Luiz Felipe Scolari has warned Chelsea’s rivals that he won’t pull any punches in the Premier League title fight.
Scolari has never been afraid to deliver a knockout blow on or off the pitch and the Brazilian was quick to emphasize his street-fighting credentials as he set his sights on English soccer’s heavyweights.
The 59-year-old is a shrewd operator who knows exactly what buttons to push to get the best out of his players. But he also has a fiery temperament that occasionally flares in spectacular fashion.
PHOTO: EPA
Scolari’s most famous eruption came during his time as Portugal coach when he punched Serbia’s Ivica Dragutinovic following a touchline clash in a Euro 2008 qualifier.
As a newcomer in the Premier League, Scolari could have opted to keep a low profile while he finds his feet.
But although he insists he has the utmost respect for his opponents, he won’t be standing on ceremony when he goes head to head with Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger and Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez.
“Am I still a fighter? Maybe! I’ve been involved in situations like other coaches. It’s normal,” Scolari said. “I fight for my beliefs. But I respect other people. The other coaches, the fans. I respect them.
“I know some referees make mistakes, because everyone makes mistakes,” he said. “Sometimes these mistakes are important but, afterwards, there will be no problem. The last time was difficult to explain. I’m now friends with the boy we had the fight with, Dragutinovic. But no, I’m not friends with Javier Clemente [Serbia coach].”
Scolari doesn’t suffer fools gladly, but his desire transmits to his players with impressive effect.
He commanded total respect from the Brazil squad he led to 2002 World Cup glory, while several of the Portugal team he took to the Euro 2004 final regard him as a father-figure.
He is determined to foster the same kind of rapport among the millionaire egos at Chelsea.
“Until now, everything I have fought for and tried to achieve I have done. Even when it was very difficult, I got there and my team is the same,” he said.
“Maybe in this season we will have many difficult moments. But we will arrive there, sure. I am determined to do that. I coached in Saudi Arabia, at Gremio, Palmeiras, it was the same. We arrived where we wanted to be,” Scolari said. “It is impossible for me to say if we’ll win this championship or that one because I will try to say to the players, after tomorrow, one year, we will play the League Cup the same as we play the Champions League.”
Jose Mourinho is cast from a similar mould to Scolari and his Chelsea reign ended because couldn’t maintain a working relationship with Roman Abramovich.
Yet the Brazilian has no intention of being a yes-man for the the Blues owner either.
“I am the coach. It’s my job to say ‘this player is the best; this one isn’t the best,’” Scolari said. “I clarified with Roman. He said that I have control of the numbers. If somebody comes, somebody has to go. They’re okay with this.”
“All of the players at the club I haven’t chosen because I arrived three days ago. But if I believe that they are the best for Chelsea, I’ll put them on the field. No problem. In the future? It is my decision to put the players in the field or not,” he said.
Scolari conceded there will be plenty of changes as he trims Chelsea’s over-sized 32-man squad down to no more than 25 players. He insisted Frank Lampard will stay for at least a year, but several others including Didier Drogba look set to leave.
Those remaining will come under the watchful eye of psychologist Regina Brandao, who Scolari uses to compile profiles of his players.
“When Regina is free, I will invite her to come here and visit us,” Scolari said. “She gives me the profile for the players. She tells me, for this player you need to follow this way. And in the group, what I need to correct.”
Ten months after Mourinho departed, it seems Stamford Bridge will be top of the bill for touchline drama again.
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
US skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she sustained an abrasion on her left hip and that something “stabbed” her when she crashed during her second run of an Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday, doing a flip and sliding into the protective fencing. Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd before going to a clinic for evaluation. “Not really too much cause for concern at this point, I just
CLASH OF MANAGERS: Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler and Russell Martin of Southampton accused each other of disrespect, while both were booked Southampton on Friday were denied a priceless victory by a controversial decision as they drew with hosts Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 in the Premier League. Kaoru Mitoma spectacularly headed Brighton into a first-half lead and Flynn Downes hammered home an equalizer an hour in. Minutes later teammate Cameron Archer converted a cross from Saints substitute Ryan Fraser. A video assistant referee check of more than four minutes eventually decided that Archer was onside, but then penalized Adam Armstrong, who was offside, but did not touch the ball, for interfering with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. “I find it hard to accept,” Southampton manager Russell Martin
Mary McGee, a female racing pioneer and subject profiled in an Oscar-contending documentary, Motorcycle Mary, has died, her family said. She was 87. “McGee’s unparalleled achievements in off-road racing and motorcycle racing have inspired generations of athletes that followed in her footsteps,” her family said in a statement. The family said McGee died of complications from a stroke at her home in Gardnerville, Nevada, on Wednesday, the day before the release of the short documentary Motorcycle Mary, on ESPN’s YouTube channel. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was an executive producer on the film, which became available globally on Thursday. Its premiere
RSS