Chelsea 4 Swansea 1:ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS is operating an omerta on the subject of Fernando Torres but he was happy to discuss Frank Lampard, who started a second consecutive game on the bench as Chelsea coasted to an easy win the manager branded the "best" of his tenure.
Lampard was an unused substitute but, according to Villas-Boas, reports of the death of his Chelsea career are greatly exaggerated, with the rationale being that after 76 minutes (plus penalties) of the midweek League Cup tie against Fulham, the midfielder was merely one of nine rested players on Saturday. The Portuguese described Lampard, who warmed down with the rest of the unused substitutes afterwards, as still one of the club’s “iconic” players.
“We have to make decisions,” said Villas-Boas. “I can’t go on every week or every three days to discuss the choices I take. Today our thoughts were to send the most amount of players fresh on to the pitch. We had Alex suspended and in the end we decided to go with Petr (Cech) and John Terry, but we had almost 11 players fresh on the pitch and this is important when you play every three days.
“Lampard is an iconic player and a fantastic player. Yes, for sure, still a key player, no doubt about it. He’s been doing magnificently well for the team. He started five games, played 90 minutes in four of them, and there’s nothing to say. He’s a fantastic player and we count on him like we count on the others.”
Since taking over in June, Villas-Boas is gradually emerging as an intelligent, brave and slightly naive character as Chelsea begin to purr under his guidance. He spoke of fluency being achieved in this easy win but it was his refusal to talk up Torres, who was shown the red card for a two-boot lunge at Mark Gower after 39 minutes, that puzzled.
Villas-Boas dressed this up as not wanting to discuss any individual. But he was content to go into the qualities of, variously, Juan Mata, Lampard and Ramires, who scored twice in one of his better games for the team.
Until he was sent off Torres was the brightest player, offering a display that was peppered with menacing movement, with the chested control of Mata’s lob after 29 minutes only bettered by the pirouette and finish beyond Michel Vorm.
That made it two goals in two games for Torres, but given the chance to praise a striker who could do with some public support, Villas-Boas chose platitudes. “What’s most important is for the team to create and for you to have these opportunities. The team has been creating a lot of opportunities for the strikers.”
Pressed that Torres is becoming a more and more positive element of that effort, further obfuscation followed. Villas-Boas said: “Yes. And, the strikers. We have been creating a lot of opportunities for the strikers to have these situations and today we found the efficiency through Fernando and Rammy (Ramires). It was important for us to find the back of the net more often because the volume of attack we have is good.”
With every outing Mata is appearing to be the significant purchase of the summer, worth the €27 million paid Valencia late last month. And Chelsea’s number 10 returns to his former club for a Champions League group game on Wednesday.
“He is a player of magnificent talent,” said Villas-Boas. “When we brought him in we showed that his CV speaks for itself. And when we have players in our squad like him, it does. Lamps (Lampard), (Florent) Malouda, (Nicolas) Anelka, players of this dimension. And Mata is the same. In the Champions League he has been magnificent for Valencia. He comes from a good school of Real Madrid (as a youth player) and he is showing his potential in the Premier League now.”
And of Ramires, he said: “He was good but all the team had a good workrate through the game.”
Didier Drogba scored Chelsea’s late fourth after Swansea’s Ashley Williams had headed a consolation.
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