Who is Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas?

Born on 17th October 1977, André Villas Boas has become the new manager at Chelsea football club at a young age of 33.

His first encounter with football management was as a 16 year old when Sir Bobby Robson, then Manager of FC Porto, moved into the same Apartment block. After questioning Sir Bobby’s team selection a couple of times, he backed his argument with facts and data. Sir Bobby was so impressed by the 16 year old that he offered him the role of a trainee youth team coach, which he accepted!

Next, he was sent to England by Sir Bobby to get his coaching badges and was the youngest student at the school. After becoming the youngest to receive UEFA C licence at age 17, he was sent to Ipswich Town by Sir Bobby Robson to gain some learning experience. It is here that he learnt English from his English grandmother and became fluent, which also helped him to communicate on a wider scale.

Next, André  undertook his first coaching job at British Virgin Islands Football Association and after 18 months he moved to FC Porto as the coach of the under 19 side. This job was offered by none other than Jose Mourinho! Soon thereafter, Mourinho promoted André  to the position of Opposition Scout. An opposition scout basically scouts upcoming opponents and provides dossiers. He thrived in this role and his attention to detail allowed Mourinho to make tactics around the provided opposition intelligence.

The Jose-André  partnership enjoyed significant success at Porto and also won the UEFA Champions League in 2002. When Mourinho left Porto for Chelsea, he took André  with him and then again when he moved from Chelsea to Internazionale.

However, in October 2009, he left Inter and became the manager of Academica in Portugal’s top division. After finishing 11^th in the league, he was appointed as the manager of FC Porto. He guided Porto to a treble, winning the League, the League Cup and the Europa League. In addition, Porto ended the season unbeaten with 27 wins in 30 matches, becoming only the second club in Portugal to finish a league unbeaten since Benfica in 1972-73.