London: Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas described Manchester United's draw at Liverpool as an "opportunity" for his team in the title race.
The Blues moved within a point of Sir Alex Ferguson's side despite their defeat at Old Trafford last month after securing a comfortable 3-1 win over Everton at Stamford Bridge, just hours after Kenny Dalglish's men had drawn 1-1 with United an Anfield.
Talking of the draw, Villas-Boas said: "It is an opportunity. It gives us the possibility of getting closer to Man United, which is our aim but we still have to go to Anfield.
"I see it as an important point for Man United. I don't see it so much as Man United dropping a point but Liverpool dropping two points. At least it enabled us to recover some points and get closer to the top two.
"It was important after the international break to get three points, particularly on a day when two title contenders played against each other."
Chelsea have won all four of their Premier League home games since Villas-Boas took over but the manager is not getting carried away.
He said: "It is too early yet, we have done nothing else but our responsibilities. We have not done anything special. We have to continue to win until we find a position of comfort at the top of the Premier League, which is our aim."
Villas-Boas praised his team for their "patience" against Everton, and, while he was typically keen to stress the important of the collective, he recognised the influence of summer signing Juan Mata, who set up the first and third goals.
"The talent in this squad is so immense," he explained. "The job of the technical staff is to free the players of their talent and when they play with freedom of choice they can be more effective.
"We have to fine tune the team, not individuals, and when we fine tune the team it is helping us get unpredictability in our game.
"The amount of games we have now can help the fluency of the team because the team plays together more in match situations instead of in the training camp."
Ramires, who scored the third goal, hobbled off in the second half but Villas-Boas does not expect him to be out for long.
"He will have a scan on his knee and I don't know if he will be okay [for Genk on Wednesday]. He has to be analysed but should be okay."
The Chelsea manager hinted that Fernando Torres, who has one match to run in his three-game domestic suspension, will return for the Champions League clash.
"If we don't decide on him it will be a long time out of the game. Fernando has been keeping fit in training and played for Spain for the first game. It is a decision that we will make depending on what is best for the team."
Comments
0 comment