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WINNER: Scolari
Friday June 13,2008
By Tony Banks in Zurich
LUIZ FELIPE SCOLARI is about to turn Chelsea into a Samba outpost of London. And the new boss will do it with a warm heart and a firm hand.
The man Roman Abramovich has chosen as his new £6million-a-year coach is someone whom, his friends say, will not shy away from any confrontations. But they say he is also a man who would invite players round to his house for dinner.
Gone is the cold, hard facade of Jose Mourinho; gone, too, the low-key, ‘dear old uncle’ regime of Avram Grant. Stamford Bridge is about to see the passion, the warmth and the style of Brazil. But they will get the hard edge of a winner, too.
Scolari sat opposite Abramovich on the latter’s yacht in the south of France last month and talked about how he wanted players who dare – and that was the moment Chelsea owner Abramovich knew he had the right man.
Russian billionaire Abramovich wanted a manager who would not only win things, but do so with style, pizzazz and charisma.
The vision that Brazilian Scolari painted of the way his teams play struck a chord – Brazil in blue shirts.
This was a man who promised the lot. Great football, charisma – and trophies. A man who had won the World Cup with Brazil, who had reached the final of Euro 2004 with Portugal and the World Cup semi-finals. At club level, with both Gremio and Palmeiras in Brazil, he had won the Copa Libertadores.
As the other candidates – Guus Hiddink, Roberto Mancini, Frank Rijkaard and Luciano Spalletti – fell by the wayside in the 18-day hunt and when AC Milan’s Carlo Ancelotti again said no, Abramovich went back to that chat with Scolari and those words about players “who dare”.
Scolari said: “Look at Deco. He is an individual footballer. Talented but also extremely daring. It is easy to play football without daring but Deco dribbles and participates and protects the ball, always expressing himself.
“If you express yourself you will make mistakes and he can. But he does what I want to see him do.”
Deco, along with Ricardo Quaresma, Kaka and Samuel Eto’o, is on the list to join Scolari in London.
Ricardo Setyon, Scolari’s former press officer with the 2002 Brazilian team and with Palmeiras, and someone who worked with Scolari for five years, said: “Chelsea will go through a metamorphosis under Phil. It will totally change.
“Scolari is not Mourinho. Mourinho was a tactical man, a cold man. Scolari is the opposite.
“He is emotional. He has a warm heart. He will invite the players to dinner at his house. Mourinho had an iron mask; Phil is not like that.
“But he is not frightened of the players. Avram Grant looked up to players like Didier Drogba. To Phil they are nothing. He has worked with Ronaldinho, Romario and Kaka.”
“Phil will not let Abramovich interfere in the playing side of things. He said to Abramovich, ‘What happens outside the line I don’t care. But inside that line I am in charge. That is my work area, not yours. You are the boss – but not the coach’.
“But Phil will accept the influence of the owner on new players coming in. He will be flexible and he has his own choices. But if there is a player the club have been chasing for three years, he will not stand in the way.
“Chelsea fans will adore Phil for his style and his passion.
“He will also not stand for cliques or groups within Chelsea’s dressing room. He will end those quickly.
“He won’t duck behind his players or hide from issues.
“Phil will look them in the eye and tell them what is going to happen. That was how we won the World Cup.
“When he took over, we were struggling. He said he did not want Romario in the team even though the fans wanted him. He stuck to his principles.
“When he first went to Portugal Luis Figo said that he did not want him. The national coaches’ association said that he should not get the job because he was not Portuguese. But Phil faced them all down. He won them round. In the end, Figo was his No1 ambassador.”
Brazil’s 2002 goalkeeping coach Carlos Pracidelli, who also worked with Scolari at Palmeiras, said: “Chelsea understood that they were missing a coach with heart.
“They should break open the champagne now. Big Phil is in perfect shape to face up to this kind of challenge.
“He has had experience with Brazilian clubs, then with the national teams both here and in Portugal. Nothing else now will do than one of the top clubs in the world.”
Pracidelli added: “The pressure won’t worry Big Phil. After all, the Scolari family’s middle name is pressure. He won’t be worried – and Phil will make this work at Chelsea.”
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