AVB: "We're on the right track and our philosophy is correct"

AVB along with Branislav Ivanovic as posted in my previous blog post, took centre stage yesterday ahead of tonight's game in the Champions League against Genk and has spoken openly about a disastrous week in the Premier League but of a determination to stick to his attacking philosophy.

Now I posted yesterday asking for your opinions on whether or not we need to be more defensive minded first to ensure we stop conceding goals, but like I said, AVB has revealed he will never change his style, the style he believes will bring success.

He said:

"You have to be frank and say that our progress was stopped in a disastrous week for us in terms of results. But that doesn't mean it has all gone to ruins and the whole castle has fallen down.

Of course, back-to-back defeats by QPR and Arsenal take their toll in terms of the league table but what we're building is still right. We're on the right track and our philosophy is correct. I'll never change that. The team have been punished in the last week but we're not running away from our mistakes and now it's for us to take up the challenge. And we have the talent, experience and ability to do that.

It's not my leadership style to shout at players. There was no rant or extra work. There was a conversation, as there is after every game. But after a defeat like this, a player's own reflection is the important thing. I've a two-way leadership style where the players are always encouraged to give an opinion. And because of what these players have won, their words and actions are more important than mine.

I've seen teams like this win leagues, playing positive, open football. Nobody likes to watch a negative, speculative game — but I also like to be on the right end of wins. So that means we cannot forget our defensive responsibilities and must accept things aren't right when we concede five at home.

We must improve and do it as soon as possible in the limited time available."

(Source)
Listening to AVB I am wondering if we are over-reacting here. Was our defeat against Arsenal purely and simply down to defensive mistakes or do we feel as though with the fact that everyone we have played so far in the Premier League apart from Stoke, has scored against us and it was coming?.

You have to be mentally strong to stick by your philosophy and footballing principles and we should respect that.

I am pleased with what he is saying though if you read it again. Even though he wants us to keep playing the way we are going forward, he is stating on record to the media and the players that we simply cannot forget our defensive responsibilities no matter who we are playing against and even if we are winning. Chelsea lost their concentration at the start of the second half and it cost us two goals.

The good thing is that AVB openly admits to having a two way approach to his management style. He likes players to express their own views and frustrations rather than not. How many times have we seen in the past things getting bottled up and coming to a head in a team meeting when only then, the players get to express their views. One of these instances was in Ancelotti's first season after some poor performances and a draw away at Blackburn and it changed our season.

We simply cannot ignore what happened on Saturday but what we are hearing coming out of that dressing room and at Cobham this week sounds encouraging and it will be interesting to see our defensive performances against Genk tonight and Blackburn on Saturday.

Let's hope the players and AVB are on the way to putting things right so we never have to watch something like last Saturday again for a long long time!

KTBFFH

I'm taking part in Movember this month, please donate!

Check out my blog posts on the Official Chelsea Website - http://bit.ly/mRUOqw
Follow me and my blog on Twitter - http://bit.ly/gP9Dwt
Follow the blog on Facebook - http://on.fb.me/i5OTbj
Grab my RSS Feed - http://bit.ly/ijgiIT
Sign up to my email updates - http://bit.ly/eTEVrt
My YouTube Channel - http://bit.ly/giLSqr
Grab your Chelsea FC Fan App on Android.