Soccer: Poor results put pressure on Villas-Boas

It seems ludicrous but, 16 matches into his reign as Chelsea manager, Andre Villas-Boas is already under pressure.

If Blackburn Rovers somehow pulled off a win last night at Ewood Park, that would have been Chelsea's fourth loss in 11 games and (coupled with a victory for Manchester City at Loftus Road) would leave Chelsea 12 points adrift of Roberto Mancini's team.

That, it was made clear to the 34-year-old this week, is not good enough.

The manager's bright start has come to a shuddering halt in the last fortnight, thanks to domestic defeats to Queen's Park Rangers and Arsenal and a disappointing Champions League draw with Genk. Those three results may have been overshadowed by John Terry's alleged racist abuse of Anton Ferdinand but they have not gone unnoticed by the club's owner, Roman Abramovich, or his lieutenants in west London.

Villas-Boas said on Thursday that in his recent conversations with Abramovich the owner had been "supportive" and was "happy" with the attacking football being played but, added Villas-Boas, "we don't avoid our responsibilities to winning titles. We will defend this philosophy to death, but what is expected of us is to win titles."

It is understood that message has been reiterated from the club's high command. Any suggestion that Villas-Boas is under pressure may seem to contradict chairman Bruce Buck's comment, last month, that the Portuguese is seen as having the potential to manage Chelsea for 15 years, but Buck said at the time that was only as long as he was winning trophies.

Villas-Boas said: "I believe a win will put us back on track, but you need a good run of results." Next month, he added, was critical. Chelsea play six league matches in 22 days from December 12.

"In the Premier League there are too many points to be played in December. The time frame between games is short so you need almost two squads and all the fixtures are Premier League."

Those comments have added significance with sources close to the club claiming Abramovich and his apparatchiks, though still supportive of Villas-Boas, are adamant the team must be in touching distance of the league leaders by the New Year. Before then Chelsea host a resurgent Liverpool - a fixture lost last season - as well as facing difficult trips to Newcastle United and Tottenham, plus the visit of Manchester City.

Villas-Boas insisted that there are no fundamental problems with his Chelsea team despite recent results and the lack of clean sheets.

"I think that when you go into a pattern like this in terms of results, the essence is questioned," he said. "Our essence is good at the moment. Our responsibilities are to win every game. When things don't go our way, we can't be happy, but there's a good spirit in the group."

- The Independent