André Villas-Boas clinches Russian title with Zenit but criticism remains

André Villas-Boas won the Russian Premier League title in his first full season with Zenit St Petersburg but the Portuguese manager has yet to win over all his critics.

The team from Russia’s second city were crowned champions on Sunday, after a 1-1 draw with Ufa, but his team’s style of play still drew a high-level rebuke.

“Zenit play boring football,” said Boris Chukhlov, who won the Soviet title with Zenit in 1984. “A team full of star names is going out on to the pitch, however the tactics are too cautious. The side is showing anti-football, which basically boils down to giving the ball as quickly as possible to Hulk or Danny.”

Villas-Boas took over at Zenit in March 2014. In his first season in charge he helped the club finish second, trailing the eventual winners, CSKA Moscow, by one point. A year on, the team from St Petersburg have wrapped up the title with two games to spare. However, Zenit were disappointing in the Champions League and failed to get out of the group stage.

“We are such a strong squad and when faced with such weak opponents, they should have wrapped up the Russian title two months ago and should have performed much better in the European competitions,” Chukhlov said.

“Villas-Boas says he is an admirer of José Mourinho. However, teams under the latter play a more aggressive type of football. Zenit on the other hand score a goal and then the defenders start hoofing the ball. It is boring and nauseating.”

Chukhlov also slated the Portuguese for his post-match press conferences, in which he would criticise various parties. “He is always whining,” said Chukhlov. “The referees are aiding the opposition with their mistakes, the conditions for playing football are poor, and so on. However, we have a lot more questions towards this manager.”

A number of observers have also expressed concern that foreign players are playing the leading roles within the team: Ezequiel Garay, Axel Witsel, Javi García, Hulk and others.

“I want to ask the head coach – where are the players from the youth teams?” said Chukhlov. “We have a talented 22-year-old midfielder Pavel Mogilevets, who has already been capped by Russia. However, he is not needed by Villas-Boas, just like the other young players.”

Villas-Boas, whose contract runs until 2016, has set his own goals. “We should be one of the top 10 clubs in Europe,” said the former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager.

There were reports in the Spanish press that Villas-Boas is of interest to Real Madrid. “Why would Real need him?” asked Chukhlov, adding: “I read an interview from the president of Tottenham. He thanked his lucky stars when they got rid of Villas-Boas, as they were so fed up of him. I don’t think he is able to work with top clubs.”