Andre Villas-Boas has claimed that Chelsea’s players are being affected when playing at Stamford Bridge by the anxiety of the club’s supporters.
Chelsea’s League Cup defeat to Liverpool was its third defeat in four home matches and Villas-Boas called on the crowd to start taking the pressure off his players.
“We need to get our fans behind us,” the Portuguese said in his post-match press conference.
“You can feel Stamford Bridge has become anxious about Chelsea playing at home. We need their full support and the only way to get that is by the fans getting behind us. Away from home we have been much more solid as a team - that is a fact.”
Villas-Boas admitted his team deserved to lose to the Merseysiders for the second time in nine days after a disappointing 2-0 defeat at the Bridge.
“It was not good,” he said. “It was a pity for us because we had a good chance to progress at home but Liverpool were superior.
“This standard won’t be enough. We need to up the tempo and play the next game with the ultimate desire.
“I’m not a wizard but we need to make the most out of our December fixtures. You don’t know what will happen in March and April but from my picture it can put our challenge back on track.”
Asked about how he thought Chelsea’s youngsters – including Oriol Romeu, Josh McEachran, Romelu Lukaku, Ross Turnbull and Ryan Bertrand - had fared, Villas-Boas said, “Ryan throughout this competition has showed he is a good player you can count on and Oriol the same.
"Josh was maybe unlucky but he is a talent and we expect him to continue to progress here.
“Romelu has maybe had the worst of his three games but he performed well for his 120 minutes against Wolves. It also gave an opportunity for Ross to show the level he is.”
Villas-Boas also gave his backing to Fernando Torres, who was lackluster against his former club, but said he is unlikely to persist with the midfield diamond and twin striker formation in the Premier League this weekend.
“We believe in him and will continue to pursue his ideal form. Our task on the technical staff is to get the best out of our players - it takes time," the coach insisted.
“Most likely against Newcastle we will go back to 4-3-3, which is our normal system. At the moment Didier Drogba is showing good form.”
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