Another loss to another top four contender has cast further doubt over Andres Villa-Boas at Chelsea.

It seems ridiculous that so soon into his tenure, his ability in the long term can be so strongly doubted, particularly when you consider his sizeable achievements in the game given his age and playing experience, but life as the manager of Chelsea is seldom easy.

Since the days of Mourinho, the Stamford Bridge dugout has been home to some of the biggest names in management. There has been a World Cup winner in the sizeable shape of Felipe Scolari, the mastermind of Guus Hiddink and double Champions League cup winner Carlo Ancelotti. Scolari was ousted almost as soon as he had started, Hiddink’s services could not be retained after a short term contract which ended in FA Cup glory and Ancelotti was crudely sacked at the conclusion of last season, despite having secured a double only 12 months earlier.

With Roman Abramovic’s track record, Anders Villa-Boas will have had no doubts that results were a prerequisite for any hope of a long term career in London, and sadly those results have not yet been totally forthcoming. Twelve games into the season, Chelsea have fallen at Old Trafford, but more worryingly have lost to both Arsenal and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. What was once a fortress under Mourinho, and to an extent Ancellotti, is quickly becoming a playground for Chelsea’s closest rivals.

Perhaps guilty of placing all his eggs in a Modric sized basket, Villa-Boas’ opening period as Chelsea manager has not been the start he envisaged. The introduction of Juan Mata has been a positive one, and the Spaniard is confirming his reputation as one of the brightest European talents around, but Mata aside, the Portuguese manager’s transfer policy is coming under severe scrutiny.

Mata has inspired but he is a lone beacon of hope in an increasingly dull, ageing and frankly uninspiring Chelsea outfit. John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Branislav Ivanovic, Michael Essien, Flourent Malouda and Alex all form the spine of Chelsea’s side that has propelled Chelsea to some of the best times in the club’s history, but today they are perhaps what is holding the club back. There is a burgeoning band of talent in Torres, Mata, Sturridge, Ramires, Meireiles and McEachran that will form the base of Chelsea in the years to come, but they are being held back by Villa-Boas’s failure to clear some of the dead weight that is now holding the Blues back. There are clear cases that can be built in the names of Terry, Lampard, Drogba and a fit Essien and their usefulness for Chelsea now, but to be perfectly honest it is hard to see the relevance of guys like Malouda, Alex and Anelka today.

Villa-Boas was poached, for a considerable sum, from Porto with a reputation for playing quick, sharp and exciting football. You could hardly say Chelsea’s matches have been boring to watch, but there is a line that divides excitement and success, and whilst both can be ascertained simultaneously, Chelsea are falling on the wrong side of that line. It is surprising then, that Villa-Boas has failed to surround himself with players capable of delivering the type of football he wants to see played with success.

You certainly can’t fault Villa-Boas for chasing the right sort of player; Mata and transfer target Modric are evidence of that, but to have no contingency plan in place for the likelihood that Modric could not be attained was somewhat foolhardy of the Portuguese manager. Whether or not Chelsea chase the Croatian dynamo once more this January remains to be seen, but Villa-Boas will have to have some sort of plan in place for the upcoming transfer window to turn this season around.

Villa-Boas will be given at least another season, in my opinion at least, to prove his worth, given how much Abramovic spent in paying out Ancellotti’s contract and then in transferring Villa-Boas from Porto to London. The Portuguese manager insists that his plan is a long term one, and that he remains confident that success will soon bestow Stamford Bridge once more. He already has a few pieces to his intricate puzzle in place, but if he does not act hastily over the next 12 months, he might not be around long enough to see that plan come to fruition.