Ancelotti: Give AVB more time

Carlo Ancelotti has urged Chelsea to stick with Andre Villas-Boas, insisting the Portuguese needs time to make an impact at Stamford Bridge.

The Paris Saint-Germain boss was sacked by Roman Abramovich on the final day of last season, despite winning the Premier League and FA Cup during his first term in charge.

Villas-Boas has come under similar pressure from the Chelsea hierarchy in recent weeks following a stuttering Premier League campaign, along with poor performances in both the FA Cup and the Champions League.

Ancelotti understands Villas-Boas’ methods in attempting to freshen up the squad with younger players and feels the change at Stamford Bridge needs time.

“I think that the problem at Chelsea was that they tried to change something, to have a younger team, to give more opportunity to the younger players, to play, to try to give less matches to the most important players – Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry,” Ancelotti told CNN.

“But I think that this change needed time because it is very difficult to substitute players like Lampard, like Ashley Cole, like John Terry, because they are I think again the players in Chelsea.

“Villas-Boas is a good coach, because he did a very good job at Porto. It’s the philosophy of the club. They tried to change something. This change needed time.”