Luiz Felipe Scolari believes he was sacked by Chelsea after falling out with key players, such as Didier Drogba and Nicola Anelka.
The Brazilian was dismissed by Chelsea in February 2009, just seven months after becoming the club's manager. It was a surprise decision at the time, as the Blues were fourth in the Premier League and still in both the FA Cup and Champions League.
Sir Alex Ferguson was among those to condemn Chelsea's decision, insisting: "It's a sign of the times. There is absolutely no patience in the world now." It was also a perfect example of how ruthless the club's former owner Roman Abramovich could be with managers.
Scolari has since revealed why he was sacked, insisting it had nothing to do with results. "Chelsea had some problems with injuries, some problems in the team," he said, as quoted by The Sun. "I had a form of leadership that clashed with one or two players."
When pressed on which players, Scolari said: "Anelka and Drogba. Our medical department thought that we should let Drogba go and recover in Cannes, in the middle of summer. I thought he should stay in London. I’d also like to go to Cannes in the middle of summer. I’d stay there for a month, two months, enjoying myself."
Drogba was allowed to visit Cannes but, on his return, Scolari struggled to create a system that would allow the Ivorian to flourish alongside Anelka. Scolari added: "When he came back, I tried to adapt so that Drogba and Anelka could play together.
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"Anelka was the top scorer in the league. We had a meeting and Anelka said, 'I only play in one position.' So, there was a bit of a lack of friendship, of respect, of trying to play together with Drogba. They were both great, but someone had to do something different, to get back to help when we lost the ball.
"That was when it changed a bit. But we’ve met since then, me and Drogba. The last time was in Russia in 2018. We spoke openly about it. There wasn’t any ill intention from him or Anelka. But it happened and I lost out on one of the great chances of my life."
Scolari was Chelsea's fourth manager under Abramovich, following in the footsteps Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant. He had never managed in England before but was still a huge name after leading Brazil to glory at the 2002 World Cup.
Scolari, now 73, has also won the Copa Libertadores with two different clubs and countless other honours in South America. And he was responsible for guiding Portugal to the final of Euro 2004, where they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to minnows Greece.
Despite losing the Chelsea job after just seven months, Scolari still has fond memories of England. He added: "I wanted to keep working in England. I would work at any club.
"I think it's marvellous. We went to play against Portsmouth and Sunderland. In stadiums that hold 20,000 people, 19,000 are cheering for the team of their city. I think that's really beautiful. They don't support the big clubs, they support their clubs."
