LUIZ FELIPE SCOLARI last night explained his reasons for
taking the Chelsea manager’s job for the first time. The Portugal
coach, whose side were the first to qualify for the Euro 2008
quarter-finals, said his main motivation for accepting had been
financial. He also defended himself against charges that the news
of his appointment, made on Wednesday night, would disrupt the
country’s campaign.
Scolari, who is believed to have been offered a salary of £5.5m
a year in contrast to the annual £1.75m he earns with Portugal,
said he had wanted to stay but that his current employers had been
unable to match the Chelsea deal. “I am 59, will soon turn 60, and
I don’t want to work until 70 as a technician. I want to work for
four or five more years and then retire. We wanted a similar
proposal but none of them won [out]. So I was told I was free to
negotiate with others. You only get one opportunity like this and I
had to take it.”
Asked about his fiery reputation, he said: “You have to ask my
wife, she knows more than I do. Get in touch with her. I like to
play, I like to make jokes and I like to work with my players in a
good atmosphere. I feel comfortable anywhere in the world because I
can establish good relationships with people around me. I don’t
like high society, I’m not someone who likes to go to parties and
socialise, I’m shy. I speak English with my players. I speak
German, Italian, Spanish, you name it. There is only one language
in football.”
Scolari’s appointment was welcomed by Fabio Capello. The England
coach said that Scolari was “a very intelligent coach because he
can change the style of a team. He is an important manager because
he has been the world champion, he has won with teams in South
America. He has a lot of experience”.
The one sour note of the day was the comments made by Ricardo
Carvalho. The Chelsea defender condemned the club for the “cruel”
sacking of Avram Grant as manager, two days after their Champions
League final defeat to Manchester United on penalties. The
30-year-old had intended to ask for a transfer after Grant’s
dismissal, but changed his mind after the appointment of
Scolari.
“Avram did a great job, but they still decided to sack him,”
Carvalho said. “Yet after Jose Mourinho left, he picked up the team
and got good results. In the Champions League he was only one
penalty from winning it. It was very cruel. It was very ruthless.
The new manager will be my third in a year, and you need stability
to be successful. There has been a lot of talk about players coming
and going. I know there are stories about me, too, but I have a
contract at Chelsea and I have not spoken to Jose Mourinho about
[joining] Inter Milan, or to my agent.”
Informed sources at Stamford Bridge indicated that Scolari’s
first signings would be two members of the Portugal squad - Deco,
the 30-year-old Barcelona playmaker, and Ricardo Quaresma, 24, a
winger with Porto.
Liverpool, meanwhile, rejected speculation linking Spanish
striker Fernando Torres with a move to Chelsea. “Fernando Torres is
just not for sale,” chief executive Rick Parry told the club’s
website. The Spaniard scored in the 2-1 win over Sweden last night
that took Spain through to join Scolari’s side in the
quarter-finals. In the day’s other match, Greece’s defence of the
title they won in 2004 was ended by a 1-0 defeat to Russia.
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