Ancelotti was the latest coach to be shown the door by owner Roman Abramovich in his quest for domination at home and, perhaps more importantly, in Europe, paying with his job for a trophyless year despite winning the double in his first season.

Villas-Boas knows plenty about the level of expectation demanded by Abramovich, having observed at first hand Mourinho’s tenure before joining him at Inter Milan.

With a domestic double and the Europa League to his name in just one season in charge of Porto, Villas-Boas is confident he can deliver the desired results.

“Chelsea is a club that in the last six years has achieved so much and people are expecting us to be the same way,” he told www.chelseafc.com.

“There is not going to be more or less tolerance for me if I am not successful so this is the challenge I face and I feel confident that we can motivate everybody, not only the players but also the structure.

“I feel confident I can respond to the ambitions of the supporters and the ambitions of the owner and the administration.”

The shadow of his countryman, predecessor and former boss Mourinho is one Villas-Boas will have to deal with at Chelsea, but although he understands comparisons will be made, his tone was noticeably different to that of the self-anointed ’special one’.

While Mourinho’s managerial career has been characterised by his larger-than-life personality and media grandstanding as much as his consistent success, Villas-Boas promised not to hog the limelight.

“The main important thing that people have to reflect on is that I don’t see the game as a one-man show, I see the game as the getting together of ideas and collective ideas and good players,” he said.

“Chelsea appointed me basically for human qualities and that is what I want to bring into this club again.

“The most important thing is to motivate the players to get their ambitions right, to reflect again on what the club has achieved in the last six years and we need to keep this route to success.

“We are a technical staff that focuses a lot on unlocking potential.”

As for his occasional nickname, ’mini Mourinho’, Villas-Boas was quick to distance himself.

“Coaching was not a kind of obsession (for me) and neither did I use Jose as the way to arrive into this path, it was something that happened naturally,” he said.

“I think there is no way you can avoid comparison, it is something that is the interest of the media. I didn’t take the Porto job nor the Chelsea job because Jose made the same steps.

“They are two of the most sought-after clubs in the world and in the end I had the opportunity and was able to make them find something in me that they thought would continue their route to success.”