Tonight:
9°c
Scolari at fault in substandard show
Simon Johnson, Football Correspondent, in Rome05.11.08
It takes a special kind of manager to make the tactical changes necessary to save a game and, so far, Luiz Felipe Scolari has yet to prove he can match the 'Special One'.
While captain John Terry rightly pointed the finger for the club's woeful defeat by Roma at the players, Scolari will also have to shoulder some of the blame.
For once again his attempts at influencing a game with substitutions didn't work, in fact he only succeeded in making things worse at the Stadio Olimpico.
Jose Mourinho may not have played the expansive football that the fans are already warming to under Scolari but, more often than not, he put things right when matches were going wrong. He would do it by using the subs' bench, making a tactical change or even both, and he was usually well rewarded.
In many of the games under Scolari, it has not proved an issue so far because Chelsea have been too strong for the opposition and won comfortably. But in the few they have struggled for inspiration, Scolari has been found wanting and unable to reverse the slide. For example, when they laboured to draws against Tottenham and Cluj as well as their first home defeat in the League for 87 games against Liverpool.
Last night was no exception after Chelsea managed to find themselves trailing at half-time against a Roma side who had lost their previous five games and betrayed a real lack of cohesion.
The visitors had dominated possession for long periods and, while most of their attacks only resulted in shots from outside the area, they still looked the superior team.
Only a shocking lapse in concentration cost them the opening goal against the run of play, when firstly John Obi Mikel played a shocking ball behind Deco, who then fouled Francesco Totti to prevent him from racing clear.
It was a challenge that would cost him later in the match as it was the first of two yellow cards but there was no excuse for the way Chelsea defended the free-kick. It was played out quickly to Cicinho on the right and his cross was met by a crisp finish from six yards out by former Chelsea star Christian Panucci, while the Blues backline just stopped and stared.
There was still no reason to panic just yet as Scolari's side had shown enough quality in the opening 45 minutes to suggest they could come back, although Nicolas Anelka was putting in an especially anaemic display up front.
In previous games, the former Portugal coach had left it too late to make a difference but on this occasion it was too early as he took off Joe Cole and Florent Malouda at the break for the unfit Didier Drogba and Juliano Belletti.
It was a move that instantly backfired as it just seemed to ensure that Chelsea lost their grip on the game completely and Mirko Vucinic capitalised by smashing the ball into the top right-hand corner within three minutes of the restart.
Ten minutes later, it got even worse for Chelsea as Vucinic robbed Mikel of possession in Roma's half and, after successfully beating off the Nigeria international's desperate bid to make amends, was able to run into the area unopposed to make it three.
Terry's effort 15 minutes from time was a mere consolation - the Chelsea skipper tapping home at the second attempt after a Deco cross - and they had goalkeeper Petr Cech for preventing further humiliation when he saved from Vucinic at close range. Chelsea had lost their shape and composure and it just seemed that Scolari's substitutions had played a major part in their downfall. The 59-year-old is certainly a worried man now that Chelsea lead their group by just one point with two games remaining.
He said: "When you give away three goals you do worry. You need to think why was this and what we can do in our next game.
"We didn't play well. We made mistakes at critical times. We allowed Roma chances and individual mistakes cost us dearly."
There was a danger that this match may have been postponed due to a heavy downpour in Rome but now it's up to Scolari to ensure Chelsea's Champions League hopes don't go down the drain.
Reader views (7)
not his fault at all..he don't get the player he wanted (Robinho..to compare him with Mourinho sound a little strange..Mourinho always get the player he want when he at Chelsea and the statement sound Chelsea never lose under Mourinho..if Scolari get the money to buy the player he wanted, then you can judge him..
- Ricardo Kaka Fans, Medan, Indonesia
I don't think the comparison between the two is fair. Because of the injuries and the hasty sale of the underperformed strikers and SWP, Chelsea got an "empty bench". Who were there for Scolari to pick from? A subpar Drogba who just returned from injury and didn't play any first team football for half a year and you expect him to be the saviour. Belletti, hardly known as an attacking midfielder. He lacks pace and dribbling skill to go one on one down the flank. Kalou? He is probably one of the most overrated player in the Chelsea line up. He is just no good enough to play on this team. Oh yes, he could score some goals but if you look at his statistics, he scored a lot of goals when the team is already up by 2 to 3 goals but when you are counting on him to score when it is counted the most, he failed to deliver almost 10 out of 10 times. If I were the manager of Chelsea, I will get rid of him, Malouda and even Drogba as fast as possible when the transfer window reopens in January while they may still worth something and get some useful bodies back in the line. I am sympathetic with Scolari for his hands are tied and there aren't much he could do when he just hasn't got the talent.
- Lloyd Man, Hong Kong
He isn't as tactically adept as he's made out to be. Chelsea have been hot and cold all season. When they play well the obviously get the plaudits even when the play a awful team, ala Middlesborough. But when the play a strong team with a tactically adept manager they struggle. Deco is a typical half a season player. He was nothing special at Barca. Anelka is a shadow of his former self even if he did score a hat-trick at the weekend. Lampard shoots at every opportunity when a defence splitting pass would suffice ala Fabregas.
- Simon, winchester
The obvious is clear. Chels need a bunch of fresh good wingers +.
Raise the money from the sale of Malouda, Kalou, Anelka, Ferriera, Belletti.
- Ernest Ferrante, Vancouver, BC
Chelsea this season has struggled against some teams this season not because they are weak in defense but weak in their penetration and goal scoring i feel. In the matches against liverpool, cluj and roma in both the matches this has been evident. Also chelsea this season have not been making the comebacks they were so good at the previous seasons. I don't believe that buying some players and selling some will help the club massively. I mean we have virtually the same squad we had when Moruhnio was there at chelsea and also when Grant was here. This season even though chelsea are playing more aggressively I feel that they have to retain their old habits of making comebacks. After watching the match against roma it was evident that they didn't have proper game plan of penetrating the defense. Also it can be noticed that when chelsea are not able to penetrate the number of air balls increase.
In the end all I want to say is if chelsea are to be a force to reckon with I honestly believe that Big Phil instead of wanting to buy more players should concentrate more on the resources that he has like the young players in reserves.
I hope I would be able to chelsea one day with all these qualities.
- Sandeep, Bangalore, India
"Chelsea lead their group by just one point with two games remaining" This seems to suggest that one more win in a qualifying competition will see Chelsea,um,qualify. Hardly portentious
- Peter Bench, London
"He would do it by using the subs' bench, making a tactical change or even both, and he was usually well rewarded."
Just out of interest, which other avenues do you think might have been open to him? Or were you just stating the bleeding obvious?
Guess so.
- Rob, London
