Chelsea are still lacking on-field style, says their former manager Andre Villas-Boas Asked what he meant by teams being "invisible," Villas-Boas said: "Style of play. When things are attractive. Barcelona with Pep Guardiola is probably the best team for playing football in recent years. We saw the wonderful team Mauricio Pochettino is building at Southampton. The reality is that Southampton is not invisible in terms of their football. Villas-Boas does believe that Chelsea had a distinct style when he worked as part of the backroom staff at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho from 2004 until 2007. "The team of 2004 was an absolutely deadly machine of football but in a different way," Villas-Boas said. Great, great counter-attacking football and one of the great teams in the country. There are various types of teams, teams built along great creative players and these Chelsea teams have the ingredients to be able to play this type of football. This candid assessment echoes Abramovich's persistent frustration with Chelsea. Although Abramovich clearly demands immediate success, he also longs for a manager to create a recognisable identity for the team. Carlo Ancelotti, who was also sacked in 2011, reflected this when he detailed his meetings with Abramovich for his 2009 autobiography. He was and still is looking for a team with a precise identity. "Like Manchester United, Liverpool, Milan, certainly not like my Chelsea,"" wrote Ancelotti. "He doesn't make me feel uncomfortable, not even when he says with a low voice, "We've just lost the Champions League final and the league, I certainly can't be satisfied. Chelsea don't have a personality. I have the ambition of winning every competition in which my team takes part but this is a team that, at the moment, I don't recognise."" It is understood that Villas-Boas was given a similar talk by Abramovich but his attempts to initiate change were met with resistance from the dressing-room. Asked yesterday about the perception that there was a specific lack of support from Frank Lampard, Villas-Boas said: "Yeah, but his ability and quality was never in doubt." Villas-Boas said he could "only imagine" how difficult it had been for Benítez to work as "interim" manager but also repeatedly acknowledged Chelsea's success in winning major trophies. They've won the biggest competition in European football, they have won every single trophy that they've wanted in the last 10 years. If their approach has brought them so much success, it's very hard to say anything. The situation we were in dictates that a manager loses his job. In moments of maximum difficulty you either believe in what you are doing or don't believe and at that time the club had to make a decision that proved successful for them. Villas-Boas also believes that he is now a better manager for going through his experiences at Chelsea. Sometimes results bring you stability. We started the league with excellent football. Up to when we had two defeats at home, everything was well established and magnificent. Inconsistency of results led to a situation that became unbearable. There have been other managers in this position before and in the end you study what you have done and become better. Every single one of us goes through difficult times. By the end of his eight months at Chelsea, Villas-Boas looked under extraordinary stress and the players appeared to have lost faith in their manager during his final match against West Bromwich. Villas-Boas slept at the training ground after that defeat and was sacked the next day. After holidaying in the Maldives, he turned down job offers with Valencia and Sao Paulo before taking the Tottenham job. There is no sense that Wednesday night's return to Stamford Bridge will be particularly emotional. "It's not very special," said Villas-Boas. It's a club I have gone past. Before I was manager there I was in Jose's team and I had some wonderful years there. Probably the ones that I spent there as a manager weren't that special. And what sort of welcome does he expect from the Chelsea fans? Whatever reception I have will come from their hearts so I respect that.