Andre Villas-Boas duly gave his first press conference at Chelsea last week and charmed everybody with his humour, his fluent English and his seeming modesty.

But there is an iron hand inside that velvet glove, a ferocious ambition, which enabled him, even as a teenager with no background in football, to talk his way into the game and embark on a managerial career of astonishing success.

Ruthless streak

At Chelsea, he has already shown the kind of ruthless determination which, when he took over at Porto at the start of last season, moved him to tell two Porto players, who had been figuring in the World Cup, that they were now for sale.

At Stamford Bridge, there has already been a colossal clearout, as he brings in his lieutenants from Porto; though at least he has brought back to the Bridge Robert Di Matteo as assistant manager. But the club doctor has gone, the sports science chief has gone, the long- established assistant first team coach has gone.

Yet, against probability, Michael Emanalo has escaped the cull and there are even strange rumours that he could become the first- team coach.

But when this possibility was aired last season, the idea was ridiculed, it being pointed out that the only team he had coached was a girl's team in America.

Owner's picks

Could Emanalo be a favourite of the oligarch owner, Roman Abramovich, who has sacked one manager after another?

Fernando Torres is certainly a Roman favourite and here is a serious potential dilemma for young Villas-Boas. Last season, Torres was disastrously ineffectual, yet the now deposed Carlo Ancelotti kept using him to the detriment of the attack.

Villas-Boas says cheerfully, "It's about finetuning the team, not the player," and draws analogies with Porto's Falcao.

Falcao may interest Chelsea, but Santos are now said to be going to any lengths to keep Brazil's wunderkind, Neymar, from their clutches.

Copa America

Meanwhile, after the recent riot at River Plate, their stadium may not stage the final of the Copa America.

Will Uruguay with Luis Suarez and Deigo Forlan, plus Napoli's impressive Edinson Cavani in attack prove the dark horses?

Brazil, meanwhile, need the run-out since, as future hosts to a 2014 World Cup for which they presently seem so ill-prepared, they have no official fixtures till that time.

 

The author is a football expert based in England