Luiz Felipe Scolari issued an ominous statement of
intent to Chelsea’s domestic and European rivals last night by
declaring that his new team are capable of winning an unprecedented
quadruple. Chelsea finished as runners-up in the Champions League,
Barclays Premier League and Carling Cup last season, but Scolari
believes that under his leadership they can win all four trophies
that they will contest during the forthcoming
campaign.
In seeking to distance himself from José Mourinho, Scolari has
succeeded in avoiding the Portuguese’s brash tone, although he
clearly shares the confidence of his predecessor but one. In the
opulent surroundings of the team hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Scolari
claimed to possess the Midas touch, arguing that if his team got
themselves to finals he would do the rest, a stark contrast with
Avram Grant, the former Chelsea first-team coach. The Malaysian
capital holds fond memories for him because Brazil trained here in
the build up to winning the 2002 World Cup.
“I say to the players, ‘Look, you have confidence in yourselves
and after this, the rest is my problem,’ ” Scolari said. “The
players have confidence. They arrived last year in three finals.
That’s very good for me. I want to arrive in finals. If we arrive
in finals I am happy. After this I know the way to win and the
players know that too.
“We have four competitions this season and I will try to win
four competitions. My players will do the same. It’s very
difficult, but we have the players for this. We have everything
that Chelsea have given to me and everything that I want.”
Such is Scolari’s self-belief that after less than three weeks
at the club he is willing to reveal that he knows at least
three-quarters of his starting lineup for Chelsea’s opening match
of the season against Portsmouth on August 17. The Brazilian is
planning to follow the example of Mourinho by building his team
around a group of so-called untouchables, with Petr Cech, John
Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Michael
Ballack and Didier Drogba believed to form the core of the
side.
“I always build my team around a group of key players. Because
I’ve now had 15 days with the players, I now know who is important
for us in more games than other players,” Scolari said. “We need to
build one team, but one or two or three or five players in some
games are more important than other players. Maybe the other teams
are thinking that if this player plays he’ll be a big problem. I
knew a lot before I came here, but now I know which players are
more important to me for each situation.”
Scolari’s squad building is almost complete, although Peter
Kenyon, the chief executive, confirmed that Chelsea will make a
formal bid for Robinho, the Real Madrid forward, in the next few
days.
Robinho’s arrival would almost certainly precipitate the
departure of Shaun Wright-Phillips, who is wanted by Harry
Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager. “Shaun has done a good job until
now and the players love him, but the decision is not only for me,
it’s for the board,” Scolari said.
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