WORLD Cup winner Frank Leboeuf believes Andre Villas-Boas is the right man to lead Chelsea into a new era of glory – but says that it probably won’t be this year.
The former Blues centre-half, one of the stars of the pre-Abramovich era at Stamford Bridge, also controversially insists his old club now have to ditch some of their long-established stars in order to progress.
“As a fan of Chelsea I’m a bit of a dreamer, but, if I’m realistic, it’s going to be hard to win trophies this season,” said Leboeuf, who these days works as an analyst on ESPN football debate show ESPNsoccernet Press Pass.
“I think on the whole, Chelsea are doing well, but I think it’s going to be hard to win the Championship. 
“They have big hopes about that because they are a big team, and maybe they can be a big surprise, when everyone thinks Manchester City and Manchester United are the favourites.
“But it will be hard to do it and the Champions League is also going to be very tough while Barcelona are so dominant. 
“Everyone is an underdog playing against them.
“Yet I believe Villas-Boas could be a successful coach for Chelsea and I trust him to bring the best for the club. We just have to be patient.”
Leboeuf added: “I believe the atmosphere is better than last year, although the football is still maybe not quite as good as we expect from a Chelsea team.
“I think we still need to give him a little more time to make a statement about the way he’s changed the team, but when you have almost the same players, you don’t expect to see a really big change.
“It’s definitely a case now of the club needing to start getting in new players to replace the great players who are coming to the end of their cycle. It is maybe time to start a new era. 
“In many ways, I think it’s already too late for one or two and this may be a season too many. 
“Some players should already have left, because the cycle is already gone. They need to refresh the team a little bit in order to be really successful again.”
Leboeuf has enjoyed one aspect of the new regime this year – he likes his old team’s attempts at playing expansive football.
“They have been accused of being too open in their play – against Manchester United and Arsenal – but I would not criticise that,” he said. “As a fan, I really like champagne football, because goals are what everyone enjoys.
“As a defender I tried to destroy the game, but now I want to enjoy it, and we should welcome this approach.”

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