AVB: Pressure mounting at Chelsea

Posted Wednesday, November 30, 2011 by ESPN

After being knocked out of the Carling Cup by Liverpool, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas admitted the pressure was mounting.

The Blues 2-0 loss marked a third home defeat in four matches, and the Portuguese admitted that his side were far from their best against Liverpool.

According to reports in the Guardian, Villas-Boas rued: "Away from home, we've been more solid, statistically and as a team".

"That is a fact. At the moment at home, we've just not been good enough. I think we need to get our fans behind us when we play at home.

"We need to get the emotions right. I know, and you can feel, that Stamford Bridge has become anxious about Chelsea playing at home but we need their full support behind us.

"That's the only way you can build the atmosphere to take us through this period."

The Chelsea manager also looked ahead to his side's upcoming Champions League clash against Valencia, saying: "The Champions League is a competition which is life and death and this standard won't be enough".

"We need to up the tempo and play that game [against Valencia] with the ultimate desire", the manager added.

Villas-Boas admitted that his side had to fight to get their Premier League title ambitions back on track sooner than later.

"Regarding the Premier League fixtures, for our challenge to be alive, we need to make the most out of the December fixtures," he said. "You know they include Newcastle, Manchester City and Tottenham. If we do that, we'll be back on track".

"It will have a major impact by the end of December. We recovered two points at the weekend. But for us to continue to challenge, we need to make the most of the December fixtures. That is our challenge.

"In the situation we are in, 10 points behind, it can invert what can happen in the Premier League in four months' time. I'm not a wizard and I won't say what will happen afterwards can't have an impact - the FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League come into play - and March and April can be as decisive as December. But it's a fact, given we play the top teams, that we can put our challenge back on track."

Fernando Torres, once again, failed to get on the scoresheet against his former club, but Villas-Boas tried to encourage the Spaniard.

"It must come with confidence and time," the manager said. "We believe in him and will continue to pursue his individual form. Our task, as technical staff, is to get the best out of a player so if we don't do that we've failed."

"He faces tough competition. We'll go back to 4-3-3 against Newcastle and he's still going to have to compete. Didier is showing good signs of returning. Fernando has shown that ability before and he can again", the Portuguese concluded.