SCOLARI TO BE FOURSOME

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Who can forget the searing pain, the harrowing suffering he’s caused everyone single one of us?

Surely no-one needs reminding that the curse of Scolari first struck us down at the World Cup in Japan way back in 2002.

The sorry picture of David Seaman left bamboozled by a Ronaldinho free-kick is still indelibly printed on every England football fan's brain.

Cringed

Then came Euro 2004 and this time it was even worse.

This time it wasn’t the mighty Brazil who stood between us and glory, it was little old Portugal — or so we thought.

But how we cringed when Tottenham reject Helder Postiga equalised with six minutes to go.

And how we cried when goalkeeper Ricardo crashed home the winner in the penalty shoot-out.

Talk about adding insult to injury. Yet still Scolari wasn’t finished torturing us.

Another World Cup, Germany 2006, and another dagger in the heart — this time Ricardo saving three pens in the shoot-out.

Three crushing defeats for the Three Lions then at the hands of the ultimate lion tamer.

So don’t tell me this guy will be at a disadvantage as he embarks on his first season in the Premier League.

He’s already proved over and over and over again that he can see exactly how to exploit the deficiences of the English game.

Now he’s aiming to repeat the feat at club level.

Yes the swathe of foreigners throughout the league means it will be a slightly different proposition.

But not THAT different.

Our clubs, for all their continental imports, still essentially play the English way, a game based on power, pace and athleticism.

Prizes

It’s what makes our game so attractive to fans around the globe, what makes the Premier League the hottest box office ticket in the world of football.

So I reckon Scolari is going to be a huge success.

That in turn means Chelsea will be back challenging for the four big prizes once again.

But to truly succeed, Scolari has to dominate Sir Alex Ferguson just like he subdued Sven Goran Eriksson.

Now not many can claim that distinction.

One who can is a certain Jose Mourinho

So that’s the ‘ghost’ that Scolari first has to live with and then eventually exorcise. And the only way to do that is by winning trophies. Second place is just not an option as Avram Grant found out to his cost.

Don’t think Scolari will be intimidated by the old Mourinho memories, though.

This is the guy who was brave enough and confident enough to take charge of a Brazil team that was in meltdown.

Just think how many glorious predecessors he was haunted by back then. But he embraced the challenged, moulded a new team — famously dropping national hero Romario in the process — and only went on to win the World Cup.

So rest assured he can walk the walk.

Significantly, he is walking into this new challenge too — not charging headlong into action. There’s been just one signing since he arrived, fellow-Brazilian and Portuguese international Deco.

The other new recruit, Portugal defender Jose Bosingwa, was signed before Scolari but surely with his blessing, as the Blues strive to solve their perennial problem at right-back.

Otherwise it is mainly the same old faces. And why not?

These are the players who have proved their pedigree at the highest level for the last four years.

Rocked

Two league titles as well as the FA Cup and Carling Cup.

So last term was a rarity as Chelsea finished the season empty-handed.

But they did reach the Champions League and Carling Cup finals and finish runners-up in the Premier League.

Some failure then!

And all in a season when the club was rocked by the abrupt departure of Mourinho just a couple of months into the new campaign.

The amiable Avram Grant took over the job and was never going to be another ‘Special One’.

He made history, nevertheless as he became the first Blues’ boss to lead the club into a Champions’ League final.

But the width of a Moscow post cost him his job and Chelsea embarked on recruiting their third manager in a year.

That recent upheaval and uncertainty inevitably undermined Chelsea’s attempts to match arch- rivals Manchester United.

Scolari’s arrival should signal an end to all of that madness and see the Blues re-united in a common aim once more.

That ensures another enthralling title tussle between the big two — and this year the ribbons won’t be red, they’ll be blue.

KEY TRANSFERS

IN: Jose Bosingwa (Porto, right) £16.3m; Deco (Barcelona) £8m.

OUT: Steve Sidwell (Aston Villa) £5m; Khalid Bouhlarouz (Stuttgart) £3.5m; Tal Ben Haim (Man City) £3m; Claude Makelele (Paris St Germain) Free; Slobodan Rajkovic (FC Twente) loan; Ryan Bertrand (Norwich) loan; Hernan Crespo (released).

OUR PREDICTION: 1st

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