DBasia.news – Former Chelsea manager, Luis Felipe Scolari, told the moment of his dismissal while still training the Blues. According to the Brazilian manager he was fired because of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.
Scolari, 71, handled Chelsea in the 2008/09 season after previously coaching Brazil and Portugal. Scolari’s career went swiftly after being sacked in February 2009 after only winning four of 12 Premier League matches,
Although the public saw Chelsea’s performance as the reason the club fired Scolari, the manager assessed that the presence of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka was behind his dismissal. It all started when talking about Drogba’s rehabilitation, who was then injured.
“Our medical department thinks that we have to let Drogba go and recover (from surgery) in Cannes, in the middle of the summer,” Scolari told Yellow and Green Football.
“I think he should stay in London. I also want to go to Cannes in the middle of summer. I will stay there for a month, two months, to have fun.”
When Drogba was injured, Anelka was able to replace him well and scored 14 goals in the Premier League. But when Drogba recovered from the injury, that’s where the beginning of the problem began, as Scolari could not just back up Anelka who was performing well.
“When he returned, I tried to adapt so that Drogba and Anelka could play together. Anelka was the league’s top scorer. We held a meeting and Anelka said ‘I only play in one position,” Scolari added.
“So, there is a little lack of friendship, respect, trying to play together with Drogba. They are both great, but someone must do something different, to get back to help when we lose the ball.
Despite having had a bad relationship, Drogba did not hold grudges because of it and was still able to maintain a relationship with Scolari.
“That’s when it changed a little. But we’ve met since then, Drogba and I. The last time was in Russia in 2018. We talked openly about it,” added Scolari
“There is no bad intention from him or Anelka. But it happened and I lost one of the great opportunities in my life (to continue to train Chelsea),” he concluded.