AVB fights back.

So it appears Andre Villas-Boas actually does know what he is doing. I for one am not surprised. Despite what many of the disgruntled players would tell you, I have been impressed with his background and his feats in Portugal.

Things have not been easy fo the relatively young Chelsea manager. He has inherited an ageing squad with players within touching distance of becoming over the hill. Many seem unwilling to conform to his ideas. Yet last night saw a demolition job of Spanish side Valencia which saw Chelsea qualify from their Champions League group as winners. I was delighted for AVB.

It takes a brave man to come in and implement the changes he has. Before AVB, people would whisper that Frank Lampard had become to cut a confused player in an England shirt yet he would get selected based on his wage packet. Since AVB has started not playing him suddenly everyone has realised that neither England or Chelsea are as reliant on him as they first thought. In fact we will be more surprised now if Capello even selects Lampard. Regardless what John Terry's influence over the England manager.

Sure AVB plays a dangerous game with his defensive line pushing up the pitch but the only reason this tactic has been flawed is because at the moment Chelsea do not have a centre back either quick enough or rational enough to make it work. For years I have been saying John Terry lacks a yard of pace needed at the highest level. Although he is undoubtedly a decent centre back, when he hasn't had a partner with some pace it has highlighted the issue. Alongside Rio Ferdinand and Terry was fine but we all remember how exposed England were when Terry played with Matthew Upsom. Another decent player is David Luiz but he needs to know when and when not to try to win the ball. He gives away to many freekicks in key areas.

Even the way in which AVB has handled the Drogba/Torres situation has to be applauded. Two world class strikers individually yet together it's a case of to many chiefs and not enough Indians. We shouldn't be surprised. How many great forwards thrown together just haven't clicked. Even some of Chelsea's recent players have fallen into that bracket. Shevchenko was a Roman Abramovich signing that didn't work out. Yet for the money they paid him you can't help but think Luis Suarez or Carlos Tevez would have represented greater value for money.

Some of the untouchables are not getting enough game time. From AVB's point of view so what. He has a 3 year contract and I believe he will see that contract out. Which players from the ones he inherited can say they will be at Chelsea as long as that. None of them. The player power has been fimly snatched back and handed to it's rightful place. With the management. Even Mr Chelsea has had to fall in line.

The exit door does beckon for the transfer requests of Anelka and Alex whilst reports also link Kalou and Bosingwa with January moves away from Stamford Bridge. Villas-Boas knows who fits his plans and who is surplus. He is trying to reduce the average age of the club and the form of Sturridge, Romeu, Ramires, Meireles and Mata show that AVB is on the right lines. He has the team going forward to his liking. One or two reinforcements in January will help tighten things up at the back.

The calls for AVB to have his stay as Chelsea manager cut short were ludicrous and the owner has finally learnt that by constantly changing management isn' the way to build success. Given a chance AVB could create a dynasty similar to Sir Alex Ferguson's. Certainly he has time on his side. A word of warning to Chelsea fans though. Stick behind your manager because you will only realise his worth once he has gone. A look at how Porto finished in their Champions League group is testiment to that. For those of you that don't know they finished 3rd behind Zenit St.Petersburg and Apoel Nicosia. That's right the team that won everything before them last season under AVB, didn't even make the Champions League knock out stage.

As their season stands Chelsea will not be to disappointed. They are in a Champions League place which gives them a platform to push as high as possible and in winning their group they have avoided Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Apoel Nicosia and will only worry about getting AC Milan in the draw. They have also got a favourable draw in the FA Cup as well. For a team in transition that is not a bad season. OK it's not where they want to be but I don't think we can properly judge AVB's performance until next season. He will have lost more of the fringe players by then and built his team. He might even have helped England finally retire Terry and Lampard.