Chelsea would be mad to sack Villas-Boas now

Speculation over Andre Villas-Boas' Chelsea future has intensified since their 3-1 defeat to Napoli

The knives are out. Again.

Andre Villas-Boas knew what to expect when he took on the manager's job at Chelsea last summer given Roman Abramovich's record for hiring and firing.

But even by Abramovich's standards, it would be crazy to sack Villas-Boas now.

The Portuguese 34-year-old represents the future.

If he doesn't succeed at Stamford Bridge, he will succeed somewhere else.

True, Chelsea have had a shocking run of late - indeed a shocking season up to now - and some of Villas-Boas' tactics have been naive, but there has to be some sort of long-term strategy at the club.

Why spend an estimated £13.3million to get Villas-Boas out of Porto only to spend a similar amount to get rid of him less than a year later?

If he was sacked now, who in their right mind would want to take the poisoned chalice of the Chelsea job?

A lot of Chelsea's problems this season have been created by Villas-Boas, but it is an incredibly difficult job he took on at Stamford Bridge.

He inherited an aging squad whose standards slipped last season while 'star' players like Fernando Torres have simply not fired for him.

Torres' lack of form has cast a huge shadow over the club over the last year and he has become a millstone around the manager's neck.

Villas-Boas seems to have finally lost patience with the Spaniard but the worry is Abramovich will not accept his £50million signing not playing.

This is Andriy Shevchenko revisited.

Shevchenko looks a bargain compared to Torres at £30million, but his lack of form was surely a factor in Jose Mourinho's departure from the club.

Shevchenko was arguably seen as bigger than the manager back then, and a similar situation seems to be arising now with Torres.

Torres is continuing to flatter to deceive at Chelsea

That cannot be allowed to happen.

Villas-Boas must be the most important person in the club and trusted to make his own decisions.

His choice to leave out Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien against Napoli in the Champions League last night was described as "managerial suicide" by Jamie Redknapp, but it was in fact a great show of strength by the manager.

Cole was not fully fit, so it was understandable he didn't start the game, and if his alleged dressing-room row with Villas-Boas in the days leading up to the match played a part in the decision, then it has to be regarded as a brave choice.

The manager showed he was the boss and that, even in such a vital game as a Champions League knockout fixture, nobody was immune to the axe.

As for Lampard and Essien, they simply haven't played enough recently to warrant a place in the side.

As it turned out, Villas-Boas made the wrong decisions in Italy but it was merely a sign of the challenges he is facing at Stamford Bridge.

Aging players with big reputations are simply not good enough to start every game anymore and there is not the quality needed in reserve to replace them.

John Terry, Lampard, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda et al can't have long left at the top level yet Villas-Boas was expected to phase that generation out and implement a new expansive playing style in a season?

If Abramovich thought that was achievable, he is mad.

Chelsea's chaotic defence is in dire need of a makeover, with David Luiz undoubtedly a talented player but not responsible enough for a defender and Gary Cahill lacking experience on the big stage.

They need an effective player in front of the defence to snuff out opposition attacks and may have that man already in Oriol Romeu, while a new striker may become a necessity unless Torres gets his act together.

The only real positives at the moment are Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge, but Chelsea cannot expect to win ties like the one against Napoli with such a chaotic defence.

Players of the quality of Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi are not going to pass up the kind of opportunities they were given last night and Chelsea's 3-1 defeat leaves them with a mountain to climb in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.

They showed enough going forward to suggest they are more than capable of scoring at least twice against the Italians, while Napoli themselves looked shaky at the back and so Chelsea should still have a chance in the tie.

However, Napoli will always be dangerous on the break with their 'Holy Trinity' of Cavani, Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik, so it is hard to see Chelsea keeping a clean sheet in the return leg.

Napoli's 'Holy Trinity' would striker fear into any defence

They certainly have it all to do to reach the quarter-finals, while their league form and position suggests they will find it difficult to qualify for the competition next season.

However, even if all goes wrong and Chelsea fail on both fronts, that should not mean the end of Villas-Boas.

To sack him in the summer would leave his successor facing exactly the same situation Villas-Boas left behind.

However, if faith is shown in the Portuguese boss it will give him the chance to continue the process of phasing out the older players and allow him to drag the club out of the situation he has got them in.

There is no doubt he has to shoulder much of the blame for Chelsea's plight but sacking him is not the solution.

Sooner or later, Abramovich must back a manager and Villas-Boas' record at Porto, effort in bringing in a new style of play and reputation among other managers he has worked with should be enough to convince the Russian he is the man.

Ideally, Abramovich should break his silence and support Villas-Boas publicly rather than allow the rumour mill to go into overdrive.

That is extremely unlikely, of course, but it can't have done the manager or his players any good on the eve of a crucial Champions League encounter to see the likes of Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez linked with the job.

Situations like that simply shouldn't be allowed to develop.

Villas-Boas has become something of a joke figure, with websites set up pondering whether he has been sacked yet and players thought to be sniggering and sniping behind his back.

He should be the future of Chelsea, whether their egotistical, pampered stars like it or not.

To sack him now would show an incredible short-term philosophy and would be a huge waste of money, while they would probably regret the decision if Villas-Boas was to go on to be as good a manager as he is predicted to become.

Abramovich's appointment of a young manager was a risk but he surely must have known that at the time.

Why would he appoint a youngster if he wasn't going to give him time to build a squad and to change the philosophy?

In reality, Villas-Boas is unlikely to be given the time he needs to rebuild this Chelsea squad.

The process has started, but still has an awful long way to go.

If it is decided Villas-Boas is not the man to complete it, you have to wonder if it will be possible for anyone to work at Stamford Bridge long-term and make the changes that are needed.