From Lisbon to London: Luis Felipe Scolari
It looks close to being a done deal that “Big Phil” Luis Felipe Scolari, currently the manager of the Portuguese national team, is going to leave Lisbon for London and head the English national team after this years world cup.
If this transpires, the English FA will have done well. Scolari is an impressive manager and his track record at the highest level of football, having led Brazil to the World Cup in 2002 and Portugal to the Euro final in 2004, will silence a few of the “he’s not English” critics.
In light of the recent politics going on with the English national team (as in, who is running the team, the players or the manager?), Scolari is going to come in like a bucket of cold water. There is not doubt that he runs the show and he isn’t afraid to choose a team as opposed to choosing players. The difference is vast.
Scolari’s Euro 2004 run with Portugal was especially impressive. After Portugal’s weak opening lose to Greece, Scolari changed tactics and went with some of the younger Portuguese players over the established “Golden Generation” – a bold move when the Golden Generation players are national heroes. It takes strong nerves to pull an icon like Luis Figo from a game like the Euro Quarter Finals against England, but it was a move Scolari didn’t hesitate to make. And it proved to be the right one as Portugal won and Figo’s best performance at Euro 2004 was the very next game when Portugal beat the Netherlands 2-1.
Scolari’s decision to bring on the Brazilian born Deco was also bang on. At the time, it was a big controversy in Portugal to have a Brazilian playing for Portugal, and some of the Portuguese big guns balked at the idea. But Scolari held his ground and told them that if they didn’t want to play with Deco, they didn’t have to play. End of story.
As a Portugal fan, I can’t say I am pleased to be losing Big Phil. He is colorful, extroverted, hard working and, most importantly, knows how to control and coax great performances out of big icons and egos. He should be an excellent fit for England, and provide the English press with a few more colorful quotes than Sven ever did.
UPDATE April 28, 2006
Scolari has apparently turned down the offer. It looks like he and his family have received death threats, and the invasive hounding of the press are major factors in his decision. Can’t blame him if those are the reasons.
I really want to see someone stand up to the press: hearing about his “antics”, however true they are or not, gives me hope. And if he is going to run training like a boot camp, then that might actually get our players in line. A team is what he needs to pick.