Andre Villas-Boas wary of possible Jose Mourinho return
Friday 03 February 2012
Latest in Premier League
140 Sport blogs
Via the World: Welcome to the ocean
The sun is setting on my fifteenth day at sea. Pale pinks and oranges paint the western sky and gent...
iBet: Serena Williams looks hungry again
Serena Williams has looked right back to her best in recent weeks and more importantly she looks hun...
Manchester City top the ‘injury league’, with Manchester United bottom
The results of new research into every significant injury suffered by every Premier League footballe...
Related articles
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas today admitted he and every top Barclays Premier League manager would be looking over their shoulders if Jose Mourinho left Real Madrid this summer.
Villas-Boas was relaxed about a report suggesting Mourinho would be interested in returning to Stamford Bridge were the self-styled 'Special One' to cut his ties with the Spanish giants.
The Blues manager acknowledged speculation over his own position would be rife if Mourinho became available but insisted the same would apply to the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Roberto Mancini, Harry Redknapp, Kenny Dalglish and Arsene Wenger.
Villas-Boas, who worked under Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, said: "At the moment, there is not a vacancy at this club, that is the most important thing. And the Real Madrid manager is not available at the moment. He's tied to the best club in the world.
"The only thing I can say is that I have lived Jose's availability when we were out of Chelsea and we know and I know how many clubs came knocking on our doors.
"So, a manager of Jose's dimension and the number one in the world will always be an attractive target for whatever club."
Mourinho has made no secret of his desire to return to England one day.
Villas-Boas added: "Because he's a manager that makes himself available to return to his beloved England will for sure capture the interests of City, United and Chelsea and Tottenham and Liverpool and Arsenal, and so on and so forth.
"So, in that sense, we are all under pressure, from Mancini to Ferguson to me to Dalglish to Harry Redknapp and so on."
Villas-Boas appears under more pressure than most, with Chelsea 12 points behind league leaders Manchester City and Manchester United.
The Blues have a chance to cut the gap to United when the sides meet at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
However, they will be without half their first-choice defence, with Ashley Cole suspended and John Terry ruled out injured on the same day he was stripped of the England captaincy.
"First, we cannot be crying out," Villas-Boas said.
"Man United will miss players for sure, important players.
"We have important players out as well but we have a very big squad, which enables us to go on and try to win the game and approach it in a positive way.
"So that's what we'll try to do, whoever is involved."
Villas-Boas admitted the loss of Terry was a blow, saying: "He is the captain, leader, on the pitch and off the pitch and he's a great player, so we'll miss him, of course."
But he played down the significance of being without left-back Cole for the first time in 65 league games.
Ryan Bertrand and Jose Bosingwa are vying to replace him and Villas-Boas said: "We have full trust in Ryan's abilities. It's a game of massive importance based on recent results and the fact that we have Man United, the champions, at home.
"Difficult decision to be made tomorrow when we practice strategically for the game."
Villas-Boas must also decide whether to hand Gary Cahill his debut and whether to risk Frank Lampard, who has missed the last two matches with a calf problem and did not train yesterday.
He said: "Lamps has a chance to make it to the game. Again, reassessment tomorrow to make a final decision."
Villas-Boas admitted he was still smarting from September's controversial defeat at Old Trafford, his first league loss as a manager for almost a year and a half.
"I try to forget it but I can't," he said of the game where United scored two goals that should have been ruled out for offside.
Until that game, Chelsea were considered genuine title contenders but they have slipped alarmingly off the pace since and Villas-Boas insisted a victory on Sunday would mean as little as December's triumph over City if they failed to build on it.
He said of the consequences of a win: "Good maybe in the immediate (sense) but maybe a false message regarding the future. The future has to be continuity.
"After Man City, we went to seven points behind and we didn't find that continuity that would've taken us closer to the leaders.
"So it can have an extra importance only if you manage to get the continuity after that."
PA
- 1 Serena struck down by brave Razzano and umpire furore
- 2 Olympians: They're fit and don't we just know it
- 3 Brendan Rodgers 'agrees deal to become Liverpool manager'
- 4 Euro 2012 files: Notable absentees
- 5 Hodgson urges squad to attempt to 'enjoy' Euros
- 6 Club-by-club guide: Players available on a free transfer this summer
- 7 Marathon men: Are Spain running out of puff?
- 8 Sports caption competition winners
- 9 Brendan Rodgers veers towards taking Liverpool job
- 10 United close in on Kagawa after missing out on Hazard
- 1 Brazil rocked by abortion for 9-year-old rape victim
- 2 Mark Steel: There was no deal between Blair and Murdoch. Only a conspiracy theorist would suggest that. Obviously.
- 3 Anger over Christine Lagarde's tax-free salary
- 4 Sex in dressing rooms and Play School presenters 'stoned out of their minds' - inside BBC Television Centre
- 5 'Cuddle drug' may be the new Viagra
- 6 'Hello mum, this is going to be hard for you to read ...'
- 7 Image released of naked cannibal killed by Miami police as he ate homeless man's face
- 8 Israel hints it may be behind 'Flame' super-virus targeting Iran
- 9 Coke reveals its secret: It may need to carry a cancer warning
- 10 French in uproar over oral sex anti-smoking posters
Experience the Heineken Hub
Get free wi-fi and exclusive i content while you enjoy a tasty pint of Heineken at participating pubs.
Can you imagine a career in teaching?
Be inspired to teach - let real teachers show you how rewarding the job can be.
A home to be proud of with Halifax
Download the Halifax's brilliant, free new Home Finder app, and take all the pain out of finding your dream home
Playing a game-changing role during the Games
Cisco is providing the solutions for London 2012's complex IT needs.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Day In a Page
David Rodigan on an MBE for reggae
Is doctors' fixation on treatment making us ill?
The most complained-about advertisements of all time
Olympians: They're fit and don't we just know it
Get ready for a royal good time





Comments