Pressure is on the Chelsea manager Andrés Villas-Boas as the club has had the worst set of results for more than 10 years and is in danger of not playing in Champions League for the first time since the 2002-2003 season. Rafael Benitez stands by to take over according to the media - But should AVB have more time?

Roman Abramovich bought Andrés Villas-Boas for the amount of £13.3 million last summer, making him not only the most expensive manager in the PL but also the youngest (34). Being compared to José Mourinho, the manager has been under pressure almost since his first match.

Villas-Boas has presented a three year plan to change the team and the club structure; however, a club like Chelsea demands results right from the start. To understand what Villas-Boas is up against, we should take a look at the former managers during the Abramovich ownership.

Claudio Ranieri 2000-2004

Win ratio:53.3 per cent

Notable signings: Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole,

                  Claude Makelele

Silverware: No Silverware, but guided Chelsea to

            second in the league (highest in 49

            seasons)

José Mourinho 2004-2007

 Win ratio: 67.6 per cent

 Notable signings: Didier Drogba, Paulo Ferreria, 

                   Ricardo Carvalho, Arjen Robben,

                   Michael Essien

 Silverware: 2 x Premier League, 2 x FA Cup, 

             2 x Carling Cup, Community Shield

 

 

 

 

 

 Avram Grant 2007-2008

 Win ratio: 66.7 per cent

 Notable signings: Nicholas Anelka, Branislav

                   Ivanovic

 Silverware: No silverware, but the first manager

             to bring Chelsea to a Champions

             League final

 

               

 Luiz Felipe Scolari 2008-2009

 Win ratio: 55.6 per cent 

 Notable signings: Jose Bosingwa, Deco 

 Silverware: No Silverware

  Guus Hiddink 2009

  Win ratio: 72.7 per cent

  Notable signings: None

  Silverware: FA Cup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carlo Ancelotti 2009-2011

Win ratio: 62.2 per cent

Notable signings: Ramires, Ross Turnbull,

                  Yuri Zhirkov, David Luiz, 

                  Daniel Sturridge, Fernando

                  Torres

Silverware: Community Shield, FA Cup, Premier League

Taken from The Telegraph 

The Chelsea-fans, as well as, club owner Roman Abramovich have been used to winning or at least being in the top since he bought the club. However, it seems as the team has lost its “magic” since Mourinho left Chelsea, and the hiring of AVB could be seen on as an attempt to bring it back. As mentioned before, Villas-Boas has come up with a three year plan to change not only the team but also the structure of the club.This takes time and the manager insists that he has Abramovich’s back up. Let us take a closer look at one of the most important but also hardest parts the plan.

First of all AVB is trying to revolutionise an ageing team.  Many of the players have been in Chelsea for a couple of years now and are “over the hill” – the team simply needs new and younger players. This is something the manager has tried to bring to the club by the signings of Juan Mata, Oriel Romeu and Romelo Lukaku. The hard part is to clear out in the squad – to get rid of some of the old boys – as Drogba, Florent Malauda, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard. Villas-Boas have more than once put the older, more experienced players on the bench, given place to the young talents in the starting eleven. This has given him problems as the players who have been in the club for several years have stood up against him. At the same time are the fans furious when a club icon as Frank Lampard is being held on the bench. To make things worse for the manager have he often trusted  in his Portuguese players as Meireles, Bosingwa and David Luiz who more than often has failed. AVB himself said on the 16th of February that he do not need the support of his players as long as he has the support from Abramovich. 


Personally, I do not believe it is enough for Chelsea to get rid of the “old boys”. They need to sell the players that do not have an impact on the team – players as the harmless attacker Fernando Torres or Michael Essien – in order to bring some new faces to the squad. Porto’s attacker Hulk has already been mentioned as a new striker for the blues.


Time might be running out for Andrés Villas-Boas. If he does not get the results needed for keeping Chelsea in - or just outside - the top of Premier League in this season. However, Chelsea fans and Abramovich should open their eyes and see that AVB is not the “special one”. Perhaps not even the “next special one”. As long as the “Ghost of Mourinho “ is haunting at Stamford Bridge, Villas-Boas will not have the time and space to rebuild a new and younger Chelsea team. The question is can Rafael Benitez do it better?

             

 

 

              

    

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Keep an eye on: Patrick Olsen

The young Brøndby IF midfielder Patrick Olsen is still waiting for his break through in the Danish Superliga, however, his talent has been discovered by other clubs from abroad. The Italian Serie B-club Atalanta had Olsen, then aged 16, on a trial in 2010.

"He is a fantastic technical and tactical player. He is very good at reading the game and what I like in particular is his ability to keep calm when he is under pressure."

                                          - Per Andersen, Danish U18 & U19 national coach

Patrick Olsen scored his only goal for the Danish U16 national team in his debut against Ireland in 2009. The year after he was one of the players to bring Denmark U17 to the 2011 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship Qualifications Elite Round. The Brøndby player had not success with the national team but also with the club as they won bronze in the national league.

The Danish U17 national team made it to the 2011 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship which Patrick Olsen was not only selected for; He also played him self on the UEFA All Star team:

"Brøndby IF prospect Olsen played an understated yet pivotal role for Denmark, always showing great calmness on the ball alongside Christian Nørgaard." - UEFA.com

The strong midfielder was also selected for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2011 where the dutch club Ajax Amsterdam was scouting him.

After only 2 caps for the U18 national team, Patrick Olsen, was promoted to the U19 team aged 17. Per Andersen said about the promotion:

"Patrick is from 1994 and plays on the national team for players from 1993. He has been promoted a year before schedules which means that right now he is competing with a few other midfielders. He is a player who is a part of the team to gather some experience but also because he has a great talent."

Olsen have also been a part of the Brøndby IF's reserves and is training with the Superliga squad. A break through may be the next for him, and Per Andersen believes that the young player has the potential to play on a higher level.

"He has the potential to play in The Premier League. Mostly because he is a winner-type and a mental strong player. It is hard to say if he will make it, but the potential is there."

                                   - Per Andersen,  Danish U18 &  U19 national coach
           
       
       
       

Special thanks to Per Andersen, DBU.

Not only does it look as Arsenal is going through another season without silverware (unless they can produce a miracle against AC Milan), but it also seems as they have lost the position as the top North London football club to the rivals Tottenham Hotspurs. Pressure is on Wenger.

Arsène Wenger, Le Professeur, joined Arsenal in 1996 and is the club's longest serving manager and without saying the most successful with 3 Premier League titles, 4 F.A. Cup titles and 4 Community Shield titles. However, Wenger has not managed to bring silverware to Arsenal since 2005 and the shareholders are losing their patience with him according to The Telegraph. As I see it, Wenger need to change three factors in order to keep his job and more important to get Arsenal back in the top of Premier League.

The philosophy

When Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996 he did not just revolutionise the way the Gunners played football, he also changed the whole philosophy of the club.

Le Professeur has always - made talents, not bought them - which have been a pride for the Arsenal fans as well giving the club, the by the media, often used nickname The Young Guns. There is no doubt that Wenger have brought made som talents through time as club legend Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and newest Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But what have gone wrong since Arsenal won titles with a young club until today? One of the answers could be the age gap. While Arsenal earlier had a perfect mix of young and old key players, is the squad today full of young players, older reserves, as Sebastien Squillaci, and only one or two key players as Robin Van Persie.

One of the key factors in the rebuilding Arsenal is for Wenger to start spending money on established profiles, which we have seen a bit of by the signing of Mikel Arteta. It is time for Arsène Wenger to open his eyes and realise that he cannot win the Premier League by only young talents. Arsenal needs profiles, and we all know that the money is there to be spent. This brings us to the next factor:

Keeping the players

Another problem for Arsenal and Arsène Wenger is the lack of ability to keep the best players in the club. We have seen it over and over again: Players leaving when they are at their best. Patrick Viera did it, Thierry Henry did it, Cesc Fabregas did it, Samir Nasri did it and the next to leave could well be Robin Van Persie. The profiles often express a request for bringing other key players to the club, and when Arsenal fails to do so, they leave them self.

As mentioned is Robin Van Persie most likely to be the next Gunner to leave Arsenal, as his contract ends next summer. This is another problem in the club. Wenger and Arsenal is simply not fast enough to give the players new and longer contracts, and often ends up selling the players half price or letting them go on a free transfer.

However, as the former Gunner Emmanuel Petit said to the Telegraph:

"We should not hesitate to talk about the end of the cycle. Regardless of age, we have to look seriously at certain players. Right now."

I could not agree more. Arsenal simply have to clear out in the squad and get rid of talents who did not get the break-through, get rid of the reserves that never plays and get rid of the marginal players as Thomas Rosicky and Nicklas Bendtner (for good). It is time to start a new Arsenal. In order to rebuild Arsenal, Wenger needs his back cleared. This brings us to:

The fans

The American owner of Arsenal Stan Kroenke is behind Arsène Wenger and have given him his full support doing this season. No doubt, that with Korenke behind him, Wenger is safe. However, if the silverware hungry fans does not see some trophies within the next 1-2 seasons am I afraid it is the end for the manager.

Wenger is aware of this and was fast to apologise to the fans for the humiliating defeat against AC Milan. The fans are the most important for the football clubs as they are the living. If they loose patience with Wenger, he is off no matter what Kroenke do or says. Another season behind the Spurs will probably not be accepted.

What Wenger needs to do

It would be too easy to answer this by saying: Win trophies. However, this is the cold, hard truth. But in order to win the trophies Arsenal needs to spend money on established players and change the philosophy to rebuild the team. That said, Wenger should still keep finding talents and bring them to the Arsenal, but the Gunners need some stability. By spending money on new profiles to the club, he will also be able to keep his current key players. Could Arsenal win a trophy next season - just one - some of the pressure would be off Wenger shoulders, and he would have the full back up from the fans. The question is if Wenger can manage this.

But as one of the banners at Emirates Stadium says:

Keep an eye on: Morten Brander Knudsen

Fcm.dk

              Name: Morten Brander Knudsen
               Age: 16 (28-4-1995)

          Position: Center Midfield
              Club: FC Midtjylland,
                    Danish Superliga
    Official debut: Still to come
International caps: Denmark U17: 8 match(es)
                                 1 goal(s)
                    Denmark U16: 5 match(es)
                                 1 goal(s)
             Value: Unknown

Morten Brander Knudsen started playing football in the Danish club Hellerup IK aged six and was on a trial with Chelsea FC before joining the FC Midtjylland football academy in the summer 2010, aged 15.  Later that summer he had his debut for the Danish U16 national team in the 0-1 loss against Italy in the Citta di Latina tournament. At the end of the Citta di Latina Morten Knudsen was honoured as the tournament’s most valuable player.

“I’m a box-to-box player. I’m capable of kicking with both legs and have a good drive with the ball.”

                                 – Morten Brander Knudsen to FCM.dk

The great performance both in FC Midtjylland as well as for the national team was followed up by a trial-offer from Stoke City FC, where Knudsen was seen as a future academy-player. However, the Director of Sports in FCM Jens Ørgaard declined.

Morten Knudsen was chosen to play for the Danish U17-team in the Scandinavian InterNordic Cup by national coach Thomas Frank, where he had his debut in the 3-3 draw against Finland. Later that year he was reselected to play in the Syrenka Cup in Poland, where he scored his first ever international goal against Belarus. The performance on club as well as national level also gave him a spot in the squad for the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship Qualifications which Denmark won and advanced to the elite round. Danish U17 national coach said:

“He plays - what we call a number 8 sometimes a number 6 – one of the two back players in our triangle midfield. Morten has some very good competences and a really fine quality of passing both short and long, which is one of his strengths in the game. He is also very good at keeping a flow in the game.”

But the most exciting and interesting competence for the national coach is Mortens drive with the ball which makes him capable of going past his direct opponent. Frank also put weights on Knudsen’s “fantastic kick with both right and left foot.”

The Italian sports paper Gazetta dello Sport reported in December 2011 that Morten Knudsen had signed with FC Internazionale Milano after he had been on a trial with the club. The story was untrue according to FC Midtjylland, however, the club revealed to the Danish sports paper Tipsbladet that the club was in dialogue with Inter.

Italy looks like the next stop for the young player but asked if he could see Morten Brander Knudsen in The Premier League, Thomas Frank predicted:

“It is an immense step... It is the best league in the world where class players are bought for the exact position, but I believe that he has the physique to play in The Premier League, he has the speed and not the least some amazing skills with his feet – A Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard type of player.”

Brander Knudsen has been elected for the U17 friendlies against Switzerland and has been promoted to the FC Midtjylland Superliga squad doing the winter preseason.

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