Spurs boss recalls struggles with senior players at Stamford Bridge.
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Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has spoken to French publication L’Equipe about his difficult spell in charge of Chelsea, saying it helped make him a better manager, according to the Daily Mirror.
The Portuguese coach spent less than a season in charge of Chelsea in 2011/12, having moved to Stamford Bridge after catching the eye with immense success in charge of Porto.
However, he could not replicate this success with the Blues, as he struggled to win over several of the club’s big-name players, which eventually led to him being replaced by Roberto Di Matteo, though he was back in the Premier League shortly afterwards as he took over from Harry Redknapp at Tottenham the following summer.
Although he failed to guide Spurs to the top four in his first season in charge, he has been given an opportunity to build a team at White Hart Lane, with a host of new signings arriving this season as the club have enjoyed a strong start to the new campaign.
Looking back, Villas-Boas feels he is a better manager now, and has learned not to make the same mistakes at Tottenham as he made at Chelsea.
“I spoke to them (Lampard and Terry),” he said. “Chelsea was an experience for me because it allowed me to understand that there are some things I could not do.
“I was just the same coach as at Porto. I had a direction I wanted the team to follow. But I did not have enough support to follow this direction.
“It was a good thing, in the end, because this experience has taught me a lot and now in Tottenham, I do things differently.
“It was not only the players , the door of my office was also opened in Chelsea. But it is a question of dynamics: if you win the weekend, the leaders will follow you . And Chelsea is under a huge media focus. We were soon under pressure.
“It was an experience that I had to live. It made me very strong. I failed, it is true. I had to win and I failed.”
The two sides meet in the Premier League this weekend in a crucial tie at White Hart Lane.