Scolari gets tough with Chelsea stars

Luiz Felipe Scolari has warned his disaffected Chelsea stars to stop complaining about his tactics and team selections.

Scolari has reportedly had disagreements with Nicolas Anelka, Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba in recent weeks, while John Terry and Frank Lampard are believed to have asked the Brazilian coach to make training sessions more intense.

Anelka and Drogba were upset at being dropped and Carvalho is said to have been vexed by Scolari’s decision to change Chelsea’s defensive marking system.

But Scolari is determined to quash the dressing room unrest and has warned his stars that they are paid to play, not pick the team.

“When you sign a contract at a club you don’t put that you are first or second in the team. The coach chooses. This is my job to chose 11 players. The job of the player is to play. Finish,” he said.

Despite dropping Drogba for Wednesday’s FA Cup win at Southend after his poor display in the 3-0 defeat against Manchester United, Scolari is adamant he is not making the Ivory Coast striker a scapegoat.

“I am the victim because I lost 3-0. I and the club. No player is more of a victim than me or the club. All together.

“Didier is not a scapegoat. I need to choose one player who is in better condition than the other. For the Southend game I picked (Nicolas) Anelka,” Scolari said. “His reaction was normal as a player.”

However, Scolari insisted talk that he is in danger of losing the dressing room is complete rubbish.

“In my mind I know what I am thinking. I say only that it is rubbish. I don’t say more than this,” he said.

“Some newspapers don’t know what is happening with Carvalho. They are crazy people because I am a gentleman.”

Drogba is back in the squad for Saturday’s home game against Stoke, as is Carvalho, but Deco misses out again with a calf injury.

Scolari is also likely to be without Joe Cole for at least eight weeks following his knee injury against Southend, with Chelsea expected to confirm the severity of the problem this evening.

Cole’s absence will deprive Scolari of one of his main creative threats but the Brazilian knows there is no chance of Chelsea hijacking Manchester City’s 100 million pounds move for his compatriot Kaka.

“I don’t have 100 million pounds. Maybe many people do but I don’t. It is too much for me,” Scolari said.

“We have a good squad. If I say to the board you need to buy this, this and that they try. but we have a good squad.

“If the other clubs spend money that is good, We spend money when we need to. If I have one or two injuries and we need cover they (the board) will understand.”

Scolari has been too concerned by the threat posed by Stoke’s direct, aggressive tactics to worry about any new signings this week.

After their embarrassing defeat at Old Trafford, Chelsea desperately need a win to get back on track but Scolari believes Stoke are the most dangerous team in the world at set-pieces and has been drilling his players to cope with the danger posed by Rory Delap’s long throws.

“This team is more dangerous than any in the world. If you look at the statistics Stoke have scored 17 goals and 11 from corners, free-kicks and throw-ins,” he said.

“It is a good test for us. We are training to think about our problems and we have some solutions. We will mark man to man sometimes but use a zone as well.”