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Villas-Boas could become the new Hodgson - Desailly

Andre Villas-Boas is aiming to bring the Premier League title back to Stamford Bridge © PA Photos

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Former Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly has warned new Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas that he must hit the ground running or he will be in danger of suffering a similar fate to Roy Hodgson, when the West Brom manager was at Liverpool.

Chelsea confirmed the appointment of Villas-Boas, 33, as their new manager in June, when they paid Porto more than £13 million compensation to activate his release clause and free him from his contract with the Portuguese champions.

Villas-Boas arrives at Stamford Bridge with a lot of pressure heaped upon his young shoulders, with goalkeeper Petr Cech recently stating that no manager has lived up to the standards of former boss Jose Mourinho. Hodgson saw firsthand how high expectation levels can have an adverse effect when he took charge at Anfield in July last year. Having led Fulham to the Europa League final, Hodgson arrived at Liverpool hoping to restore the team as the best in England.

Optimism was soon replaced by despair, however, as Hodgson began to lose the faith of first the fans and then the players, culminating in him losing his job in January after 31 games in charge.

Villas-Boas is already being lauded as the man to bring the good times back to Stamford Bridge, although former Blues hero Desailly feels it is imperative the Portuguese man makes a flying start his priority.

"All the pressure is all on the shoulders of the coach," Desailly said. "It's all up to him. The next step is to get the consideration of the players. If I was in the squad like this with a young coach like this with not too much experience, who has had one [successful season] with Porto, it could be a little problem. The Chelsea players are really established players. If I was there, a World Cup winner, I would be expecting the coach to show me during the training sessions, and in his substitutions and tactics during games, how clear he is in his vision.

"If he makes any mistake then you will see that they will not follow him. Subconsciously, not necessarily on purpose, they will be thinking that the guy who is supposed to be managing [them] is not on their level. He has to be clever on how he manages his team.

"This is the challenge for the manager. It's a big consideration for me, given the young age that he is. His first few weeks could be vital. It's vital in that if they don't perform - like Liverpool last year [under Roy Hodgson] early in the season - the players and their consideration will change. The manager needs the players to follow him, and to follow his vision."

Despite a promising pre-season tour of Asia - Chelsea play Aston Villa in the final of the Asia Trophy on Saturday - Desailly says he has already noticed the pressure getting to Villas-Boas. He said: "I've seen him in the press conferences [in east Asia] and I could feel he was already annoyed. He is the guy with the vision and ambition. Come on, you are the man - show us. He should be talking up the players saying: 'Come up.' Luckily he has Roberto Di Matteo at his side [as assistant manager], and he is calm.

"If Manchester United get a bad result at the beginning of the season they remain calm even though the media is very hot. The players stay with the programme, the training sessions, and they stay confident. They come back slowly and it comes good. But Chelsea will face problems if the players don't follow his vision and are less confident. Not long ago I was a player in the reality of the league, and that's my feeling."

Chelsea's much-publicised chase of Tottenham's Luka Modric has occupied the back pages throughout the summer. Spurs have turned down bids of £22 million and £27 million for the Croat and Desailly is of the opinion it will not be the worst thing in the world if they miss out on the midfielder.

"Modric is a great player, but he's too small; too lightweight," he told the Daily Mail. "I'm not sure he's right for Chelsea and the number of games they play. For what Chelsea need he's good, but not great. Now, Wesley Sneijder is a great player. We're talking about Chelsea, who have to be on the same level as Barcelona, Manchester United and AC Milan, not Tottenham."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.