Source: Telegraph
Shocked Deco may follow Luiz Felipe Scolari out of the door at Chelsea
The Portugal midfielder, who was Scolari's only permanent signing during his seven-month tenure at Chelsea, has also spoken out against Roman Abramovich's decision to change managers for the third time in 17 months.[LNB]"Scolari is a good coach and he should have been given more time to get the project right," Deco said. "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."[LNB]There were, however, also suggestions on Tuesday from within Chelsea's coaching staff that Scolari's training regime had not been well suited to the squad.[LNB]"Maybe the organisation did not correspond to the players in place," said Christophe Lollichon, the goalkeeping coach. "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.[LNB]"Chelsea need results to be right at the top, like Barca, Madrid or Manchester. We were on the stairwell but we were going down them. It was necessary to react.[LNB]"I think those in charge became aware of many things. You need to bounce back. There is a gap in the championship but they are still in the FA Cup. And there is still the incredibly important meeting with Juventus in the Champions League soon."[LNB]Former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri is well aware of the pressures on any Chelsea manager after being sacked in 2004, but believes that the change will make it more difficult for his Juventus team ahead of the Champions League clashes on Feb 25 and March 10.[LNB]"Now the players will have an excuse and I, who had studied Scolari's team by memory, will have to start from the beginning," he said. "It will be another Chelsea and I will only have two weeks to get to know it."[LNB]In Brazil, meanwhile, there is considerable surprise at Scolari's departure from Chelsea amid predictions that he may now return to international management.[LNB]Joao Casteau-Branco, a journalist for ESPN in Brazil, said: "People don't really like our current manager [Dunga] to be honest. He is not popular. He is doing better now but he hasn't got the character that Scolari has. Scolari was very successful with Brazil, still very much liked in Brazil and, coming up to the World Cup, this would be a good time for him in Brazil."[LNB] [LNB]
