Andre Villas-Boas shouts instructions to his Porto players in a game against Besiktas.
Andre Villas-Boas shouts instructions to his Porto players in a game against Besiktas.

Mini-Mourinho in Portugal



"I am not a clone of Jose Mourinho," Andre Villas-Boas finds himself obliged to insist.

The head coach of Porto, who seek to extend their unbeaten record for the season against CSKA Sofia in the Europa League tonight, probably has several years ahead of making similar statements, of having to carry the label "Mini-Mourinho".

But there is also little doubt that the one-time apprentice of the current head coach of Real Madrid is doing plenty to assert himself as his own man.

Last weekend, Villas-Boas's Porto, who lead the Portuguese top-flight by eight points, set a new domestic milestone of 34 competitive matches without defeat.

Villas-Boas, who is 33, has not overseen all those matches, the first 10 fell at the end of the previous season when Porto still employed Jesualdo Ferreia as coach.

But he wears the badge of honour with a certain pride, not least because the previous record, 33 matches in a row without losing, belonged to Porto, too.

That was when they were under Mourinho's control, triumphing in domestic competitions and winning the Uefa Cup and the Champions League.

Villas-Boas was a junior Porto employee at that stage, as assistant to Mourinho, whom he first encountered as a teenager.

He had volunteered to help out the late Bobby Robson when he was in charge of Porto in the late 1990s; Mourinho worked for Robson.

Villas-Boas's bumptious approach and appetite for hard work impressed them both. It would later convince Mourinho that here was a bright, industrious, confident individual who could be useful to his coaching staff. He followed Mourinho to Chelsea in 2004, and then to Inter Milan in 2008.

Comparisons started being made between Mourinho, who is 14 years Villas-Boas's senior, and his sidekick when the younger man attracted headlines, like for his involvement in various verbal altercations after a stormy Champions League tie between Chelsea and Barcelona in 2005.

But it is the rigour of his approach, and his background in football, that most identifies Villas-Boas with his old boss.

Like Mourinho, Villas-Boas was never much of a footballer, unlikely to pursue a long or successful professional career, so he decided early to learn the coaching side of the game.

As Mourinho had been to Robson, he proved a shrewd observer of opponents for Mourinho, and an enthusiastic interpreter of tactics, a good linguist.

His resume contains one or two eccentricities. Villas-Boas, then in his early 20s, was briefly appointed the head coach of the British Virgin Islands national team.

Soon afterwards he became one of Mourinho's loyalists and it was with some reluctance that Mourinho waved goodbye to him at Inter in October 2009, after a professional relationship that had lasted seven years, when Villas-Boas was offered the role of head coach at Academica de Coimbra in his native Portugal.

Academica were struggling. By the season's end he had lifted them to 11th in the table, well clear of the threat of relegation.

Like Mourinho, who enjoyed success with Uniao de Leira in Portugal before joining Porto, Villas-Boas had earned his spurs with a small club in a league dominated by the bigger hitters, Benfica, Sporting and Porto.

There followed a vivid tug-of-war between Porto and Sporting for the promising young coach. He went to the club he knew best of the two.

Having finished only third under Ferreira last season, Porto were not in the Champions League; in the Europa League, they have breezed into the knockout phase, winning four of their five group games. Last month, in the league, they walloped Benfica 5-0.

As ever, the club had sold important players - for a handsome profit - in the summer, notably Bruno Alves, to Zenit St Petersburg and Raul Meireles to Liverpool.

But Villas-Boas has harnessed the attacking strength of the Brazilian Hulk and the Colombian Radamel Falcao effectively and made their defence among Europe's meanest. Witness a domestic goal difference of plus 24 from 13 fixtures.

With Porto, he would anticipate a turnover of playing staff come the summer, which may affect his future plans. Or indeed, it may be that Villas-Boas finds himself the chief target of wealthier clubs.

Inter, poised to reassess the position of Rafa Benitez should they not win the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, have been linked, as they become increasingly nostalgic for the successes enjoyed by Mourinho, who may not have cloned Villas-Boas, but will always be considered his mentor.

Griselda
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Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

THREE
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Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

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Oppenheimer
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Water waste

In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.

Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.

A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.

The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

Engine: 3.5-litre V6

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 290hp

Torque: 340Nm

Price: Dh155,800

On sale: now

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

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Company%20Profile
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Company profile

Name: Steppi

Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic

Launched: February 2020

Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year

Employees: Five

Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai

Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings

Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year

APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight

In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

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Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

TRAP

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

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PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES

Saturday (UAE kick-off times)

Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)

Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)

West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)

Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)

Sunday

Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)

Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)

Everton v Liverpool (10pm)

Monday

Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)

Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
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Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder

Transmission: CVT auto

Power: 181bhp

Torque: 244Nm

Price: Dh122,900 

The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Avengers: Endgame

Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin

4/5 stars 

The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

SPECS

Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now

Mia Man’s tips for fermentation

- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut

- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.

- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.

- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.

 

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