• Premier League

We can learn from Arsenal - Villas-Boas

ESPNsoccernet staff
October 31, 2011
Andre Villas-Boas has endured a difficult week © PA Photos
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Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has urged his players to learn from their Arsenal counterparts as they look to put a horror week behind them.

Villas-Boas watched Arsene Wenger's men rip his defence apart on Saturday as the Blues conceded five goals at home for the first time in 22 years. The 5-3 defeat capped a nightmare seven days for the club, in particular captain John Terry, who is fighting to clear his name in a Football Association inquiry into allegations he racially abused QPR's Anton Ferdinand.

Back-to-back Premier League defeats have now left the club nine points adrift of leaders Manchester City. The Gunners, meanwhile, have managed to recover from a torrid summer to win eight out of their last nine matches, and Villas-Boas believes this makes them a perfect blueprint in his attempts to get Chelsea back on track.

"Arsenal have made a very good recovery, they are the exact example we are speaking about," he said. "Arsenal were considered dead at the beginning and they were calling for Wenger's head, or the media were."

Despite the hard times, Villas-Boas insists he will not change his aggressive approach. The Portuguese also brushed aside speculation that Chelsea have an inherent defensive problem.

"It's a stance you have to take," he said. "You have to reflect on what are the values of the English culture and British football. I think those values are well present.

"Even if we rule out Arsenal's last two goals, we still need to analyse the other three they scored. But, before this game, we were one of the three best defences in the Premier League. Nobody would bet on the results that have been happening in the Premier League this season."

Indeed, the eight-goal thriller was the latest goalfest involving the country's top clubs, with United also thrashing Arsenal 8-2 and losing 6-1 at home to Manchester City.

"The results that are happening reflect how chaotic the game is and how beautiful it is at the same time," Villas-Boas said. "For the fans, it is a good spectacle, for the neutral supporter. For the supporter of that team, you want to play beautiful football and you want to win. So we need to get the two together.

"Everyone is praising a strong, attacking team like Man City and we are exactly the same. We just have to make the most of our opportunities and try to score them.

"It's the route that we are taking and we want to do the things properly. The players have talent and they enjoy it. So we will try to get things right. At the moment the challenge is not going our way too much of the time in terms of the points distance to the leader.

"The Premier League changes dramatically so much that it's unpredictable. It happened to us on the wrong side last year and we have to believe it can happen on the good side this time."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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