Does the appointment of Villas-Boas signify new Abramovich attitude?

Roman Abramovich has invested heavily in Chelsea and as a result, he has achieved success during his time at the club. His appointment of Jose Mourinho as manager was the best managerial coup by a Premiership side since Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. The fact that Sir Alex continues to defy age and remains as hungry as ever, is arguably a result of the job the special one did at Chelsea. Mourinho provided Sir Alex with a challenge he just couldnt resist. The success United have achieved since Mourinho's time in the Premiership, is a direct result of United having no option but to make changes in order to wrestle the title away from Stamford Bridge. Even though Carlo Ancelotti delivered the double to Abramovich two seasons back, it wasn't enough to save him from the axe this season. It was evident that there was clearly trouble at Stamford Bridge, when Ray Wilkins was shown the door half way through last season.

The arrival of Fernando Torres provided a breath of fresh air around Stamford Bridge, however, it wasn't long before the air went stale again.The acquisition of Torres by Chelsea while they still possessed the clinical Didier Drogba, demonstrates a more long term plan being put in place by Abramovich. The appointment of Villas-Boas in favour of Guus Hiddink also provides evidence that Abramovich is realising the need for patiency and development in order to achieve continued success. It has taken two embarrassing Champions League final defeats by Barcelona, for Sir Alex to realise that he has to invest heavily, and Abramovich will have to do the same. Chelsea have been non existant in the transfer market so far and that will change radically in the coming weeks, as it will with the blue side of Manchester. However, it is the appointment of Villas-Boas that could prove to be Chelsea's best acquisition of the summer. The young manager has already shown what he is capable of with Porto last season with little managerial experience. Then you have to take into account, the uncanny resemblance to the appointment of Jose Mourinho once upon a time.

Just like Mourinho, Villa-Boas was mentured by the late great Sir Bobby Robson and even lived in the same appartment block as him. It could be argued that Villa-Boas also received the more broader menturing of the two, as he also had the privilege of working under Mourinho, learning a great deal from him. Villa-Boas worked with the special one at Chelsea and also Inter, highlighting Mourinho's belief in his ability. This will provide Villa-Boas with an a distinct advantage upon arrival at Chelsea and will stand to him incredibly at Stamford Bridge. He knows how Mourinho operated at Chelsea and how he got the best out of his players. Villa-Boas bided his time under Mourinho, before feeling confident enough to leave his comfortable position at Inter to begin his own managerial career. The ingredients are there for Villa-Boas to be successful at Chelsea, but he will need time. He will also need to make some big decisions, starting with the Torres and Drogba scenario. There appears to be a lot of dead wood at Chelsea and a mix up is definately needed if they are to challenge on all fronts again next season. Are we witnessing the birth of the next special one? Only time and money will tell. It will be interesting to see if Villa-Boas gets both.

United must not stop at Young

As Alex Ferguson edges towards his second signing of the summer, it is vital that Manchester United don't stop the midfield recruitment process with Ashley Young. While it looks a foregone conclusion that Athletico Madrid goalkeeper De Gea will be gaurding the sticks at Old Trafford next season,  it is a central attacking midfielder that Sir Alex must make his number one priority. The impending arrival of Ashley Young is a sound move by Sir Alex, as he is arguably the most up and coming attacking English midfielder at the moment. Young also fits the criteria of the new ruling of eight homegrown British players to be included in each teams 25 man squad. However, as Barcelona proved at Wembley this year and also two years ago, United are lacking greatly in the centre of midfield. Surely, any denial Sir Alex was experiencing has all but disappeared after United were played off the pitch once again against Barcelona last month.

The arrival of a creative midfielder to play alongside Fletcher, Anderson or yes Carrick, would represent the final jigsaw in Fergie's team. The usual candidates are circulating the back pages of every tabloid in the UK and Ireland, with Sneijder and Modric being the top two candidates.It doesn't take a genius to see that Sneijder is obviously the perfect replacement for Paul Scholes and why Sir Alex hasn't moved yet is unknown. However, there is a young Danish international by the name of  Christian Eriksen that could prove to be excellent value for money. Eriksen is 19 years of age and has put in some impressive performances against England, which i'm sure Fergie is well aware of. Eriksen is young, quick, skillful, creative and has all the attributes to fit in perfectly at United. The young Dane also represents a younger, more promosing and exciting version of Luka Modric.

In an ideal world, Fergie would sign both Sneijder and Eriksen, and give United a real chance of preventing the Champions League from taking permanent residency at the Nou Camp.However, it would not surprise me to see Sir Alex put the check book away and place his trust once again in his current squad, while also maybe providing Tom Cleverly with a chance to reach his potential. That move may be good enough to secure a 20th Premiership title, depending on what Manchester City and Chelsea do in the summer, however, as Sanchez moves closer to Barcelona from Udinese, United could once again struggle against Europe's elite. Your call Fergie.