Tottenham's Villas-Boas in dig at Chelsea's Mourinho: 'I play every game to win it'

TOTTENHAM boss Andre Villas-Boas has hit out at suggestions that he and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho are alike, and claims he has a more attacking philosophy.

Andre Villas-Boas does not appreciate being compared to Jose Mourinho [GETTY]

Whilst crediting Mourinho for the role that he's played in his career, Villas-Boas claims he has a different approach to his former mentor.

He told L'Equipe: "Comparisons with Mourinho are difficult to accept for several reasons.

"I learnt with Jose Mourinho, but I am completely different with my character, my working methods and my communication.

"We have different philosophies. Of course Jose has been very important in my career, he gave me experience I could not get with anyone else. We have a great professional relationship, but as soon as we parted I started to do things my own way.

"My philosophy is to have attacking teams that have initiative in the game, that like to keep the ball. Any match we play to win it and sometimes we pay for that."

And Villas-Boas says he eventually had to break away from Mourinho to realise his full potential.

He added: "I was not Mourinho's number two, I was part of his staff in several clubs, but I never was his assistant.

"That is one of the reasons why we parted. I thought I could give him a lot more, but he didn't feel the need to have someone beside him."

Andre Villas-Boas learnt from Jose Mourinho [GETTY]

I learnt with Jose Mourinho, but I am completely different with my character, my working methods and my communication.

Andre Villas-Boas

Villa-Boas also spoke out about his brief experience as Chelsea boss, admitting that he failed in an almost impossible task but saying it prepared him for life at Tottenham.

He said: "Chelsea was a good experience to me because it allowed me to understand there are things I could not do.

"I was the same coach I was in Porto. I wanted the team to follow my direction but I didn't find enough support to follow that direction.

"That experience taught me a lot and now at Tottenham I do things a different way. It is a matter of dynamics: if you win on the weekend, the leaders will follow you. And at Chelsea you are quickly under big pressure.

"Now I manage things a different way with key players. At Chelsea, I treated everyone the same way. But to make such decisions you have to get the club's support and you can't find it everywhere. At Porto, you get it.

"Chelsea was an experience to have. It made me stronger. I failed indeed. I had to win and I failed. Was it an impossible mission? It could have been possible, but indeed maybe it was impossible."

Andre Villas-Boas struggled at Chelsea [GETTY]