Former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has claimed that his replacement Andre Villas-Boas needs more time at Stamford Bridge.

Recent reports have suggested that Villas-Boas could be close to being sacked by the club's owner Roman Abramovich.

Despite the pressure on the 34-year-old, Ancelotti admits that the current project requires patience from everyone at his former club.

The Paris Saint-Germain manager said: "Villas-Boas is a good coach, because he did a very good job at Porto. It's the philosophy of the club. They tried to change something. This change needed time.

"I think that the problem at Chelsea was that they tried to change something, to have a younger team, to give more opportunity to the younger players, to play, to try to give less matches to the most important players - Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry."

Ancelotti was sacked by Chelsea in May 2011 despite winning the Premier League and FA Cup during his time in charge.