Andre Villas-Boas is a coach from Portugal who almost never played at a high level in football. This is one of those players who quickly realize that they see this sport much better not from the field, but from outside it. Villas Boash was under the auspices of Bobby Robson and studied under Jose Mourinho.
Player career
Andre Villas Boas was born in Portugal on October 17, 1977. At the age of ten, he joined the football academy of the small club Ribeirense, where he spent five years. After that, he moved to Ramaldens, a club with which he ultimately entered into a professional contract. Even then, the leadership noticed that the playing abilities of the defensive midfielder are not so high, but at the same time he sees the field perfectly, takes ideal positions on it and perfectly understands the tactics. In Porto, the boy met Bobby Robson, who became his patron. Thanks to him, Villas Boash passed the exam for his first coaching license at the age of 17, and by the age of 21 he already had the opportunity to enter the coaching staff at a professional level. In 1998, Andre moved to Marekel, but spent only one year there - the fact is that he already worked in the Porto system, so he had less and less time for the club’s Sunday games. Therefore, in 1999, at the age of 22, Andre ended his career as a player in order to give himself completely to coaching.
The beginning of the way
Already in 2000, Andre Villas-Boash received the position of technical director in the national team of not the largest sizes - the British Virgin Islands. But at the same time, he continued his activities at Porto, and when Jose Mourinho, a former assistant to Bobby Robson, was appointed the head coach at this club, it was the British who advised Mourinho to take on his headquarters a young tactical genius. Since 2002, Andre Villas-Boas, whose biography began to unfold incredibly rapidly, began working at the Porto headquarters under the leadership of Jose Mourinho. He served as a scout, whose duties included monitoring the next opponent of the team and compiling a report on his tactics. When Jose was invited to Chelsea in 2004, Andre followed him, spent three years there, and then moved on to follow Mourinho to Inter. However, there, Jose already realized that Andre’s abilities were wasted, therefore, at the Italian club, Villas Boas became Mourinho’s chief assistant - this was his preparation for an independent professional career. In 2009, Villas Boash finally received a license allowing him to personally lead a professional club, and this began his adventures as a coach.
Start in Portugal
Naturally, the new coach did not plan to immediately head the top club. He began with the Academician Coimbra, where he spent one season, not allowing the club to fly out of the league and bringing it to the semifinals of the Portuguese Cup. In 2010, Villas Boash received an offer from Porto - and immediately agreed to take the post of club coach. There he also spent only one season, but showed an incredible result - he won the treble, consisting of the Portuguese Championship, the Portuguese Cup, and at the same time the Europa League, the second most prestigious European tournament after the Champions League.
European coach career
Naturally, the leading clubs of the European top 5 championships immediately became interested in him, and in 2011 Andre headed Chelsea, where he worked under Mourinho from 2004 to 2008. However, the team’s performances under his leadership did not suit the club’s rather picky leadership, so in March 2012 he was fired, and Roberto di Matteo reaped the fruits of his work, winning the FA Cup and the Champions League with Chelsea. In the summer of 2012, Villas Boash became the coach of another English club, Tottenham Hotspur, with whom he finished his first season in a satisfactory fifth place. However, the next season began not so pleasantly, so Andre was fired before the New Year. As a result, he spent a couple of months without work, until in March 2014 he became the head coach of the Russian Zenit. And in the first season he was able to win the Russian Championship, and a year later became the owner of the Russian Cup. But in June 2016 he was replaced by Mircea Lucescu as a coach , and Villas-Boas decided to take a break before restoring his coaching activities.