In football, there are many unique stories about the work of a coach, but not many have stories as unique as Andre Villas Boas. Unlike most coaches, he was never a player, coming from an affluent background. AVB started his coaching career at the age of 16 as Sir Bobby Robson’s coaching staff at FC Porto, with Jose Mourinho, assistant and translator for the legendary English coach.
This FC Porto fan’s talent as a coach was actually visible at a young age. Evidently, at the age of 20, this “akamsi” from the city of Porto already has a UEFA Pro coaching license. In other words, at such a young age, he could already coach a team in the highest caste competition in Europe’s top league.
At the age of 23, this coach, born in 1977, had a brief period as Technical Director of the British Virgin Islands national team in the first quarter of 2000. However, the opportunity to return to FC Porto as a coaching staff came and he accepted it again, when Jose Mourinho started serving as coach of the resident team at the Estadio Do Dragao in 2002.
His good analytical skills made him Mourinho’s mainstay “spy”, who sensationally led FC Porto to consecutive UEFA Cup and Champions League trophies between the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons. Mourinho and AVB’s togetherness continued when Mou coached Chelsea and Inter Milan between 2004-2009. However, when Mou won the Treble Winner at Inter Milan in the 2009-2010 season, AVB decided to go to Academica to start a career as a head coach.
At this club in the Portuguese League, his reputation as a talented young coach began to emerge. He brought the team that was initially threatened with relegation to finish in mid-table and qualify for the semifinals of the Portuguese Cup in the 2009-2010 season.
An offer from FC Porto (again) came and he accepted it. At the coach’s hometown club, he was able to achieve the Treble Winner, after winning the Portuguese League, Portuguese Cup and Europa League titles in the 2010-2011 season.
Unlike Mourinho, who tends to be pragmatic, AVB relies heavily on an attacking style of play and is braver in launching young or previously relatively little-known players. Evidently, in the FC Porto team under his care, stars such as Joao Moutinho, James Rodriguez, Hulk and Radamel Falcao emerged.
The charm of this coach who was born in 1977 then attracted Roman Abramovich’s interest in bringing him (again) to Chelsea in the summer of 2011. This time, he came with the role of head coach, and the hope of becoming the “New Jose Mourinho”, as the media called him, after bringing FC Porto to Treble Winner.
These high hopes can be seen from Chelsea’s decision to pay compensation of 15 million euros to Porto, making it a transfer record for a coach at that time. Unfortunately, his work at Stamford Bridge only lasted for a few months. Inconsistent performance, combined with a chaotic dressing room situation, made Abramovich lose patience and sack the Portuguese coach in March 2012.
Ironically, after AVB left, Chelsea were able to win the Champions League and FA Cup titles in the 2011-2012 season, under the direction of Roberto Di Matteo, who was previously AVB’s assistant coach. After a tumultuous period at Chelsea, an opportunity from another corner of London came, when Tottenham Hotspur appointed him as coach for the 2012-2013 season.
Initially, everything went smoothly. Spurs are able to compete at the top of the Premier League, with Gareth Bale shining brightly as the motor of attack. For the first time since becoming head coach, AVB is preparing to undergo a second season at one club.
Unfortunately, the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for 85 million pounds was not matched by the arrival of a suitable replacement. The Lilywhites’ performance also slumped, and the coach, who as a youth enjoyed playing the football simulation game “Championship Manager”, was kicked out by the club management, immediately after Christian Eriksen et al were beaten by Liverpool with a score of 0-5.
From Spurs, Villas Boas then had the opportunity to coach Zenit Saint Petersburg, replacing Luciano Spalletti in March 2014. It was at this giant Russian club that, for the first and last time, he spent two full seasons as head coach.
Coincidentally, at that time Zenit was strengthened by star players such as Hulk (Brazil), Axel Witsel (Belgium), and Ezequiel Garay (Argentina). His performance is also quite good. Hulk et al were able to get them through the group phase of the 2015-2016 Champions League season. One title in the Russian League, Russian Cup and Russian Super Cup was also achieved
From Russia, AVB then brought Hulk with him to move to Shanghai SIPG, and tasted the competitive atmosphere in the Far East, when the ambitious Chinese Super League project still dared to offer crazy salaries for the world’s top players and coaches.
However, his work in China only lasted during the 2016-2017 season. Due to controversy, due to a long suspension, due to criticizing the referee too often, the club led by Hulk and Oscar was able to lead him to finish in second place in the Chinese Super League, semi-finals of the Asian Champions League and final of the Chinese FA Cup. An achievement that is actually quite good, in the era of Guangzhou Evergrande’s dominance.
Uniquely, AVB then briefly entered the automotive world, by taking part in the Dakar Rally in the 2018 edition, before finally returning to coach Olympique Marseille in the summer of 2019.
Under his guidance, the southern French coastal club was able to finish as runners-up in the French Ligue 1 2019-2020 season. It’s just that he experienced the “curse of the second season” again. As a result of a dispute with management in the middle of the 2020-2021 season, he decided to leave and retire as a coach.
Of course, this is an unusual story, but it doesn’t end there, because the man who was born on October 17 1977 apparently has the ambition to become president of the FC Porto club in the 2024 elections.
This ambition is actually quite bold, because his opponent is Jorge Nuno Pinto Da Costa, the incumbent who has been in power since 1982. Under his leadership, Os Dragoes was not only able to win dozens of domestic titles in Portugal, but also won a pair of Champions League and Liga trophies each. Europa and Intercontinental Cup.
So AVB’s opponents in FC Porto’s “Presidential Election” are not tin cans. However, his plans to improve the club’s chaotic financial condition, renew the academy, plus build the FC Porto women’s futsal and soccer team have changed the situation.
This is the Dragon’s main problem in recent years, which has forced them to release star players like Otavio (to Al Nassr) and Luis Diaz (to Liverpool). As a result, in domestic competition, the Blue-White team is slightly behind Sporting Lisbon and Benfica, the two giant clubs in the Portuguese capital.
FC Porto and fans, welcome a new era with AVB (Dailymail.co.uk)
In the “Presidential Election” which was held at Estdio Do Dragao, April 27 2024, Andre Villas Boas was incredibly able to win 80.3 percent of the vote out of a total of 26,876 votes. Very far ahead of Nuno Pinto Da Costa, who only won 19.5 percent of the vote.
As a result, FC Porto is now preparing to welcome a new era under AVB, which will start from 7 May 2024 until 2028. Another unique chapter, from a unique and quite long journey.
From Andre Villas Boas, we are also invited to see that talent and “passion” for certain things combine, sometimes creating turbulence, when idealism is involved and they are reluctant to compromise for any reason.
But, behind this turbulence, sometimes there is an unexpected opportunity to move up a level, if you have the courage to step up when that opportunity comes, and AVB has proven that, from a long process, which started in 1993.
ASL
