Handbags at Stamford Bridge

Nicolas Anelka waits on the bench at Old Trafford.

Despite being beaten like a rented mule at Old Trafford on Sunday, Chelsea have insisted that there are no problems at Stamford Bridge. Big Phil is fine! Nothing to see here! Move on, lads!


The Sun, bastion of truthiness that it is, is reporting that Scolari and Anelka had something of a 'disagreement' concerning formations before the match against Manchester United this past weekend. It appears that Le Sulk was not happy about having been benched the past few matches, and things got worse when Big Phil informed him that in order to start at Old Trafford he would have to play on the left side. Naturally, Anelka refused and demanded to be played through the middle, which resulted in his continued benching.

Although Scolari has continued to deny that anything is wrong, it is clear that all is not well at Stamford Bridge. In fact, it is becoming increasingly clear that both the board and the players are beginning to rethink things, and Scolari may not last much longer with Spartak London, particularly if he manages to lose in the replay against Southend.

Scolari has said that he is in the position of having to placate both Anelka and Didier Drogba while trying to do what is best for the team. Apparently, what is best for the club is a wacky rotation policy which keeps the EPL's (suck it, Barclay's!) leading scorer on the bench. Did he take lessons from Rafa?