Scolari will create conveyor belt of winners at Chelsea, says Dein

[the wes 7,212]

Luiz Felipe Scolari will create a conveyor belt of cut-price talent from Sao Paulo's favelas to Champions League finals with Chelsea, according to David Dein.

The former Arsenal vice-chairman first identified Scolari as the man the Football Association should hire as England manager. But the FA botched its courtship in the build-up to the 2006 World Cup, and the Brazilian will now swap Portugal for Chelsea next Tuesday.

"Scolari's home base is Brazil, he knows Portugal - between the two he has an inroad into that talent," said Dein, who has known Scolari since approaching him years ago as a contingency candidate in case Arsène Wenger left Arsenal. "That's where he will make his name, plucking kids from obscurity, the boys playing in the favelas in Sao Paulo, without spending big money. Scolari has this great charisma. He puts the never-say-die spirit into them. He gets the best out of them."

Dein, who served on the FA board at the time of its approach for Scolari, explained the circumstances that ultimately led to England settling for Steve McClaren. "Scolari was interviewed for the England job," he said. "He was head and shoulders above anybody else. In broken English, he came through very well.

"My experience of doing deals in football is, if you want somebody, you never leave the scene until you have the guy signed up. Never let the guy leave the room. Once you do, somebody else will come in, the price will go up. When you are eyeballing somebody you have to keep that going, camp there, until you finish the deal. If you think you have a chance you put the lid on the bottle.

"For some reason there was a gap of time given for him to make a decision, which was fatal. At that stage the Portugal prime minister got involved. Scolari's kids at school got mentally attacked - 'Your dad's going to betray Portugal'. In the end the heat got so [high]. There was a gap in time where he went off the worm."

Scolari is set to bring in his former colleague Carlos Pracidelli as Chelsea's goalkeeping coach. Pracidelli worked with him when he was in charge of the Brazilian side Palmeiras and when he won the World Cup with the national team in 2002.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/ju...a.premierleague