Chelsea will need record 97 points to win league title, says Luiz Felipe Scolari

Chelsea only head Liverpool on goal difference despite having dropped just seven points from the opening 13 games of the season.

And manager Scolari believes it will take a record-breaking campaign to guarantee Chelsea their third title in five years in his debut season in charge.

The Brazilian, who spoke glowingly of the harmony inside his squad, said: "We know that if we want to win the Premier League, we need to win 85 per cent of the points on offer.

"We have a focus for the Premier League games. Three points is important for every game. But we have a good balance and the players know this.

"After the games we lost, we showed the players why we lost and they tried to change that for the next game. In each case, in the next game we have played well."

Scolari's 85 per cent target equates to 97 points over the season, two more than Jose Mourinho's Blues side accrued to set the current record mark and take their first title in 2005. After Manchester United's 2-1 defeat at Arsenal, which has left them languishing eight points behind Chelsea and Liverpool, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: "We have got to get above 85 points to have a chance of winning the league, so we must keep going for it."

Chelsea are behind the schedule set for them by Scolari, although back-to-back wins over Newcastle today and Bolton next week would take them within a fraction of the target figure.

Scolari added: "I need to look at the schedule again. After we have played Newcastle and Bolton I will have a better idea about the points we have and what we wanted to have. I will tell you then."

The Brazilian, however, was far more emphatic about the value of a squad willing to exchange views and opinions without it descending into damaging acrimony.

And while he pointedly insisted he was not referring to Arsenal, Arsene Wenger or William Gallas, the contrast between the sweetness and light he described at Stamford Bridge and the apparent civil war across the capital could not have been more evident.

Scolari, set to have Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole and Petr Cech all back this afternoon, added: "Having a good atmosphere in the squad is 50 per cent, minimum, of what you need to win a game, because if that atmosphere is not good, you start the game in a bad situation.

"It is something the players create between themselves and with me and my staff. But once it is there it is easy." Scolari insisted that, for all his image as a hardliner, he actually encourages argument between his players - but only when it is for constructive purposes, and on the condition that nothing is allowed to fester.

"I want the players to speak their minds, to talk between themselves and me, even if it's negative," he added.

"We need to look and talk and think about what has happened, before games, even at half-time. But after they have spoken, it is my time.

"Bad results can create problems.

But what is important is that you've involved the players so they understand one bad result doesn't change our focus.

"In that time what you have to say i s: 'Remember, remember, remember; OK, go'. I'm the man who needs to decide what happens."

Scolari said he had been in such situations many, many times, but that he was happy for players to speak their minds as long as they did not breach his code of respect for the structure of the club.

"Sometimes you give the players the chance to say something and they go too far," he explained. "Then we need to say: 'Look, the position is this'.

"I am a coach, and at times I am a friend or a father too, because I am older than them and have had more experiences.

"But when I am a coach, I need to be able bring a player into my office and tell him the way we have to follow and if it is required, to say: 'You are wrong; out'. My job is to solve the problem and finish it."

LAST 11 WINNING POINTS TOTALS
2007-08: MAN UTD 87PTS
2006-07: MAN UTD 89PTS
2005-06: CHELSEA 91PTS
2004-05: CHELSEA 95PTS
2003-04: ARSENAL 90PTS
2002-03: MAN UTD 83PTS
2001-02: ARSENAL 87PTS
2000-01: MAN UTD 80PTS
1999-00: MAN UTD 91PTS
1998-99: MAN UTD 79PTS
1997-98: ARSENAL 78PTS

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari underlines squad importance

The Brazilian was adamant that he would not discuss the situation at Arsenal, yet was happy to outline the "very, very good atmosphere every day" at Chelsea, a quality he considers fundamental to the team's success.

"If you don't have a good atmosphere you will start the game in bad condition," he said. "I think [it's importance to the club is] 50 per cent minimum. If you are happy, your job is fantastic. We created that atmosphere and after this, it is easy."

Chelsea captain John Terry was openly critical of the team following the recent defeat against Roma but, unlike Gallas, there was an emphasis on collective responsibility rather than any individual incident. Scolari says that he encourages his players to speak frankly, whether exchanging positive or negative views. "John Terry may be critical because he is more angry than other players," he said. "But, in the dressing room, all of the players are critical. The players respect my level and I respect the players. We have lines.

"We talk – I understand, the player understands, the board understands, we finish the problem. They are very professional and I like this so much. My authority is the normal authority. Sometimes I am a friend, a father and sometimes I am a coach. Sometimes, as a coach, I need to say 'you are wrong'."

Scolari's man-management has extended to his supportive handling of Dider Drogba following the coin-throwing incident that has resulted in a three-match Football Association ban that will rule him out of today's game against Newcastle.

It is also understood that he has been fined two weeks' wages for the lapse in discipline, but Scolari said: "Didier did not go to the pitch with the coin, Didier is not the man that started it."

Scolari also expressed his hope that Michael Ballack will extend his contract beyond next season. "He is young and plays very well, if he wants, I want and if Chelsea have a deal it's fantastic," he said.

Although top of the league, Chelsea are one point adrift of Scolari's "85 per cent" ratio that he regards as necessary to be sure of winning the Premier League. It is a standard that would result in a record-breaking haul at the end of the season of 97 points.

Although Drogba is suspended, Scolari is likely to welcome back Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Joe Cole to his squad after the England trio all missed the 2-1 win against Germany on Wednesday. Petr Cech is available again, while Alex could also return.

EPL 2008-09 Season: English life suits Scolari but Chelsea come first

LONDON: Luiz Felipe Scolari has quickly grown to love life in England but the Chelsea manager has put sight-seeing to the back of his mind as he tries to keep the Londoners on top of the English Premier League.
Scolari and his family have settled well in their new home near Chelsea's training ground in leafy Cobham, south of London, but the Brazilian has made only a handful of trips into the capital because he is so focused on winning silverware this season.

Like Arsene Wenger, who once claimed he only knew the way to Arsenal's stadium, training ground and Heathrow airport, Scolari is too consumed by success to worry about trips to Big Ben and the Tower of London.

That didn't change this week ahead of Newcastle's visit to Stamford Bridge today, even though he had only a handful of players to work with due to the international friendlies.

"My life in England is a normal life as a coach. I have more time for the club, for training, and I spend some time with the family when I have time for this," he said.
"My family like to stay in England, my son is studying at a beautiful, big school and he visited some more places than me and has more friends.

"London? No, I have visited three or four times when I was free with my family, but when I go to London it is to play at Stamford Bridge!"

Scolari has more pressing concerns as he waits to see whether Frank Lampard and goalkeeper Petr Cech can shakes off their injuries.

Seven other first team players are expected to be out of action too, as Alex, Joe Cole, Juliano Belletti, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien, Ashley Cole and Franco Di Santo are all still struggling.

With a third of the season now played, the signs are looking good for the Blues.

Didier Drogba was wrong, but blame the fan

Chelsea striker deserves to be punished but whoever threw coin at Stamford Bridge is real villain of the piece

All the talk is about how long Didier Drogba's ban should be and that's taking the focus away from the person who started the whole thing - the fan who threw the coin at him.

There's no doubt Drogba was irresponsible and deserves to be punished by the FA, though not in my opinion the police. But it would be ridiculous if he paid a heavier penalty than David Norris, the Ipswich Town player who made the “handcuffs” sign in support of Luke McCormick, the goalkeeper who was sent to prison for causing the deaths of two kids in a car accident. That idiotic gesture must have been premeditated on some level while Drogba's was spontaneous. To me, Norris's behaviour was worse.

Incidents of players abusing fans, as the Chelsea striker did, are very rare while week in, week out, footballers are on the receiving end of disgusting abuse. It's human nature that occasionally some will crack. I certainly did a couple of times in my playing days. When Eric Cantona karate-kicked that Crystal Palace fan, a lot of players thought: “Good on you, Eric.” No player runs on to the pitch planning to start trouble with supporters, but at every game a percentage of fans turn up intending to dish out verbal abuse or worse.

In my Millwall days in the 1980s, I remember warming up at Upton Park and fans in the Chicken Run terrace were calling out my name for ages until I finally looked round - and 30 of them chorused “w***er”. Apparently they used to do it to someone every week, like it was their hobby. Grown men.

During a game at The Den, David Byrne, our winger, told a Millwall fan who was running along the terrace and giving him stick to “f*** off”. The fan took out a knife and said he was going to “do him” after the match. David went as white as a ghost.

Footballers don't worry about security arrangements at stadiums, but deep down they know that if a fan really wants to invade the pitch and get at them, he will. It is a shame that Aston Villa were not able to catch the supporter who threw a coin at Harry Redknapp last month and hit an assistant referee. A heavy punishment for that might have made the Burnley supporter think twice.

Drogba is not a popular player. He's done and said some daft things, but he wasn't trying to wind up the Burnley fans - he scored and in the adrenalin rush that followed he probably didn't realise where he was celebrating. He's got a big ego, so he's not the kind of character to laugh off having something chucked at him, spoiling his moment of glory. He reacted because he felt insulted.

Drogba must be held accountable, but he's not the main villain here. Stop fans abusing players and you stop the problem of players being pushed past breaking point.

BPL Match : Blackburn Rovers VS Chelsea - 9 November 2008.

VS

Ince relishes physical challenge from Chelsea

BLACKBURN, England- Paul Ince, the Blackburn Rovers manager, faces Chelsea on Sunday expecting the Premiership title hopefuls to provide his team with a strong, physical challenge.

In a week in which Arsene Wenger publically criticised Stoke City for their physical approach in the recent victory over Arsenal, the issue of underdog teams trying to out-muscle the Premiership elite has been to the fore.

But Ince, a former midfielder well known for relishing the physical side of the game in his own playing days, believes that Chelsea are now capable of mixing both styles of football.

"Chelsea can do both sides of the game now. They can play and they can also handle the physical side of the game," said the former England international.

"You look at the likes of John Terry, Carvalho, John Obi-Mikel and you can see that they are a big side.

"Last season, they had a lot of 1-0 wins, so that shows they are a team well capable of defending a lead. They defend, they can tackle and they are strong players.

"But since Luiz Scolari came in, he has taken them to another level and they are now playing Manchester United-style football. So that makes them twice as hard to beat because they are top notch at both aspects.

"They have world-class players, so when you come up against them, you have to rely on your work ethic and getting in people's faces to get results against the big boys.

"But when the big boys are capable of exactly the same thing, but with world-class players, they are going to out-play you and you can't do anything about it. That's a fact."

Ince, a former favourite with Manchester United and Liverpool, believes those two clubs are genuine title contenders, along with the team he faces at Ewood Park on Sunday.

And the Blackburn manager finds it difficult to separate the three early-season pace setters. "Are Chelsea better than United? I don't think so, and you shouldn't forget Liverpool in there either," he said.

"They've changed as a team and the players seem to be enjoying what they are doing. With the likes of Deco in there, Chelsea are now playing football the way it should be played. We just need to hope they have an off day if we are to get the win.

"But if Hull and Stoke can beat Arsenal, then there is no reason why we can't beat Chelsea."

Scolari, however, has been shocked at the physical style of Premiership football despite making an instant, and impressive, impact on English football.

"Yes, I have been surprised at how physical it is," he said. "You never look at a club in English football and think their players are small. They all have big bodies.

"Sometimes, there is more physical contact in games but, hopefully, we're not bad at that.

"All the teams have a minimum ten players who are about 1m 90cm (6'3") so sometimes you need to do something different in training because you are playing against a team that has six or seven players inside your area and that makes a big problem for us because we're not that big.

"We need some strategic movements to control the game and control throw-ins and corner kicks."

Scolari is expected to hand veteran Brazilian midfielder Mineiro his debut on Sunday with Nigeria midfielder John Mikel Obi making way as a result of the mistakes which contributed to two of Roma goals in their 3-1 midweek win over Chelsea in Rome.

England defender Ashley Cole misses the trip with a calf problem while Michael Essien, who had knee surgery earlier in the season, and Michael Ballack (foot) are long-term absentees.

CHELSEA : Scolari plays down Chelsea's greatness

By Jason Burt in Rome
Tuesday, 4 November 2008

He wrinkled his nose at one invitation to sing his own praises – after Luciano Spaletti, Roma's coach, said Chelsea were currently the "best side in the world" – by declaring there were maybe "10 or even 50" top sides but Luiz Felipe Scolari decided, with a smile, to accept a second opportunity.

Did he, he was asked, like the team hotel that Chelsea were using ahead of tonight's Champions League tie and would he like to book it – now – for the final next May which is also to be played in the cavernous bowl that is the Stadio Olimpico? "If the hotel accepts, we'll book it for me," Scolari said. "If they accept, we'll do that."

The Cavalieri Hotel – a cool £776 a night for a standard room – is indeed one of the most beautiful in this most beautiful of cities and even though Scolari was in playful mood and even though, in truth, it is Uefa, the European governing body, which selects the team hotels for its showpiece game, there is a hard-edged belief to the comment by the Brazilian – of Italian descent, of course, with his father Benjamin hailing from Venice – in wanting to emulate the achievement of reaching last season's final in Moscow.

That was Avram Grant's last match in charge and although Spaletti was touted by some agents as a possible successor, the Italian was never really in the running to pip Scolari to the post. His star, however, has waned. Now Spaletti, after Roma's worst start to a league season in 45 years, and with four consecutive Serie A defeats leaving them fourth from bottom, is clinging to his job. He took time yesterday to praise Chelsea – and perhaps defuse expectation with his players struggling so wretchedly – by lauding the advances that Scolari has made with this talented squad.

"It [Chelsea] is one of the best 10 teams in the world, but not the best. We are one," Scolari said quickly as he anticipated the potential for hubris although there was also a little boast when he declared that he was "more beautiful" than his predecessor. That was in jest, of course, designed to relax Salomon Kalou who was sitting next to him and had been asked how Chelsea this season compared to last. "I was joking with Kalou, because he is shy," Scolari said when urged to expand upon his comment on looks. "I try to make him more free, only this."

Liberation, and a lighter touch, has been his aim so far and despite, by his own admission "one or two games [in which] we haven't played well and we paid for this" it has been a success. "We are playing very well," Scolari said. "But we need to get into more finals, win more finals."

The big one is this one and a victory this evening in Group A would probably see Chelsea through to the knock-out stages although they will have to perform without Ashley Cole. After a scan the left-back has been diagnosed with a small tear to his calf, which also rules him out of Sunday's league meeting with Blackburn Rovers. Injuries have had to be accepted by Scolari, who has coped brilliantly with depleted resources and will continue with Nicolas Anelka in attack this evening as Didier Drogba is still some way short of match sharpness with the suspicion lingering that he is not central to Scolari's plans.

For so long he was Chelsea's talisman and Roma may well spring a surprise by including their own, Francesco Totti, who trained yesterday and declared himself fit despite fears that the inflammation on his knee, a legacy of surgery last season, would rule him out. Roma need him.

Chelsea's last visit to this city came in the first flush of Roman Abramovich's ownership when they thrillingly brushed aside Lazio, who share the stadium, 4-0. Such is Chelsea's prowess that they could easily repeat that scoreline tonight as they attempt to give themselves the chance to book a place – if not yet a hotel – for the Eternal City next May.

Roma (4-1-4-1, probable): Doni; Cicinho, Panucci, Mexes, Riise; De Rossi; Taddei, Brighi, Pizarro, Vucinic; Totti.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1, probable): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Bridge; Mikel; J Cole, Deco, Lampard, Malouda; Anelka.

Referee: L Medina Cantalejo (Spain).