Such has been the extent to which Porto manager Andre Villas-Boas' has impressed that the Portuguese club has been labeled a one-man team - a phrase normally reserved for a team boasting a star player. Villas-Boas, however, moved quickly to highlight the performances of his team, before the UEFA Europe League final against Braga.

The Porto manager has been compared to two-time Champions League winning manager Jose Mourinho, under whom Villas-Boas worked for seven years at Porto, Chelsea and Inter.

The 33-year-old gave credit for his achievements to his players.

People focus a lot on the work of the manager and I don't see it that way, Villas-Boas said. I don't see myself as a one-man show. Football isn't won by one person but by collective competence. It is the quality of the players and the structure of the club.

I just want to make my players give their most. I give them room to express themselves because that's how they develop. I promote their talent and let them make their own decisions. There are no dictators. We don't see the game as a tactical game. If you are a dictator of choices, players won't be able to explore their possibilities to the full. You have to be able to free them.

Porto skipper and goalkeeper Helton shed light on Villas-Boas' management technique.

He said, It's the freedom he gives us. He looks after us and tries to help us with what we need, while making sure he gets what he wants from us tactically. (When things aren't going right) he gives us tranquility and reminds us that we're capable of getting the job done. We've heard that speech a few times now.

Villas-Boas then went on to explain his time with Mourinho.

I spent seven years with Jose and we were part of a very good technical staff. We went to top-class clubs at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan and worked with top players who gave us such a tremendous volume of success, he said. ''The position I had with him was a position he needed some help on. I understood my role from the beginning and tried to fulfill it with maximum professionalism.

When I left him, he took on another person who I hope gives him the same level. Regarding why I left Inter, it was because I wanted the extra edge to fulfil my ambitions as a professional coach, so I took the risk to find my own job at Academica.

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