http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns...s-boas?cc=4716
Business as usual for Villas-Boas
At 11pm on Sunday nite in the media centre under their Estadio do Dragao, nearly an hour aft champions Porto had beaten Sporting Lisbon, Andre Villas-Boas had the room in the palm of his hand.
In tat sense, the Porto coach is easily compared with the man widely regarded as his mentor, Jose Mourinho, but fr there the 2 men made in Porto start 2 diverge. Villas-Boas speaks softly, but with authority.
The 33-year-old has come fr the bottom 2 the top of the Portuguese league in little over a year. He took his 1st job as a head coach with Academica in October 2009 with the modest Coimbra side stuck in last place, & shepherded them 2 a respectable mid-table finish.
2 weeks ago, he led his hometown club 2 a 25th league title @ the home of their arch-rivals Benfica. Yet unlike the man who 1st welcomed him in2 his scouting team @ the Dragao b4 taking him on 2 Chelsea & Internazionale, Villas-Boas is not 1 4 listing his own achievements.
"The numbers aren't important," he told journalists. "It's tat it was a clear victory 4 a team tat wanted 2 win again, tat attacked in a concise & clear way again." His style is 2 push his "incredible" players 2 centre stage, but however much he says the statistics don't matter, the truth is tat it is they tat r beginning 2 carve a distinct path 4 him away fr Mourinho.
Victory over Sporting took Porto onto 77 points, a new record points total in a 16-team league, & saw them match the league record of 15 successive wins racked up by Antonio Oliveira's Porto side in 1996-97. More promise 2 tumble in the weeks 2 come. If Villas-Boas' side remain unbeaten thru the 3 remaining games of the season, they will become only the 2nd team 2 complete a Portuguese league season undefeated, aft Englishman Jimmy Hagan's Benfica in 1972-73. Now in charge of Porto for 50 games in all competitions, Villas-Boas has won 43.
Nevertheless, Porto's hunger against Sporting - a game which mattered relatively little with domestic & continental cup semi-finals with Benfica (again) & Villarreal respectively on the horizon - was striking. Aft a slow start they mauled their opponents, with only the excellent visiting goalkeeper Rui Patricio preventing Porto fr dishing out real punishment. It was in stark contrast 2 Benfica's preparation 4 a similar schedule, with their XI picked 4 the same day's win over Beira-Mar consisting of mainly fringe players: "(Pablo) Aimar & 10 more", as Portuguese sports daily O Jogo described it.
Vilas-Boas is a different animal out in the open. As always, he spent Sunday's match on the very edge of his technical area, as close 2 being on the pitch as he can be, agonising over every play. With the supporters relaxed & enjoying themselves, starting the party deep in2 the 8 mins of added time, he was still pointing out instructions 2 his players.
If the young pretender lacks the brash exterior of Mourinho, he is no less firm. Walter, the Brazilian striker whose goal turned out 2 be the winner against Sporting, spoke aft the game abt a frank appraisal of his progress delivered 2 him by Villas-Boas earlier in the season - in the dressing room, in front of the rest of the squad. "They said that I was left out becos I was going out @ nite, but that's not true," Walter said. "The boss said 2 me: 'If u don't arrive @ the rite weight, u won't play, & u won't be called up (2 the squad).' And I ended up not playing 4 2 months. I've managed 2 lose weight & he's giving me the chance 2 prove myself."
Villas-Boas' effectiveness has not gone unnoticed, & he has been linked with jobs @ Liverpool, Juventus & Roma in the last few weeks alone. Speaking aft Sunday's game, Porto's president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa was indignant. "I don't understand wat people mean when they talk abt keeping the coach," he blinked. "He already said in Russia (b4 the Europa League match versus Spartak) tat he doesn't 1 2 listen 2 other clubs, becos he was born in Porto & he is FC Porto's coach, with a 2-year contract."
Nevertheless, the relatively short length of the tie-up does rather leap out of Pinto da Costa's adamant words. International interest in Villas-Boas' work, which has not gone unnoticed in the Portuguese media, was again clear @ his press conference on Saturday @ the club's Olival training ground. "I don't live obsessing with wat I k achieve in my career; I live in the present", he underlined, but he has never hidden his ambition.
Asked by a documentary team fr BBC World Service, Villas-Boas declared the Premier League "the best league in the world" in his impeccable English. "I don't 1 2 hv a long career," he said. "But 1 tat I k be proud of &, if it takes me 2 England, tat will be a sign tat I know wat I'm doing."
He is likely 2 stay @ least another year, 2 lead Porto in2 his maiden Champions League campaign. Villas-Boas' love 4 his club is evident when he is prompted 2 explain the secret of his success. "It comes fr the talent I hv @ my disposal & fr the culture of the club which has dominated the country's football over the last 30 years."
His 1st break @ Porto was courtesy of Sir Bobby Robson, who invited the teenage Villas-Boas 2 training while in charge in the mid-90s b4 later offering him a job in the club's youth set-up. "He was decisive in the love I feel 4 tis profession," he acknowledged, "& 4 the doors he opened 4 me @ tat age. I owe him." It is in the manner of the dear, departed Englishman, rather than Mourinho, tat Villas-Boas sees his true lineage.
Luís André de Pina Cabral de Villas-Boas (born 17 October 1977 in Porto) is a Portuguese football manager currently managing FC Porto.
He is regarded as unique in the sense tat he has no football playing experience, becos a coach of a major club with very little head coaching experience, & achieved tis role @ a very young age. He is currently the youngest football manager in the Portuguese league.
Coaching career
Aft starting @ a very young age on several positions in F.C. Porto's observation department under the guidance of then manager Bobby Robson, who hired him becos of his fluent knowledge of English, he achieved his UEFA C coaching licence as a minor @ the age of 17 in Scotland. He then had a short stint as head coach of the British Virgin Islands national football team at the age of 21, b4 he moved onto a career as an assistant under the management of José Mourinho @ Porto. As Mourinho moved clubs 2 Chelsea & Internazionale, Villas-Boas followed suit.
Académica
At the start of the 2009–10 season, he abandoned Mourinho's staff 2 pursue a career as manager, & he soon found a job @ Portuguese Liga's Académica filling a vacancy created by Rogério Gonçalves' resignation in October 2009. At the time of Villas-Boas' appointment, Académica were @ the bottom of the league & still w/o wins, but their luck started 2 change as he introduced a new style, leading them 2 a safe 11th place, 10 points clear fr relegation. In addition 2 tat, Académica also reached the 2009–10 Portuguese League Cup semi-finals, losing against Porto @ Estádio do Dragăo with a late goal fr Mariano González. His impact @ Académica was immediate, not only becos of solid results, but also becos of the attractive football displayed by the team, which led 2 intense media speculation linking him with the vacant job @ Sporting Clube de Portugal aft the departure of Carlos Carvalhal in the summer of 2010.
Porto
When Jesualdo Ferreira left F.C. Porto, his name was also linked with the job @ Estádio do Dragăo, & Villas-Boas was finally announced as their new manager on 2 June 2010, hving been presented on 4 June. On 7 August 2010, he won his 1st trophy when Porto beat Benfica 2–0 in the Portuguese Supercup.
On 19 December 2010, Villas-Boas set the club record @ 36 for the most matches across all competitions unbeaten, a record previously held by José Mourinho @ 33 matches. Part of tis streak was completed by the previous coach of FC Porto, Jesualdo Ferreira. On 17 March 2011, FC Porto completed 10 wins in Europe by knocking out CSKA Moscow in the round of 16 of the Europa League. Tis is a record 4 the most wins in Europe in 1 season by a Portuguese club.
On 3 April 2011, Villas-Boas won his 1st Primeira Liga, 5 rounds b4 the end, by defeating S.L. Benfica away @ Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, becoming the 3rd youngest coach 2 win it, only behind Mihály Sistka (1938/39) & Juca (1961/62). It is the 2nd time tat F.C.Porto won the Portuguese league by beating its rival @ its home soil, the 1st time being 71 years ago, in the 1939/1940 season when F.C.Porto clinched the title by defeating Benfica @ the Estádio das Amoreiras. In addition, he equaled the record 4 the most points in 1 Portuguese league season, & the number of consecutive league wins.