One mistake and players will revolt

"If I was there, a World Cup winner with France, I would be expecting the coach to show how clear his vision is in training, in his substitutions and his tactics.

"If he makes any mistakes, you will see that the Chelsea players will not follow him.

"They will be thinking the guy supposed to be managing them is not on their level.

"So Villas-Boas has to be very clever how he manages this team. That is the challenge for him. His age is a big consideration for the players.

"It's vital Chelsea get off to a good start to the season. If they don't perform, like Liverpool last year, the players and their consideration will change.

"Chelsea will face problems if the players have less confidence in Villas-Boas and don't follow his vision. I've seen the manager in his Press conferences and I could feel he is already getting annoyed. But he is the guy with the vision and the ambition. He should be talking his players up. Jose Mourinho got into a lot of fights to get attention but still got the respect of his players.

"He made it them against the rest of the world.

"But the players don't follow that. They follow the training sessions. And training sessions are where Mourinho is the best.

"This is the challenge for the new manager. It's a training consideration issue for me and for him - plus his young age."

Desailly witnessed how Claudio Ranieri was brought down by player power shortly before leaving Chelsea in 2004.

Now he reckons Villas-Boas is facing a multitude of difficulties in his new job - starting with Fernando Torres.

The £50m striker has become a shadow of his former self since his record-breaking move from Liverpool in January.

Desailly added: "Torres is a huge challenge for the manager. His problems are a combination of the physical and the mental.

"The problem for Torres at Chelsea is the same as that faced by Andriy Shevchenko. The team don't help him much and don't give him the ball soon enough.

"Frank Lampard is a great player and a friend of mine. But he does not give you the ball straight away.

"He keeps it and then gives it to someone else to pass it back so he can score. He's not somebody who gets the team to play. Torres needs the ball early, which is why it's not working for him.

"I think Chelsea need a playmaker and I see they are talking about signing Luka Modric.

"But Modric is too lightweight for Chelsea and the number of games they play. He's good but not great. Now Wesley Sneijder, there's a great player. He's the sort Chelsea should look to sign.

"Chelsea have to be looking to be on the same level as Barcelona, Manchester United or AC Milan, not Tottenham."

Desailly also claims Roman Abramovich is the only owner in world football who would have sacked Carlo Ancelotti just a year after landing the Premier League and FA Cup.

He said: "Ancelotti did well but Chelsea wanted someone with the capacity to get more out of the players. That is why Abramovich made the change.

"For me, Abramovich is being clever. He had an amazing coach in Ancelotti but the Italian didn't have that pragmatic attitude and speed to adapt.

"If Chelsea had any other owner, Ancelotti would have stayed. But Abramovich has so much passion and wants someone who can make fast changes."

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