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Pressure bears down on AVB after another loss

Comment: 0 November 24th, 2011 by: admin

CHELSEA manager Andre Villas-boas stood witness to another defeat Wednesday that further put to question the team’s competitiveness, and his employment.

The Portuguese, who a few days ago stated his firm belief and optimism for the Blues, admitted that the squad are at a low point after going down 1-2 in their Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen.

‘We are in a negative spiral of results and the team is trying desperately to get out,’ he said.

With the team’s lowering morale however comes the increasing public anticipation for AVB’s forced exit as Chelsea manager.  And in a recent statement he acknowledged the pressure growing upon his shoulders.

‘Our confidence is low right now and they expect the manager to inspire them,’ Villas-boas stated, according to The Sun.  ‘That is my job – to motivate and inspire these players to change our fortunes.  The responsibility is mine.’

Their loss against Bayer gives the Blues their second consecutive defeat after their loss of the same score to Liverpool last Sunday.

The Blues now rank second in the Group phase of the UCL and are next set to face Valencia.  Facing this test, AVB called for the continued support of Chelsea fans despite their poor performance.

‘We will also need our fans behind us for our final group game at home to Valencia,’ the Portuguese said.  ‘It is a critical moment for the team.’

AVB continued that although they can regain control of their Champions League performance, there stands the fact that Valencia have so far performed admirably in the competition.

Valencia have won their last 2 Champions League matches, beating Bayer 3-1 and afterwards giving Genk a powerful 7-0 drubbing.

The Blues however can look forward to holding the match at Stamford Bridge, where they have won 2 consecutive UCL games.

‘We will need Stamford Bridge completely behind us to get the intensity right and the emotions right for the game,’ implored the Portuguese.

‘It’s in our hands to qualify.  It’s a game at Stamford Bridge and we expect to do our job.  That’s our responsibility and we don’t want to let the fans down.’

AVB entered Chelsea as the new manager to replace Carlo Ancelotti, who was unceremoniously fired by club owner Roman Abramovich immediately after a match defeat for failing to secure silverware.

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