Blues on brink after AVB gamble backfires
Reuters - Wednesday 22 February 2012, 10:40
Andre Villas-Boas's gamble
in leaving Frank Lampard, fit-again Ashley Cole and even the
out-of-form Fernando Torres on the bench backfired spectacularly
when Chelsea lost 3-1 at Napoli on Tuesday, increasing
speculation over the coach's future.
Chelsea's defeat in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 tie in Naples leaves them on the brink of
elimination from the competition and means they have now gone
five matches without a win.
With Arsenal facing a 4-0 deficit in their second leg at
home to AC Milan next month, England now faces the very real
prospect of failing to have a team in the quarter-finals for the
first time since 1996.
Chelsea can still turn the tie around in the second leg at
Stamford Bridge on March 14 and are lucky to still have the
chance after a late goal-line clearance by Cole, who came on as
an early substitute for the injured Jose Bosingwa.
Whether Villas-Boas is still Chelsea's coach by the time
Napoli come to London was the subject of some heated debate in
Wednesday's English media, with reports saying he omitted the
big names because of a dressing-room power struggle.
Although he is still talking confidently about his
three-year project to rejuvenate Chelsea's ageing team, his
billionaire boss Roman Abramovich is not noted for patiently
tolerating failure.
"Speculation will continue as the results don't happen," the
34-year-old Portuguese said.
"We have to solve these mistakes at the back. We need this
concentration right and this efficiency right, for sure."
BAD DAY
A day that began badly for Chelsea with news that skipper
John Terry needs surgery on a knee injury and is likely to be
out for between six to eight weeks ended with them trudging off
the San Paolo pitch with Villas-Boas looking stunned.
Chelsea started a roller-coaster match the better of the
two sides and went ahead after 27 minutes when Juan Mata
capitalised on a mistake by Paolo Cannavaro to pick his spot.
But Napoli responded with goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and
Edinson Cavani before halftime, with Lavezzi scoring a third
midway through the second half to put Napoli in command of the
tie as Chelsea's shocking defensive lapses continued.
"At the moment, without John, a very important player for
the team, we have suffered a lot of goals recently. We had
improved a lot at the beginning of January, so we have missed
John," Villas-Boas added.
"But we have full belief in these players and we have to
continue to work with them to get it right."
David Luiz, who has suffered a torrid time during an unhappy
season, gifted Napoli their third goal with Chelsea defending
like a parks team.
"It's obvious that the player has become a target," said
Villas-Boas.
"He's a fantastic young player with a big future ahead of
him, and he has to work to try and be a bit better. We suffered
three goals. If he's linked to one, he might not be linked to
the other two."
It was not only what happened on the pitch that is so
alarming to Chelsea's increasingly disgruntled fans, who have
been accustomed to their team winning things since Abramovich
bought the club nearly nine years ago.
Reports of what is going on behind the scenes is worrying
them too.
While no-one is likely to say anything publicly until they
retire and write their autobiographies, the relationship between
Villas-Boas and some senior players is reported to be deeply
strained and may have been reflected in his team selection.
Villas-Boas, however, said his decision not to start
Lampard, Cole, Torres and Michael Essien was purely tactical.
"You can have your opinion but it was based on what was the
best team in my thoughts," Villas-Boas said.
"Whatever explanation I give you, in the end it would be a
fantastic explanation if we'd won the game. Any explanation is
now useless given the result of the game, so there's no point."
Villas-Boas continued: "I had a conversation with Ashley and
Frank. Through the players that they are and the players with
the experience they have, they felt they could have helped the
team. That's perfectly understandable."
Only three teams have overturned a two-goal first-leg
deficit since the Champions League format was introduced 20
years ago, but Villas-Boas added: "I want us to be the fourth."