Liverpool Legend Hails Andre Villas-Boas

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has been impressed with the reaction of Andre Villas-Boas in recent weeks.

Chelsea lost two Premiership games on the bounce recently, including a 1-0 defeat to local neighbours QPR and a 5-3 drubbing by Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, before they won away to Blackburn last weekend and the Scot was quick to hail the Blues boss.

Souness explained in his newspaper column yesterday:

“I’ve checked his record and in his entire management career at three clubs, he has lost only 17 times in 105 matches in all ­competitions.

“At just 34, he has dealt ­brilliantly with being thrown in at the deep end at Chelsea.

“A dip was always going to ­happen at some stage. I used to say to players that I would find out more about them in defeat than in victory.

“And it also works the other way, with players looking for signs of weakness in a ­manager after defeats and examining how he reacts to setbacks.

“That ­happens in particular at big clubs with big players – and there are certainly plenty of big players in the Stamford Bridge dressing room.

“So we will find out more about Villas-Boas in the next few games. I’ll be at the ­Liverpool match watching with great interest to see how he and his team react.”