With his brave, halting English, ready smile and promise to try to keep Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba in London, Luiz Felipe Scolari charmed his way through his first public appearance as Chelsea manager.
The Brazilian coach even echoed his popular predecessor but one, Jose Mourinho, when he talked about being “special”.
“Yes I am special for my friends and for my family…but as a manager so-so,” Scolari, who won the World Cup with Brazil, joked at a packed news conference on Tuesday.
Such was the circus surrounding Scolari’s arrival that the Premier League and Champions League runners-up, who sacked Avram Grant in May, had to move his first news conference to a big hotel near the training ground.
Scolari, who only occasionally needed the help of an interpreter, said he felt no more pressure in the high-profile job under the watchful eye of billionaire owner Roman Abramovich than in previous jobs as Brazil and Portugal manager and at clubs in Brazil and the Middle East.
“If you are a coach in Brazil you know what pressure is,” he said. “I think I am prepared.”
Scolari, who has a reputation for being quick to anger, famously thumping Serbian player Ivica Dragutinovic last year, fosters a family atmosphere among his players.
“I am a coach that respects my players and I like my players as a family. I give them all they need and I want respect for me, for my staff and for my club,” he said.
Scolari, who quit as manager of Portugal following a quarter-final exit last month from the European Championship, denied he had encouraged Manchester United’s Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo to move to Real Madrid.
“Cristiano Ronaldo would be a great player in any league…I never advised him to change his club,” Scolari said. It was Manchester United who scooped both Premier League and Champions League at Chelsea’s expense last season.
Scolari charms his way through first Chelsea outing - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports
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