André Villas-Boas banished Chelsea's reserve-team players from the main training centre at the club's complex in Cobham towards the end of last week, as he retreated further into siege mentality.

The manager had previously told Nicolas Anelka and Alex they could not use the facility after the pair submitted transfer requests and, as he prepared for the visit of the Premier League leaders, Manchester City, to Stamford Bridge on Monday night, he moved the reserves over to the academy building.

The lockdown of the first-team building led to raised eyebrows and questions about Villas-Boas's attempts to instil harmony from top to bottom at the club. He is under pressure ahead of a game that Chelsea cannot afford to lose and he has reacted to criticism from several TV pundits, notably Gary Neville, labelling the former Manchester United defender's opinions "biased" and "ridiculous".

Some of his players have expressed their reservations about his training sessions and the role of the assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo has been placed under scrutiny.

Villas-Boas, who is noted for his obsessive attention to detail and workaholic nature, wants complete focus from the first team for the City game. There is the suggestion that the technical director, Michael Emenalo, has had to remind some of the club's young professionals about the attitude that is expected at the club.

Villas-Boas hit the headlines on Saturday over his demand for the players to celebrate goals with him on the touchline and for his fresh attack on Neville who, among other things, had speculated on the goings-on in the Chelsea dressing-room.

It has been rare in recent seasons for the managers of top English clubs to respond aggressively to TV pundits and the Everton captain, Phil Neville, wondered how his brother Gary had managed to rile Villas-Boas.

"I don't think he has been outspoken at all, that's the one thing he hasn't been," Neville said. "I think he is just being totally honest. He has done Man City games, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea – and I think he has given a fair account of what has been happening. Since he's been on Sky I think he has been pretty impartial.

"I work on Merseyside, where opinions were divided when he got the job. But he has won over a lot of people by being honest. That's the feedback I'm getting."