Chelsea 2 WBA 1:ANDRE VILLAS-Boas is still striving to make a real difference. Any elation at a first competitive victory as Chelsea's manager was tempered by the reality that his team had departed to catcalls from the stands at the interval, the shortcomings of last year having reappeared to prompt anxiety all round.
This club should be encouraged by evidence that the new man can tweak and cajole effectively, but the disquiet may remain until the side’s reinvention is complete.
There were positives to cling to in the aftermath, from the switch to two up front to the momentum whipped up once parity had been restored in the second period.
Yet the early plod, which cost them Shane Long’s smartly taken opener, and the lack of invention, pace and urgency through the first half, were all too familiar. Chelsea were punished for those faults last term and this time round, the other title contenders are reinforced. This team are already heaving to keep pace with them.
Chelsea will take timely strides this week. Juan Mata, Valencia’s much-coveted winger, should complete his transfer in the next 24 hours in a deal that will cost an initial €27 million. The Spaniard will bring pace and guile, his willingness to hug the touchline likely to stretch opponents.
Florent Malouda scored the winner on Saturday but he is as happy veering infield as dumbfounding markers on the outside. Chelsea will welcome a flashback to trickery on the flank.
The club will also unveil Romelu Lukaku and Oriel Romeu tomorrow, with the latter likely to be integrated swiftly into the side as a passer rather than destroyer at the base of midfield, with the potential of at least one more eye-catching arrival to follow.
Villas-Boas’s willingness to respond to questions of interest in Mata and Luka Modric in recent days has felt telling; as much a gentle nudge to the board that strengthening is required as a reminder to fans that efforts are being made in the market. Assimilate Mata and a Modric-type creator into this line-up and Chelsea become a team far less reliant upon brawn, and one who would pose a very different threat to unsettle opponents.
The boos at the interval was reflective of impatience though Villas-Boa has not lost a league game since Benfica defeated his Academica side 3-2 in April 2010.
West Bromwich Albion have twice been beaten by late goals. They will be nervy themselves until displays such as this yield points, but theirs appears a far stronger team this term than last.
Long looks a bargain, even if the fee rises as high as €7.4 million, Peter Odemwingie has been secured on new terms and the likes of Chris Brunt and James Morrison provide a slick supply line. There was a ruggedness, too, to a back-line strengthened by the arrival of Ben Foster, which suggests they will quickly hoist themselves up the table.
Patience is required at The Hawthorns as well as Stamford Bridge.
