Napoli v Chelsea: players owe it to the club to put egos aside in Champions League
Andre Villas-Boas could be facing last-chance saloon when Chelsea face Napoli on Tuesday evening, so maybe it is time for his players to stop moaning, end the factions and perform for the club, even if they genuinely dislike the manager.
Maybe it is time for them to remember that, while they have been good for Chelsea, Chelsea have also been good for them in recent years, having enjoyed great success under the ownership of Roman Abramovich.
They have achieved because they realised that managers, coaches and players must stick together.
Perhaps the senior figures within the Chelsea dressing-room should come together and take it upon themselves to ensure that everybody puts any grievances to one side to get the team winning again.
Despite Villas-Boas claiming last week that the players “don’t have to back my project”, for any manager to succeed, he simply must have the players with him. Once you lose the players, you have lost everything.
Players can dislike a manager, they can even hate him, but as long as the central characters within the dressing-room are prepared to trust and rely on the man in charge, those players’ quality will always have a chance of producing positive results.