Andre Villas-Boas has spoken candidly about why he ‘failed miserably’ at Chelsea and admitted he could not handle the egos in the dressing room.
The manager arrived from Porto in 2011 to plenty of fanfare, with the Blues paying a record amount of compensation (£13.3million) at the time, but by the following March he’d been sacked.
AVB was questioned by several senior players in front of owner Roman Abramovich and was axed shortly afterwards, later taking over at Tottenham.
The Portuguese, 48, who is now the president at Porto, has opened up on why he failed so spectacularly at Chelsea in a talk on ‘Building High Performance Teams’ at the Cardiology Gaia Meeting, per Record.
Asked about managing egos, he said: ‘There was a point in my career where I applied a leadership style that I thought I carried with me from the Porto organisation.
‘For those who don’t know, I left Porto to coach Chelsea, and I thought that the coach I was at Porto, with a structure behind it, could be that same coach and lead the Chelsea players in that way, being highly disciplinarian, rigorous, and making everyone understand that nobody was more important than the club.
Andre Villas-Boas (right) pictured during a Chelsea training session with John Terry in 2011
‘The truth is that that locker room had its specificities, between the highly talented, the prima donnas, etc… A set of particular egos, and what that often requires of a leader is not to compromise on their basic principles, on those that are universal, on the personal and human aspect, knowing how to put on a mask.
‘And that mask basically serves to get the most out of a player in the application of their talent on the field. This is very difficult, because we all live under the principle of “I am the same person to everyone,” but those in leadership roles know perfectly well that to motivate a particular individual we have to be able to overcome a few.
The moderator then asked AVB: ‘What to do when a talent, an ego, harms a team?’
He gave a balanced, reasoned reply, while admitting he ‘failed miserably’, reflecting: ‘It’s difficult. There are certain talents and egos that determine a certain flexibility, different respects, and a different approach.
‘That, for example, was one of the cases where I failed at Chelsea. For me, everyone was on the same level, everyone obeyed the same rules, there were no differences. And that’s why I failed miserably.
‘Leadership has to yield at the level of respect and consideration for certain statuses, but of course, in a sports group, the coach’s leadership must always be sovereign; it’s the leader who is with the player every day, every minute, understands the frustrations, understands when they work well, when they don’t, and understands when they abuse their authority.
‘I think that the importance of the leader can never be questioned. Their decisions are sovereign, and that’s how they should remain. Then there are things that require special affection, certain concessions, but it’s also true that within the dynamics of groups, everyone recognizes that those are the exceptional ones who helped them achieve certain goals.’
In referencing Cristiano Ronaldo’s explosive row with Portugal boss Jorge Jesus, in particular Ronaldo’s comment that Pele or Maradona would not have had to suffer the same treatment.
Villas-Boas gave up coaching and is now the president of Porto after winning the 2024 election
Villas-Boas said: ‘These levels, from Ronaldinho, Neymar… trivialising Pelé and Maradona a bit, people recognise that they are different and that to perform well they need specific benefits.
‘Of course, there is also maturity in people to behave with dignity and in the proper places, respecting the coaches.’
Villas-Boas only lasted a year at Spurs after his Chelsea dismissal then managed Zenit St-Petersburg for two seasons before taking over at Shanghai SIPG and ending his management career with Marseille.
He won the election to become Porto president in 2024 and in his spare time is known for his love of car racing, competing in the 2018 Dakar Rally and even making an appearance in the World Rally Championship of 2021.
