen, who lost 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in September's Group E opener, will never have a better chance against a Chelsea side who have looked in disarray in recent weeks.
Dutt played down Villas-Boas' defensive woes, saying: "I haven't seen major problems in Chelsea's defence.
"(Branislav) Ivanovic is strong whether he plays at full-back or in the middle, and (David) Luiz hurt us a lot in the first game. We let him run and he scored a goal.
"They aren't `weaknesses'. When you let in a lot of goals, it's down to the whole team, not individuals."
Yet, he added: "We know that Chelsea really aren't doing that well at the moment. They've dropped points recently.
"That doesn't make them any worse - we have respect for their players - but they're under certain pressure, too.
"We're hoping to perform and secure a win tomorrow. I believe that my lads can do this."
No one would enjoy piling on the misery for Chelsea more than Michael Ballack, who was jettisoned by the club 18 months ago.
The Leverkusen midfielder has been wearing a protective mask this month after breaking his nose but has shrugged off the injury in typical fashion.
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