Andre Villas Boas

Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas, usually known as André Villas-Boas (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈdɾɛ ˈvilɐʃ ˈboɐʃ]; born 17 October 1977), is a Portuguese football manager and the current manager of Chelsea. Prior to his appointment at Chelsea, he spent nine months as manager of Académica de Coimbra and then a year as manager of Porto.

While at Porto he became the youngest manager to win a European club title. His €15 million (£13.3 million) move from Porto to Chelsea is the most expensive ever by a manager. Unusually for a manager at the top level, he has no experience as a professional player.

Early Years

Born in Porto, Villas-Boas at the age of 16 lived in the same apartment block as Sir Bobby Robson, who was then manager of FC Porto. Following a debate between the two, Robson appointed Villas-Boas to Porto's observation department. Villas-Boas has spoken fluent English since childhood, as his grandmother was from Stockport. Robson arranged for Villas-Boas to obtain the FA coaching qualification, the UEFA C coaching licence in Scotland and for him to study the training methods of Ipswich Town. He later also obtained his B licence, A licence and UEFA Pro Licence in Scotland, under the tutelage of Jim Fleeting.

Villas-Boas had a short stint as head coach of the British Virgin Islands national team at the age of 21,before he moved onto a career as an assistant coach at Porto under José Mourinho (another protégé of Robson's). As Mourinho moved clubs to Chelsea and Internazionale, Villas-Boas followed.

Académica

At the start of the 2009–10 season, Villas-Boas left Mourinho's support team to pursue a career as manager, and he soon found a job in the Primeira Liga with Académica de Coimbra, filling a vacancy created by Rogério Gonçalves' resignation in October 2009. At the time of Villas-Boas' appointment, Académica were at the bottom of the league and still without wins, but their luck started to change as he introduced a new style, leading them to a safe 11th place, ten points clear of the relegation zone. In addition to that, Académica also reached the 2009–10 Portuguese League Cup semi-finals, losing against Porto at the Estádio do Dragão with a late goal from Mariano González. His impact at Académica was immediate, not only because of solid results, but also because of the attractive football displayed by the team, which led to intense media speculation linking him with the vacant jobs at Sporting Clube de Portugal and Porto in the summer of 2010.

Porto

Villas-Boas was announced as new Porto manager on 2 June 2010. On 7 August 2010, he won his first trophy when Porto beat Benfica 2–0 in the Portuguese Supercup. He followed this with three more titles: the Portuguese Primeira Liga, the UEFA Europa League and the Portuguese Cup. Porto finished the league season undefeated, with 27 victories and 3 draws. He became the third youngest coach to win the Primeira Liga, behind Mihály Siska (1938–39), and Juca (1961–62) and the youngest manager ever to win a European competition, by winning the UEFA Europa League on 18 May 2011 at the age of 33 years and 213 days.On 21 June 2011 Villas-Boas tendered his resignation as manager of Porto.

Chelsea

Chelsea confirmed the appointment of Villas-Boas as their new manager on a three-year contract with immediate effect on 22 June 2011. They indirectly paid Porto €15 million (£13.3 million) compensation via Villas-Boas to activate his release clause and free him from his contract. On 30 July 2011, during the pre-season, Villas-Boas won his first piece of silverware with Chelsea, the 2011 Barclays Asia Trophy. Villas-Boas won all of his pre-season fixtures with Chelsea, with the team conceding only one goal in all six games. On 14 August 2011, Villas-Boas had a managerial debut against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium. It was a 0–0 stalemate, with Villas-Boas commenting on Stoke's strong defence at home. Villas-Boas then won his first competitive match as Chelsea manager, defeating West Bromwich Albion 2–1 on 20 August 2011. He continued his season with a back-to-back home wins beating Norwich 3–1. On 18 September 2011, Villas-Boas's Chelsea lost to Manchester United 3–1. It was Chelsea's first defeat of the season and Villas-Boas's first defeat in 39 league matches stretching back to his spells as manager of Porto and Académica de Coimbra. On 29 October 2011, Chelsea lost their second derby under Villas-Boas in a 3–5 defeat at home to Arsenal after falling to a 1–0 defeat to QPR. Then 3 weeks later his Chelsea side lost a second successive home game in a 2–1 defeat to Liverpool.

On 27 November 2011, his Chelsea side once again lost to Liverpool in a 2–0 defeat which sent them crashing out of the Carling Cup quarter final. Chelsea followed with back to back League wins, winning 3–0 against Wolverhampton (home) and against Newcastle (away), where the referee later admitted he made a mistake in not sending David Luiz off in the 4th minute. On 6 December 2011, they won 3–0 against Valencia to advance as Group E winners to the knockout stage of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League. It was the first 3 consecutive wins with the same 3–0 score for Villas-Boas, with the exception on the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool. On 12 December, Villa Boas's team won the game against the only unbeaten club in the league, Manchester City, winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Raul Meireles and Frank Lampard. It was the third consecutive win for Chelsea.

Personal Life

He has been married since 2004 to Joana Teixeira, and has two daughters. Villas-Boas speaks English fluently, having been taught by his paternal grandmother Margaret Kendall, whose mother moved to Portugal from Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England, to start a wine business. Her brother Douglas Kendall was a World War II hero who flew as a wing commander in the RAF. Villas-Boas' paternal great-uncle José Rui Villas-Boas was the viscount of Guilhomil, a title initially bestowed on his father José Gerado Villas-Boas by King Carlos I in 1890. Villas-Boas' brother João Luís de Pina Cabral Villas-Boas, is a Portuguese stage and television actor. He appeared as the character Criado in the lavish, costume drama Mistérios de Lisboa (Mysteries of Lisbon).

Individual Records

• Second team to win a Portuguese League Championship unbeaten, following Benfica in 1972–73, and the first in the twenty-first century.
• Club record for the most matches across all competitions unbeaten (36). This winning streak was begun by the previous coach of Porto, Jesualdo Ferreira. The previous record, 33 matches, was held by José Mourinho.
• Most wins in Europe in one season by a Portuguese club (14).
• Most points in a 30-game Portuguese league season (84 points).
• Most consecutive wins in the Portuguese league (16).
• Biggest margin over the second placed team in the league (21 points)