"I'm not a wizard" admits Villas-Boas as bad spell continues
Published 23:06 29/11/11 By Mike Walters
Worried Andre Villas-Boas admitted Chelsea's home form was "not good enough" as he stumbled towards the brink.
After the Blues' third defeat in four games at their once-proud Stamford Bridge fortress, AVB conceded: "I'm not a wizard."
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And the chorus line of boos which greeted Chelsea's limp Carling Cup exit suggested Villas-Boas will be facing the axe if they flunk next week's must-win Champions League group decider against Valencia.
Liverpool moved to within 180 minutes of their first trip to Wembley since 1996 as second-half goals from Maxi Rodriguez and Martin Kelly gave manager Kenny Dalglish his third win at the Bridge in 2011.
But AVB is fast running out of slack.
He admitted next Tuesday's date with Valencia was now critical, adding: "This standard won't be enough - we need to up the tempo and play that game with the ultimate desire.
"At the moment, at home we've just not been good enough. I think we need to get our fans behind us at home and we need to get the emotions right.
"I know, and you can feel, Stamford Bridge has become anxious about Chelsea playing at home, but we need their full support.
"That's the only way you can build the atmosphere to take us through this period.
"Regarding our Premier League schedule, for our challenge to be alive we need to make the most out of our December fixtures, which include Newcastle, Tottenham and Manchester City.
"If we do that, we'll be back on track and it will have a major impact by the end of December.
"I'm not a wizard, and I won't say what will happen afterwards can't have an impact. But it's a fact, given we play some of the top teams, we can put our challenge back on track.
"It was not good today, not the same level that we reached in our last Premier League game here. This was far inferior and Liverpool more superior.
"Our best period was when the score was already 0-2, when we got the width and the crossing right. But Liverpool came on very strong in the second and created a lot of problems."
For £50million Kop refugee Fernando Torres, it was another wretched night against the club he deserted last January.
Torres has now scored just five goals in 33 appearances for Chelsea, and Villas-Boas said: "We believe in him and will continue to pursue his individual form because our task, as technical staff, is to get the best out of a player. If we don't do that, we have failed."
