INNSBRUCK, Austria (AP) - If Luiz Felipe Scolari feared his impending move to Chelsea might distract him from guiding Portugal toward a European Championship title, he needn't have worried.
The Chelsea fans, the British media, the bookmakers and, who knows, even Blues owner Roman Abramovich, are doing his new job for him.
The Portugal coach is on his way to one of the biggest and toughest jobs in soccer. Judging by Portugal's form and results, he could well go there with a European title to go along with the 2002 World Cup he won as Brazil's coach.
With this in mind, he can easily concentrate on Portugal and has effectively banned all talk of the Chelsea job from news conferences, the next of which is Saturday, the day before his team faces already-eliminated Switzerland in Group A. But the British media, with no team to follow because the English, Irish, Scots and Welsh all failed to qualify, are hungry for stories about Scolari and Chelsea.
The old season is not even cold and the new one is effectively beginning with Friday's announcement of the draw for the third tier League Cup and Monday's release of the full Premier League schedule. That means the European Championship takes something of a back seat compared with the transfer news involving the likes of Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Chelsea's Frank Lampard. Scolari's move to Chelsea has topped it all.
There are so many implications to the move.
Before it was announced, the fact that former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had joined Inter Milan prompted speculation that some of his Portuguese countrymen - such as Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira - might follow him from Stamford Bridge to San Siro.
With the current - for now - coach going to west London, Carvalho and Ferreira likely will be happy to stay.
Then there is the Brazilian connection.
Newspapers are suggesting that Chelsea - with a seemingly bottomless pit of the owner's cash to spend - might tempt AC Milan to let go of Kaka or Alexandre Pato. Or Scolari might join the chase for FC Barcelona's Ronaldinho and Real Madrid's Robinho, both out of form but with the talent to bounce back under a different coach.
The British bookmakers are already thinking even further ahead.
Not only are they offering odds on what titles he will win with the Blues next season, they have even opened a book on how long he will last at Stamford Bridge and who will replace him.
With Portugal doing well at its third straight major championship - Scolari also led the team to the final at Euro 2004 and semifinals of the 2006 World Cup - he can also keep an eye on other Chelsea stars, such as Germany's Michael Ballack, Petr Cech of the Czech Republic and Claude Makelele and Nicolas Anelka of France.
Scolari's arrival for the first time in English soccer comes two years after he turned another huge job down. The Football Association interviewed him for the national team role after it was known that Sven-Goran Eriksson was leaving and reportedly spoke to him three times. But Scolari was scared off by the impact a demanding and inquisitive media might have on his family and stayed with Portugal.
England chose Steve McClaren, who wasn't even second choice, failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and now Fabio Capello is in charge.
Negotiations for Scolari's move to Chelsea are understood to have begun a month ago and even the Portuguese federation admitted they have been going on "for some time."
There is one part of this championship which appears to be preparing Scolari for the Premier League - the appalling weather.
Torrential rain both in Switzerland and Austria has plagued the tournament with the conditions from Basel to Klagenfurt resembling February rather than June.
Scolari has it still to come, but now he has a feel for what it's like in Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle - albeit without the mountains.
The Chelsea fans, the British media, the bookmakers and, who knows, even Blues owner Roman Abramovich, are doing his new job for him.
The Portugal coach is on his way to one of the biggest and toughest jobs in soccer. Judging by Portugal's form and results, he could well go there with a European title to go along with the 2002 World Cup he won as Brazil's coach.
With this in mind, he can easily concentrate on Portugal and has effectively banned all talk of the Chelsea job from news conferences, the next of which is Saturday, the day before his team faces already-eliminated Switzerland in Group A. But the British media, with no team to follow because the English, Irish, Scots and Welsh all failed to qualify, are hungry for stories about Scolari and Chelsea.
The old season is not even cold and the new one is effectively beginning with Friday's announcement of the draw for the third tier League Cup and Monday's release of the full Premier League schedule. That means the European Championship takes something of a back seat compared with the transfer news involving the likes of Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Chelsea's Frank Lampard. Scolari's move to Chelsea has topped it all.
There are so many implications to the move.
Before it was announced, the fact that former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had joined Inter Milan prompted speculation that some of his Portuguese countrymen - such as Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira - might follow him from Stamford Bridge to San Siro.
With the current - for now - coach going to west London, Carvalho and Ferreira likely will be happy to stay.
Then there is the Brazilian connection.
Newspapers are suggesting that Chelsea - with a seemingly bottomless pit of the owner's cash to spend - might tempt AC Milan to let go of Kaka or Alexandre Pato. Or Scolari might join the chase for FC Barcelona's Ronaldinho and Real Madrid's Robinho, both out of form but with the talent to bounce back under a different coach.
The British bookmakers are already thinking even further ahead.
Not only are they offering odds on what titles he will win with the Blues next season, they have even opened a book on how long he will last at Stamford Bridge and who will replace him.
With Portugal doing well at its third straight major championship - Scolari also led the team to the final at Euro 2004 and semifinals of the 2006 World Cup - he can also keep an eye on other Chelsea stars, such as Germany's Michael Ballack, Petr Cech of the Czech Republic and Claude Makelele and Nicolas Anelka of France.
Scolari's arrival for the first time in English soccer comes two years after he turned another huge job down. The Football Association interviewed him for the national team role after it was known that Sven-Goran Eriksson was leaving and reportedly spoke to him three times. But Scolari was scared off by the impact a demanding and inquisitive media might have on his family and stayed with Portugal.
England chose Steve McClaren, who wasn't even second choice, failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and now Fabio Capello is in charge.
Negotiations for Scolari's move to Chelsea are understood to have begun a month ago and even the Portuguese federation admitted they have been going on "for some time."
There is one part of this championship which appears to be preparing Scolari for the Premier League - the appalling weather.
Torrential rain both in Switzerland and Austria has plagued the tournament with the conditions from Basel to Klagenfurt resembling February rather than June.
Scolari has it still to come, but now he has a feel for what it's like in Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle - albeit without the mountains.
No comments:
Post a Comment