The manager described the 2-0 defeat to Everton as the worst display of the season soon after the final whistle. Reflecting further on the game, he can understand why some of the travelling fans inside Goodison Park voiced discontent at times during a game that wasn't going their team's way. 

'It is a normal reaction and fans have the right to demand from the manager or demand from the players,' Villas-Boas says.

'If there are people who are always right, the people who are always right are the fans. They aren't the professionals in football but they are the people we respect most in the game. Their opinions are highly valuable.'

Explaining his second-half tactical substitutions which saw Florent Malouda replace Michael Essien, allowing Juan Mata to take on a more central role, and later Romelu Lukaku come on for Mata, Villas-Boas adds:

'We wanted to bring Mata between the lines and to have a left-footed player on the left wing, and we have Malouda who we count on. That was the basis of the substitutions.

'Maybe they [the fans] were expecting a different approach to the game but we thought about it and when we went 2-0 behind, the way we thought to try to create goals was bringing more striking strength up front, and that is why we went for three up front.

'In defeat I have to take all responsibility and will take it for sure. So I will reflect hard on my preparation of the game and the things that I did to try to win the game.

'In the end I am not in doubt about the commitment of the players. The running of the game went against us very early and we suffered, had the initiative straight after but we couldn't create enough danger. In the second half we were very poor. We lost control of the game and didn't have enough of the initiative.'

There is a full week for training ahead of the visit of Birmingham in the FA Cup before the Champions League knockout stage starts with a visit to Italy. This coming few days at Cobham are going to be important for the outcome of the season.

'It is disappointing to be in this position and we have to work to improve,' says the manager. 'The only thing that we can grab onto is our competence and our work.

'We continue to promote the players' best qualities and it comes with work and it comes with a positive attitude, not a negative one.

'Last week we were 3-0 up against the champions and the Champions League finalists and with a bit more competence we would have been able to win that game, so we are there and we have to continue to work.'