I FIGHT FOR MY PLAYERS
Scolari insists he'll always battle for Blues
LUIZ FELIPE SCOLARI’S eyes flicker a flash of frustration and he throws his arms out in exasperation.
He has won the World Cup, he is acknowledged as one of the game’s shrewdest managers — as England found to their cost on three occasions — and he is now in charge of one of football’s richest clubs.
But still, all people want to concentrate on is his even bigger reputation as a short-tempered, hot-headed, touch-line bruiser.
To the lazy and ill-informed, he is merely the ruthless Brazil boss who dropped legendary striker Romario.
Or the cruel Portuguese coach who culled the great Luis Figo and punched an opposing player in an angry pitchside clash.
The footage of that straight left into the face of Serbia’s Ivica Dragutinovic, which you can see by clicking here, after a stormy Euro 2008 qualifying clash gets a five-star ranking on YouTube and has been visited by millions,
Sadly for Scolari, you have to scour the net for images of him lifting the World Cup and then they are only fleeting.
Maybe that’s why he has finally decided to try and put the record straight.
He insisted: “Yes, people call me a tough guy, call me a hard man but I have never seen a coach with three stripes on his arm or a general’s pips on his shoulders.
“It’s just because I fight for my players. I always defend them . . . sometimes even when I know that it is wrong thing to do, but I will take that.
“However, I make this clear — I fight FOR my players not with my players.”
And Scolari insists that his brothers-in-arms approach has earned him friends not foes.
He said: “In my history, in my life in Brazil and all the other countries I have worked, you ask any of the players about me and they will say: ‘I like Felipe because he is like a father to me, like a brother to me.’
“If you asked 100 players about me, 99 would have very good things to say about me. And if I argue with you now — after one hour it is over, forgotten. Life carries on.
“So I can honestly say I don’t think I have any enemies in football.”
Not even Romario?
Scolari grins before adding: “Romario is my BIG friend!
“After the World Cup in 2002 I saw Romario one or two times and he said to me: ‘I know you left me out of the squad but it is OK because you are my friend.’
“At that time I needed to show the players that it was my choice and this was my team and Romario understood that.”
Scolari is now busy being buddies with his new Chelsea charges. And he highlighted an incident on the club’s pre-season tour to Asia as an example of how he can be one of the lads.
Chelsea’s flight from Gangzhou to Macau in China was delayed for hours and the squad could have been left kicking their heels at the airport.
But Scolari went to his players and agreed a fun alternative.
He explained: “Our flight was delayed and I went to the players and I said look we have this situation and they said: ‘No problem.’
“And they went to do some stretching, some running and other work in the gymnasium and after that some of them played tennis, others played badminton and others played foot volley.
“And when one of the players dropped out of the tennis I took over. I played with John Terry against Wayne Bridge and Ashley Cole and we won by two sets to one. In this time I have a friendly relationship.
“We were shouting ‘very good’, ‘well done' and giving high fives.
“I was just like another player at this time.
“And that is how I have always been.”
Scolari, whose side visit Wigan this afternoon after their opening their Premier League account with a comprehensive 4-0 home victory over Portsmouth last week, says he has always been a more ‘European’ style manager too.
A Brazilian boss but with dramatically un-Brazilian views of the beautiful game.
And he claims that has made it easier for him to adapt to life in charge of Chelsea.
He said: “When I was a coach in Brazil they always said I was a coach for Europe because of my style.
“My teams were very organised and the style more stronger and physical.
Wrong
“So it has not been difficult for me to put my stamp on the club and the players.”
And he has relishing the day-to-day responsibility of being back in club football after his international tenures with Brazil and then Portugal.
He said: “I love being a club coach again compared to working with a national team, because I am with the players every day.
“If I see something wrong I can say to the player: ‘Change this, change that’ and the next week I can say to him: ‘OK, well done you are better.’
“But with a national team you can’t do that.
“You play, they leave and it is a month before you see them again.
“What do you say to them then? ‘Do you remember what I said one month ago?’ ”
It’s not last month that Scolari needs to worry about, though. It is last season.
Chelsea finished potless and sacked the hapless Avram Grant.
Achieve
A dismal failure. A crisis, even.
But not to Scolari.
He said: “I don’t agree. Chelsea played very well but they just didn’t win one game so, for me, it is not a bad season.
“They got to the Carling Cup final but they lost to Tottenham.
“They finished second in the League to Manchester United and lost by just two points on the last day.
“And they also lost the final of the Champions League.
“To me, for one team to achieve all that makes them a very good team.”
It’s now up to Scolari to make that good team a great one.
