Andre Villas-Boas has made his first steps in establishing his power at Chelsea, by cancelling a pre-season friendly against Vitesse Arnhem.

The two clubs have had a close relationship, but the new manager decided that the timing of the friendly was simply too soon, and demonstrated his power by cancelling the match, according to reports in the Guardian.

The squad are due to report back for pre-season training at Cobham next Monday, and the fixture in the Netherlands was arranged for the 9th of July.

The last minute cancellation has disappointed Vitesse.

"We were only informed over the weekend that the game could not now go ahead, and it was too late for us to arrange for an alternative opponent of similar stature to step in," said the Vitesse managing director, Paul van der Kraan.

"This has been very annoying consequences, especially for our supporters. We had gone to great lengths to organise this game, and our season-ticket holders were being offered this as a bonus match. 

"They will now be compensated, and people who have purchased their tickets as a one-off will also get their money back. But it is a big disappointment for our club and our supporters."

The London's side's cancellation gave an insight towards how the 33-year-old manager might assert himself at the club, as he was hired as a "manager" as opposed to predecessor Carlo Ancelotti's role as "first-team coach", which means that the Europa League-winning Portuguese will have more authority compared to the Italian.

He has also been busy hiring support staff at Chelsea, looking to bring in José Mario Rocha and Daniel Sousa from Porto as his physical fitness coach and senior opposition scout, after releasing assistant first-team coach Paul Clement, fitness coach Glen Driscoll and club doctor Bryan English on gardening leave.

Meanwhile, according to reports in the Daily Mail, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is considering tinkering with the club again, by promoting Michael Emenalo to sporting director. This would mark yet another promotion for the Nigerian, who was elevated from an anonymous scouting role to first-team coach last season.

Espnstar.com