André Villas Boas (Manager)

[WaltonRed]

I think its telling he mentions Theo Epstein

[Red Nick]

He hasnt won anything yet but will have done by the end of the season

[Unrighteous]

He sounds like an interesting option. Since we've gone down a DOF route (and I'm fine with that) I would be more than happy with a young manager to complement the whole set up. Someone who is tactically aware and can send the team out with an attacking emphasis like this fella, or Di Matteo, or Deschamps (Deschamps' managerial star has already risen quite high).

 

Yeah, I'd be thrilled with a younger manager.

[StevieH]

Mourinho protege who has Porto on edge of glory - European, Football - The Independent

 

Mourinho protege who has Porto on edge of glory

 

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Andre Villas Boas has enjoyed a stunning first season at the Dragao. Sealing the title tomorrow could be just the start of a stellar managerial career, writes Andy Brassell

 

Saturday, 2 April 2011

AFP

Like Mourinho, Villas Boas fosters a close bond with his players

 

 

 

Tomorrow night the atmospheric Estadio da Luz will throb under the swell of a 65,000 sell-out, and Porto will seek to spoil the evening for all but 3,500 of them – the number of fans that will follow their team to Lisbon on what they hope is the road to history.

 

 

A victory at the home of Benfica would wrest back the title from their arch-rivals at the very venue where Porto's previous season fell apart on 20 December 2009. The 1-0 defeat was the least of Porto's regrets that night, with an infamous tunnel brawl that followed the match resulting in Cristian Sapunaru and Hulk being cited by the league's disciplinary commission. Sapunaru was packed off on loan to Dinamo Bucharest and Hulk missed 17 games through indefinite suspension before a March appeal reduced his ban to four months. Many joked that Benfica should forge extra championship winners medals for the home stewards the Porto pair had confronted.

Benfica are a proud and stylish side under coach Jorge Jesus and will resist the prospect of Porto's coronation on their turf, but their visitors' freshman coach has led his side on a bold and thrilling path this season. If any coach has the audacity to pull this one off, it is Andre Villas Boas.

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His story bears repeated telling. Still only 33 years old and in his first season in charge of his hometown club, Villas Boas has swept all before him, easily surpassing the considerable expectations generated by his connections with Jose Mourinho.

 

Mourinho put the young Villas Boas in charge of scouting future opponents when he took over at the Estadio do Dragao in early 2002, and later took his protégé to Chelsea with him before promoting him to assistant coach after the pair arrived in Serie A with Internazionale.

 

When Villas Boas, with no professional playing career of his own, left in October 2009 for his big break as a head coach with the Portuguese top-flight side Academica de Coimbra, Mourinho's long-time adviser Jorge Mendes brokered the move. The endorsement of Portuguese football's super-agent confirmed the young coach as the brightest of the country's rising stars. The move upset Mourinho and their relationship appears to have cooled. Academica were bottom when Villas Boas arrived, but he guided them to mid-table safety and to the League Cup semi-finals.

 

The way in which Villas Boas has shaped his Porto squad since his June arrival has shown an extraordinary self-confidence. After seeing captain Bruno Alves depart for Zenit St Petersburg in a €20m (£17.6m) move, it was the new coach himself who paved the way for the side's other stalwart, Raul Meireles, to move to Liverpool by excluding him from his plans, leaving him out as a "technical choice" at the dawn of the season.

 

Villas Boas had his own ideas about definitively rebuilding the side around Joao Moutinho, tempting the Sporting Lisbon captain to the Dragao in a controversial move that left then-Sporting president Jose Nuno Bettencourt decrying his former golden boy as a "rotten apple". Moutinho, closely watched by Barcelona and Everton in the past, has recovered from a career trough at his old club to regain his place in the Portugal side on the back of a stellar season.

 

The comparisons between Villas Boas and Mourinho may be obvious, but perhaps the most clear connection between them is on the pitch. Like Mourinho's Porto, the Villas Boas vintage is forged in the image of its leader. While his side's shape echoes the 4-3-3 of his mentor, Villas Boas's Porto are always on the front foot, snapping, pressing and bristling with youthful energy. The front trio of Hulk, Radamel Falcao and Silvestre Varela have scored 39 goals between them in the league alone.

 

While Villas Boas is also a forthright personality and expressive on the touchline – he was sent to the stands at Guimaraes in his 12th game in charge for arguing with the referee – there is little suggestion that he has a dictatorial side. His Academica players said that he would often ask them their opinions on his tactics. Like Mourinho, Villas Boas fosters a close bond with his players but unlike him, likes his players to break bread socially. "It was him who encouraged us to have lunch and dinner together. And he often paid the bill," Orlando, Villas Boas's captain at Academica, told the Portuguese magazine Sábado last year.

 

The man himself draws a different comparison. "I'm more a clone of Bobby Robson than Jose Mourinho. I have English ancestry [his late grandmother was from Manchester], a big nose and I like drinking wine," he grinned at his unveiling as Porto coach.

 

He needs no reminder of how much he owes to the late England manager. Villas Boas approached Robson when the Englishman was Porto coach in the mid-'90s, politely chiding him for dropping star striker Domingos Paciencia. Impressed by the tyro's knowledge, Robson invited Villas Boas to observe first-team training, which eventually led to him joining the club staff. At 17, Villas Boas was too young to be enrolled on an FA coaching course or its Scottish equivalent, so Robson pulled a few strings with Charles Hughes, the famous FA director of coaching, and the young Portuguese ended up doing his Uefa C badge at Lilleshall and did further work on it in Scotland, later shadowing George Burley at Robson's former club Ipswich Town.

 

Speaking flawless English, the teenager was popular in Britain. Jim Fleeting, the Scottish FA's director of football development, told the Portuguese football site Mais Futebol in November that "his methods and his perfectionism always impressed. He has a lot of friends and fans here in Scotland, because of his personality."

 

Villas Boas moved back to Portugual to work with Porto Under-19s before taking an unexpected first head coach's job with the British Virgin Islands national team at the age of 21 in 2000. The potential was clear.

 

That promise could reach fruition this weekend. It was against Benfica that Porto demonstrated that power in Portuguese football was shifting back north in November, trouncing the champions 5-0. The following week's win over Portimonense saw Villas Boas surpass Mourinho's best opening to a season – in 2003-04, when Porto went on to add the Champions League to their league crown. With a Europa League quarter-final against Spartak Moscow on the horizon, Villas Boas has the chance to ape the dual league and Uefa Cup victory that Mourinho chalked up in his first full season at the club.

 

It would take wins in all six of Porto's remaining league matches to equal the 2003-04 national record of 86 points, though with the Portuguese league cut from 18 to 16 teams in 2006, it would be achieved in four games fewer. Villas Boas will expect little less. "Porto's choice isn't just to satisfy a boy's dream," he said at his presentation as coach. "If we don't win the championship, I won't be here managing Porto next year." The local boy's pragmatism and ambition mean that even brazenly liberating the title from their rivals' lair promises to be a detail, rather than an apex, in what is shaping up to be an extraordinary career.

 

Up and coming: The young managers making waves across Europe

Unai Emery (Valencia, age 39) Basque who spent most of his playing career in Segunda B. Began coaching in 2004 and led Lorca and Almeria to rare promotions. Moved to financially troubled Valencia in 2008 and has taken them to fourth in La Liga despite selling David Villa and David Silva. Tactically smart, believes in constant repetition on the training ground.

 

Stale Solbakken (FC Copenhagen, 43) Decent playing career, including World Cup appearances and a brief spell at Wimbledon. Retired after being pronounced clinically dead following a heart attack – but then moved into management. Drew with Barcelona in reaching last 16 of Champions League. Will become coach of his native Norway post-Euro2012.

 

Thomas Tuchel (Mainz, 37) After injury ended a part-time, lower-league career in his mid-20s he became a youth coach. Stepped up to coach Mainz in 2009 and not only kept them in the Bundesliga but steered team into an early-season lead this campaign. Keen tactician whose teams play a high-tempo, pressing game.

[manwiththestick]

I wouldn't mind him if i'm honest. If it's not going to be Kenny he's my second choice.

[StevieH]

13 wins, no draws and no defeats at home.

 

9 wins, 2 draws and no defeats away from home.

 

56 league goals scored and only 8 conceded from 24 games is an impressive return.

 

If Villas Boas can add the Europa League to his CV as well then he certainly will be one to keep an eye on.

[andrew78]

I still suspect fsg are undecided about daglish or he would of had that contract.As much as i love him how long can he continue as a manager ,or is it time for a clean break and put someone like villa boas in.HE would have no favorites ie carra who now thinks we should play like wimbeldon .What ever happens there needs to be a shit load of money spent and get rid of the utter crap we have in this team

[WrongIslander]

I still suspect fsg are undecided about daglish or he would of had that contract.As much as i love him how long can he continue as a manager ,or is it time for a clean break and put someone like villa boas in.HE would have no favorites ie carra who now thinks we should play like wimbeldon .What ever happens there needs to be a shit load of money spent and get rid of the utter crap we have in this team

 

Villas Boas is a fantastic manager, he's more than proven that but Kenny is OUR manager. He's the right man at the right time and how long can he continue? He's only 60 years old! As good as AVB is he isn't the right man at this time. Kenny has us going the right way and doesn't yet have a full season under his belt. When Comolli continues to provide him with the talent and a settled squad capable of challenging for CL football, that's when Kenny will prove himself once again as far as I'm concerned. Anything he does up to that point is and has been a bonus.

[Welsh]

Somebody wrote an amazing in depth article on Villa Boas explaining why he could be a great manager for the future.

 

It was a really long article but well worth the read, I'll try and find it.

[Hugo Sanjeev]

Somebody wrote an amazing in depth article on Villa Boas explaining why he could be a great manager for the future.

 

It was a really long article but well worth the read, I'll try and find it.

 

That'd be really ace if you could mate. Thanks.

 

And Thanks Steve for posting the original article.

[Timão]

Porto have just won the title with 5 games to spare, winning 2-1 away at Benfica.

 

Scrappy match, but Porto much, much better than Benfica.

 

23 wins and 2 draws in 25 matches. Impressive stuff.

 

Villas Boas will go on to much better and bigger things. Still think he will stay at Porto next season to test himself in the CL.

 

BTW, I would not mind Hulk down our right flank.

[Welsh]

That'd be really ace if you could mate. Thanks.

 

And Thanks Steve for posting the original article.

 

Article

[WrongIslander]

Article

 

Easily the best Liverpool blog around, hell maybe even the best blog bar none.

[Trumo]

Porto were celebrating their title win after beating Benfica on their own patch, so what do Benfica's officials do? Turn out the lights and put the sprinklers on! Cuntish thing to do really, and fair play to the Porto lot who carried on regardless.

 

[YOUTUBE]tOYYV8I8JiM[/YOUTUBE]

[Megadrive Man]

Boas strikes me as an ambitious man, so hopefully he will want to build on the success he's established at Porto and have a crack at the Champions league next year.

 

In the meantime, I'd like the king to be given at least 2 seasons to try and restore us to our former glory, possibly with Boas taking over.

[moof]

He's going to be bigger than Mourinho. Imagine if Mourinho goes to the Mancs and Villas Boas ends up here. Would be the biggest media wankfest in history

[Mr Mojo]

We're not the only club apparently considering him.

 

Arsenal are reportedly eyeing up FC Porto manager Andre Villas Boas as a future replacement for Arsene Wenger. The 33 year old Portuguese boss has guided his side to the domestic title in his first season and has done so without losing a game whilst also gone 12 games unbeaten to take his side to the Quarter Finals of the Europa League.

 

Often likened to former Porto boss Jose Mourinho, Boas has worked as the Real Madrid manager’s assistant at both Chelsea and Inter Milan but has begun to earn a name for himself as a up and coming manager with a great deal of potential.

 

Though Arsenal have no concrete plans to replace Wenger it appears that the club’s board have been monitoring Boas’s progress and may well look to bring the young manager in to replace their mercurial Frenchman. The current Gunners boss has been in his post for almost 15 years but has experienced something of a sticky patch of late.

 

If the Emirates outfit fail to secure a Premier League title this term it would result in six seasons without silverware and the club’s support, though loyal to Wenger, may start to waiver after such a prolonged period without tangible success.

 

Boas is known for his insistence that his players play a cultured style of football and could therefore be the type of manager the North London side turns too when the time is right.

[Andy K]

I would like to see AVB brought in at the end of the season with Kenny providing the guidance role like Paisley did with Kenny. I think AVB is what we need, new fresh ideas, who can maximise players potential. Crucially AVB is proving himself in Europe as well as the league albeit on the lesser stage, but i think Porto will win the Europa Cup and we should act swiftly on this one.

[moof]

Boas strikes me as an ambitious man, so hopefully he will want to build on the success he's established at Porto and have a crack at the Champions league next year.

 

In the meantime, I'd like the king to be given at least 2 seasons to try and restore us to our former glory, possibly with Boas taking over.

 

I love that idea in principle, in fact i'd love to give Kenny as much time as he wants. I can't express in words how strong my feelings for the King are. When he smiles, i smile. When he speaks, i feel a sense of pride like nothing else. He's ours, and he'd give anything to make us lot happy.

 

However, Villas Boas is the future of football management. Of that there is no doubt. I don't want to take the risk of letting him slip through our grasp and end up at Arsenal or the Scum; or Chelsea for that matter.

 

Kenny deserves to be given the job, i think we all agree on that. It would break my heart to see him shafted but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture.

 

There's the comparison to epstein that's very interesting to me, it's clear FSG like a young, progressive manager with fresh ideas; couple that with their apparant reluctance to offer Kenny a full-time contract and you come to the conclusion that ideally they want a Villas Boas 'type'. Would this be best in the long term? Nobody can tell at this point in time but it's time we took a risk. We took a risk when we appointed Ged and that helped us on our way back to the top, culminating in number 5. We didn't quite get right back to the very top but we were being run by clowns. We now have FSG who are extremely competent and (we all hope) committed. AVB and FSG, a match made in heaven?

[andrew78]

Its a tricky one stay loyal to a man we love ,or invest maybe the next big thing in football managment.I love the king but i think im blinkered to the past and i love with the romance of him doing it all again ,i just dont no but one thing for sure whoever villa boas goes to will be winners

[Rafiagra]

The fact that Kenny hasn't got the job already despite the amazing influence he's had on the whole mood of the club, makes me increasingly think the owners have someone else in mind

[Andy K]

I see AVB/Porto are on ITV4 on Thursday night, so we should get to see first hand his tactical skills and Porto's flair.

[Major Tom]

I love that idea in principle, in fact i'd love to give Kenny as much time as he wants. I can't express in words how strong my feelings for the King are. When he smiles, i smile. When he speaks, i feel a sense of pride like nothing else. He's ours, and he'd give anything to make us lot happy.

 

However, Villas Boas is the future of football management. Of that there is no doubt. I don't want to take the risk of letting him slip through our grasp and end up at Arsenal or the Scum; or Chelsea for that matter.

 

Kenny deserves to be given the job, i think we all agree on that. It would break my heart to see him shafted but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture.

 

There's the comparison to epstein that's very interesting to me, it's clear FSG like a young, progressive manager with fresh ideas; couple that with their apparant reluctance to offer Kenny a full-time contract and you come to the conclusion that ideally they want a Villas Boas 'type'. Would this be best in the long term? Nobody can tell at this point in time but it's time we took a risk. We took a risk when we appointed Ged and that helped us on our way back to the top, culminating in number 5. We didn't quite get right back to the very top but we were being run by clowns. We now have FSG who are extremely competent and (we all hope) committed. AVB and FSG, a match made in heaven?

 

'tis a good post, this.

[TheHitman]

I know very little about baseball but wasn't Theo Epstein employed originally as general manager. In baseball that normally means buying players negotiating contracts and similar tasks. It seems more similar to Commoli than a football manager.

[Gym Beglin]

If AvB is half as good as Mourinho then I'd love him here.

 

But, there's part of me that suspects Mourinho could be in contention here at the end of the season.

I think he's got a soft spot for us and can see the massive potential of the club, and can see FSG are willing to spend money.

 

I actually think it's a better proposition for him than Man City, because he'd be taking over a set of mancini's players once again and one would suspect that he'd like to break away from that (Inter connection).

Will the Arabs continue to invest heavily in a new manager? Not so sure, I think they think the hard spending has already been done and will just top up here and there.

Whereas Liverpool is going to be a blank canvass in the Summer, carte blanche to buy and sell who he likes.