Scolari stays mum as Chelsea roll on
“He is tired,” said Chelsea’s assistant manager Ray Wilkins, standing in for Scolari on a day which started with reports of the first bubblings of behind-the-scenes discontent at Stamford Bridge.
“I saw a little bit of tiredness in him today, facially. His mood is good, but he is bound to feel the pressure.
“We are in a pressure business and we have to get results. Felipe is no exception. He is a perfectionist and he wants things done properly.
“He takes defeat as we all take defeat, very badly. We’re winners, we want to win. The players take it badly, and any manager — not necessarily Felipe — will take it badly
“He’s in good spirits, but it will get to you every now and again. That’s a fact of life.
“When you are speaking in a foreign language every day it’s not easy and he does get tired. But he’s enjoying every day. Trust me, he’ll be back.”
If Scolari was feeling the heat after Chelsea had taken just one point from their previous two games, his players didn’t show it.
They quickly dispatched Bolton – one of the Premier League’s form teams with four wins from their last five games – inside 21 minutes through Nicolas Anelka and Deco and in doing so created a new English top-flight record of 11 successive away wins, beating the run of 10 victories set by Bill Nicholson’s all-conquering Spurs team in 1960.
Although Bolton could have taken an early lead through Kevin Davies, there was a palpable quality gap between the sides for most of the contest.
Wanderers narrowed the chasm with a more characteristic bustling performance in the second-half, and Chelsea remained in their comfort zone thanks to Peter Cech’s point-blank save from Gary Cahill’s header, but this was as dominant a performance by an away side as you will see.
Chelsea remain tucked in one point behind leaders Liverpool and only their home form this season – they have already dropped 12 points at Stamford Bridge – remains a genuine cause for concern.
Scolari is convinced he needs to add an extra striker to his squad next month, although Anelka once again proved a capable deputy for the suspended Didier Drogba.
His ninth-minute header, his 99th Premier League goal and inevitably against the club he left last January for £15m, was his 10th in nine games.
Anelka’s contribution to Bolton’s downfall was not lost on their manager, Gary Megson.
“We knew what his qualities were,” he sighed. “When he gets a chance, his stats show he usually takes it and he’s one of the best finishers in the world.
“I think he’s one of these people who, when he feels part of it, is happy in his football. In all fairness, he should be playing for a Chelsea or an Arsenal. He came here using us as a stepping stone to get back to one of them and he did.
“He was happy here and we all liked him. You can see looking at him that he’s still enjoying his football. People say he’s a sulk and all that, but he just likes to keep himself to himself and he’s a nice enough person.”
Chelsea face CFR Cluj at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night knowing a win will guarantee their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The Romanians are limited, but since Chelsea have failed to win any of their last three home games victory is far from assured.
“Teams have come and blocked the middle of the field against us and it’s been a tad difficult for us to break them down,” said Wilkins.
“They’ve put 10 players behind the ball and perhaps at times we haven’t worked hard enough to prise them open.
“But you have to give credit to opposition who have come to Stamford Bridge and worked out a plan to play against us. It’s up to us to combat that and we’ll get it back on track.
“We are one point behind Liverpool in the league and we have a home game to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League. As far as we are concerned, we are in a fantastic position.”
Howard Webb (South Yorkshire) 8: Ticked off by Gary Megson for not giving Bolton at least one second-half penalty, but generally controlled the game well.
Entertaining, but Bolton were well out of it even before the floodlights came on.
