Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas says the club’s hierarchy should make it clear they back his vision for the Blues’ long-term future. As the club prepare to take on Napoli in the Champions League, Villas-Boas insists he is restructuring the club to “sustain” their success. AVB also maintains that he has the full backing of owner Roman Abramovich.
But the Blues boss said: “These words would be more valuable coming from the top. I cannot keep saying them.”
Villas-Boas has presided over the club’s least successful period since Russian billionaire Abramovich took control of the club in 2003, having not won a Premier League game since 14 January. The West London side currently lie fifth in the top flight, out of the League Cup and facing an FA Cup fifth-round replay at St Andrew’s after being held 1-1 by Championship side Birmingham City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. But, despite having enjoyed just one win in six matches, Villas-Boas has issued a reminder that he is on a “three-year project” at Stamford Bridge. He has already spent around £84m on nine players in his first season. Oriol Romeu, Romelu Lukaku, Juan Mata, Kevin De Bruyne, Ulises Davila, Thibaut Courtois, Raul Meireles, Gary Cahill, and Patrick Bamford have all been brought in. With the exception of Meireles, 28, and Cahill, 26, all of those players are under 24. The club’s joint top scorer Daniel Sturridge insisted that they are not “a divided unit”.
“We are a family and we’ve got a good unit going,” he said. “Maybe we will see that in the next few games.”
Ahead of Tuesday night’s last 16 first-leg tie against Napoli, Sturridge added: “They have some great individuals, as well as a good team.
“But we have the same and we are not going to worry about what they have got. “We have to go out there with the attitude that they have got to worry about what we have got.”
Fellow Blues striker Didier Drogba said: “We feel that no one really believes in us.
“We are going to show we deserve to be here. It’s a top game and we are going to have to get a good result.”
