Former Chelsea head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was a world champion with Brazil, having led the Selecao to become world champions in the 2002 World Cup. The Brazilian coach was appointed to be the Chelsea manager in 2008, as he took over from Avram Grant who was only the caretaker manager.
Scolari enjoyed a fine start to his Chelsea career as he led the Blues to a 12-game unbeaten run and his team were playing brilliant attacking football that Roman Abramovich had since longed for.
However, he had a falling out with two senior players and the medical team which led to his downfall. Scolari has blamed injuries and a lack of cooperation from some of his players as the reason for the drop in form which led to his dismissal after seven months.
“Chelsea had some problems with injuries, some problems in the team. I had a form of leadership that clashed with one or two players,” he told Yellow and Green Football.
When asked which players he had issues with, Scolari responded: “Anelka and Drogba.”
Didier Drogba was out injured at the start of campaign and upon his return, Nicolas Anelka refused to play alongside the Ivorian in a front two, Scolari revealed.
“Our medical department thought that we should let Drogba go and recover [from surgery] in Cannes, in the middle of summer,” Scolari added. “I thought he should stay in London. I’d also like to go to Cannes in the middle of summer. I’d stay there for a month, two months, enjoying myself.
“When he came back, I tried to adapt so that Drogba and Anelka could play together. Anelka was the top scorer in the league. We had a meeting and Anelka said: ‘I only play in one position’. “So, there was a bit of a lack of friendship, of respect, of trying to play together with Drogba. They were both great, but someone had to do something different, to get back to help when we lost the ball.
“That was when it changed a bit. But we’ve met since then, me and Drogba. The last time was in Russia in 2018. We spoke openly about it. “There wasn’t any ill intention from him or Anelka. But it happened and I lost out on one of the great chances of my life.”