AVB keen to do things his own way after working under Mourinho.
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Andre Villas-Boas has played down similarities between himself and his mentor Jose Mourinho, whom he worked under for a long time at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan.
As part of his in-depth interview with French publication L’Equipe, the Tottenham manager said that although Mourinho was a big part of his early career, he now feels he gets his teams to play with a more attacking approach, the Daily Express reports.
Mourinho returned as manager of Chelsea this summer after six years away from the club, during which time his young compatriot Villas-Boas was one of many to also manage the Blues for a short spell.
With the pair set to meet for the first time as opponents this weekend with Spurs playing Chelsea at White Hart Lane in a crucial Premier League encounter, Villas-Boas reflected on his work with Mourinho and their differences in management styles.
Although Villas-Boas’ success at Porto saw him draw inevitable comparisons with Mourinho when he then moved to Chelsea, he feels the similarities end there, and hinted that Mourinho’s teams are more defensive than his.
“Comparisons with Mourinho are difficult to accept for several reasons,” he explained.
“I learnt with Jose Mourinho, but I am completely different with my character, my working methods and my communication.
“We have different philosophies. Of course Jose has been very important in my career, he gave me experience I could not get with anyone else. We have a great professional relationship, but as soon as we parted I started to do things my own way.
“My philosophy is to have attacking teams that have initiative in the game, that like to keep the ball. Any match we play to win it and sometimes we pay for that.”
Mourinho’s return to Chelsea had seen the Blues talked up as early title favourites, though Tottenham have so far made the better start to the season.