The Porto playmaker has been heavily linked with a move to White Hart Lane recently and could potentially reunite with his former mentor in the Premier League next season
Portugal midfielder Joao Moutinho believes Tottenham will be in safe hands should they decide to appoint Andre Villas-Boas as Harry Redknapp's successor for next season.The 34 year-old Portuguese manager enjoyed a trophy-laden season at Porto, winning the treble, but came unstuck at Stamford Bridge and was sacked just eight months into his three-year contract. Moutinho, who played under Villas-Boas at Porto, believes his former boss simply wasn't given enough time to turn things around at Chelsea, and would love to play for him again.
"AVB is one of the best coaches I’ve worked with. I’d work with him again tomorrow," Moutinho told reporters.
“I don’t really know what happened at Chelsea — but when you employ a new coach you have to give him time."
Villas-Boas endured an uneasy relationship with several senior members of the Chelsea squad during his time at the club, but Moutinho believes that the fault lay with the players who failed to buy into his system.
He also believes that if Villas-Boas were to take the Tottenham job, it wouldn't be because the manager was motivated by revenge, rather that he has a desire to prove himself.
"You can’t always base his progress on results. If players are obstructive it makes the job very difficult.
“Perhaps in the end he was judged more on immediate results than he was on his long-term vision.
“All I do know is he did a fantastic job at Porto. He didn’t win the league title and the Europa League by chance.
"But then he had a set of players who bought into his ideas and were enthusiastic and supportive.
“He was very much like Pep Guardiola was at Barcelona. He loved to deploy systems to bring the best out of the players.
“I remember talking to him about England when he was poised to leave. He was so enthusiastic, he was so determined to make a success of it.
“AVB isn’t the type to want revenge, his only motivation is to prove to people that he can be a success in England."
His age was repeatedly highlighted as a potential reason for the problems he experienced with the dressing room at Chelsea, with many questioning whether a young manager such as Villas-Boas, with so little experience, could command the respect of the players, but Moutinho believes that helped tie him closer to the players while they were both together at Porto.
"I didn’t see his age as a problem. At Porto it brought him closer to the players. The players loved him."
Jose Mourinho has often been cited as an influence in Villas-Boas' coaching career, but Moutinho believes that they are very different managers, despite the similar career paths they may have taken so far.
"They both demand discipline but Mourinho was a lot harder when things went badly.”
