Concerned: Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe
Scolari wants his players to pull together.
The Chelsea manager is known to feel extremely strongly
about the importance of keeping all dressing-room or team
discussions in-house and has been frustrated by some reports that
have appeared in the media following the club's disappointing
recent run.
Scolari is adamant that the spirit at Chelsea is strong, but
pointedly remarked that "sometimes the walls have ears" at his
press conference on Friday. Chelsea, who face Manchester United at
Old Trafford on Sunday, believe that there are people from outside
the club who have been agitating.
Last year Chelsea experienced similar a problem under Avram
Grant, who instructed the media not to listen to agents "too much",
following the Carling Cup final defeat against Tottenham.
Prior to the match, captain John Terry and first-team coach Henk
ten Cate had a training-ground row that quickly became public
knowledge.
Terry yesterday also called on Chelsea to improve their unity in
2009 as the club strive to win a potential treble of Premier
League, FA Cup and Champions League.
"We need to be more consistent, we need to play better and
sometimes we need to be together more, including the fans," he
said. "We can certainly do all that. Now we must all stick
together. We take on the world as one: us players, management and
staff and especially the fans. We support each other, we win
together."
Scolari, who is optimistic about the progress of Michael Essien,
is also particularly encouraged by the improving injury situation
and believes that his staff have been successful in tackling some
of the recurring issues. Despite the sale of Wayne Bridge to
Manchester City, Scolari is not expecting to make any buys in the
January transfer window.
Chelsea intend to be self-funding on an annual basis from July
and no longer reliant on interest-free loans from Roman Abramovich.
A spending review has seen the departure of 15 club scouts and even
a cut of free tickets for players from eight to four per game.