forgot to mention, i'm very surprised that scolari has been announced as the new chelsea manager right in the middle of these championships.
good pay-package for scolari, bad decision from chelsea.
Why do you think it was a bad decision?
Who would you have rathered they signed?
someone who's managed at club level in this decade would have been a start. personally i'd have gone for hiddink, swallowed my pride and gone back to mourinho or i'd have gone for mark hughes.
i think scolari is a very good coach, but not having coached at club level in 8 years and never having coached in europe before will hinder him.
Football hasn't changed. It's not important that he hasn't managed a club recently. The only worry you'd have would be how does he handle the egos of todays players? Well he can answer that at international level and the answer is brilliant. I don't think it matters at all that he's hasn't coached at club level in a long time. I also think he's spent long enough in Europe coaching Portugal to have a good understanding of European football so I don't see that as a major drawback either.
I would have loved to have seen Mark Hughes signed. Disappointed they looked past him. But he's just signed with Man City so he was off the board at this point anyway. Hiddink was never a candidate because he was never going to leave Russia and Abramovic was never going to ask him too.
Who else?
I would have chewed my right arm off if Ancelotti got the job. I'm not wild about Mancini but I could have lived with that. Deschamps was someone I didn't have much interest in. His career is all over the place right now and I'd rather someone more established. Rijkaard has said he's taking a year off football so he wasn't a candidate. Then there's Sven, I could have been content with that but again I'd much rather Scolari.
I agree, football hasnīt changed, and Scolari is an excellent coach.
That said, itīs one thing to manage a group of 22 superstars on a national team once per month, and another to manage 50 stars on a club team every day. Chelsea is special, and every coach in the world, no matter who, has to prove he can handle that. I remember he had problems with the stars of the brazilian national team, so I guess weīll have to wait and see.
I donīt know their plans and situations, but coaches like van Gaal, Lippi or Hector Cuper could have been interesting, too.
Itīs ridiculous how Cuper was treated since he left Valencia.
Is Lippi still interested to coach or did he retire?
Anyway, things will be interesting next season.
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Germany has to pressure early in the game. The longer Croatia can keep it tied, the better their chances are. They are excellent at keeping the ball posession, and Modric can explode anytime on the field. Iīm confident Ballack and Frings can handle Modric, but itīs not a given.