The Scolari aftermath at Chelsea in quotes -Part 1

In the aftermath of Big Phil Scolari´s departure from Chelsea there have been plenty of people with plenty to say. Players and ex-players are in part 1, managers, journalists and Scolari himself in part 2 and lastly but just as importantly, the fans themselves in part 3. (Part 1 here):

The Players

“I’m just very shocked by what’s happened.”

“I have sympathy for Scolari. He had my support, that’s for sure. Two or three other players will say exactly the same thing, I’m sure.”

“He’s a great man. Unfortunately we weren’t playing well and it falls on his head. Maybe they should look at some of us. We did under-achieve.

“But the overall picture needs to be looked at. The powers at the club need to look at that.”

“We’ve not been performing well individually and collectively as a squad.

“One or two of us feel we could have done better. We started off very well, but things dipped in form and results. At the end of the day, it’s about results. That’s unfortunate for Mr Scolari.”

Terry

“When Scolari was first here he seemed really happy and had a lot of positive ambition, but recently he has looked under pressure and he was not the same. I didn’t want him to go but the decision is down to the club.”

Alex

“It is true that results have not been the best but we still had time to put things right and had enough fighting qualities, especially with our progression in the Champions League. But our bad results have been decisive.

“I didn’t know much about the sacking. Someone called me from London and told me what had happened. When I left London no one was speaking about this happening. The club never spoke with the players about this and the decision has been made from people at the top.”

Drogba

“We’ve had a bad run but it’s the fault of everyone and it’s unfortunate he’s gone. But there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Yes I’m disappointed; he’s a good manager, a nice person, like a father in the club - a father figure. But at the same time if the club thinks it’s the best thing then that’s the right way to go.”

“He had his own coaching style, unfortunately it didn’t work for Chelsea but I think he’s a great manager, a nice person and I’m really disappointed to see him go.”

“He came in and he wanted us play flowing football, pass the ball around and move the ball quicker. I think we did that in some games but in others we found it difficult because most clubs in the Premier League watched us and know how we play.  When they come to play us at home they come to defend and it makes it really difficult to play so I think our home run this season has been really bad.”

Mikel

In conversation a week ago, Frank Lampard, a consistent influence in midfield under a succession of managers, said that Chelsea players used to stand in the tunnel at home games, feeling invincible, never considering defeat.

Recently, he said, there has been uncertainty. Would they win? Would they score?  Scolari’s failing is that he has not been able to make any impact on that mindset.

‘The years we won the League,’ Lampard recalled, ‘we would win games 1-0, not playing well. Rio Ferdinand said to me that the Manchester United players would watch our games, hoping we’d get beat, and we might play poorly enough to get beat, but then we’d nick it, and it was the most frustrating thing for them."

Lampard (reported by Martin Samuel one week before Scolari´s sacking)

“I was shocked when I heard the news; I almost could not believe it. The reason I came to Chelsea was to play for Scolari. 

“He explained the ambitious project they had here and I decided to sign and rejected a lot of other offers.

Deco

"Maybe the organisation did not correspond to the players in place," 

"All in all, the problem is maybe not tactical. There was an excess of athletic preparation and in terms of the players we had, it was not normal. I could not see how it could continue in this direction.” 

Christophe Lollichon - Goalkeeping coach.  

“I don’t understand how a club that wants so bad to win titles can take such a bad decision as this.  Just because Chelsea had a couple of bad matches. It was a big mistake. I’m sure, in a few weeks or months, he’ll be coaching an even bigger club than Chelsea.”

Kaka