Scolari also promised to provide more exciting football for the Chelsea fans - and, more important, Roman Abramovich - this season, a crucial aspect of his job description that Mourinho failed to fulfil. “I think we will be more adventurous and attacking, or at least I will try to be,” Scolari said. “But I don’t know. I will answer in June 2009.”

Scolari’s words were given immediate support by Salomon Kalou, Chelsea’s Ivory Coast striker, who said that there has been a significant change in the team’s style of play, at least on the training ground. Unlike Mourinho and Grant, Scolari appears committed to the idea of playing two centre forwards, supported by one holding midfield player and three with attacking licence, as well as asking the full backs to provide width in attack.

“The manager wants to play an attacking game, which is exciting,” Kalou said. “Last year it was more about teamwork, being defensive, not conceding goals and trying to score one, but this year it will be different. We were too cautious last season. There were some games when we were waiting and waiting and didn’t take our chances.

“Grant didn’t really change anything, but you can see from the players Scolari’s taken that things are going to be different. We’ve never played this way before, with Deco, Essien and Lampard, without wingers. It’s the first time since I’ve been at Chelsea we played with four midfield players and two strikers. The difference this season is that every player tries to attack.”

Chelsea continue their Asian tour with a match tomorrow against Chengdu Blades, who are owned by Sheffield United. Scolari will be without José Bosingwa, in addition to Andriy Shevchenko. The Portugal right back suffered a thigh strain in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and may return to London today. “The doctor will look at him this evening and we’ll know more details then,” Scolari said last night. “Afterwards we’ll discuss about the idea if it’s possible to stay with us until we return to London [on August 4] or if it’s better for him to travel back tomorrow.”

- Fabio Capello, the England manager, hopes that Frank Lampard, the Chelsea midfield player, will turn down the chance to join José Mourinho, his former manager, at Inter Milan and stay in England. “As England coach, I would prefer it if Lampard remained in England,” Capello said. “He would have less travelling to do that way.”

The Italian also lamented the lack of talent available to him in the Barclays Premier League, compared with the amount of players Marcello Lippi, the Italy coach, has to choose from in Serie A. “I’m worse off than Lippi, than everyone. I have Welsh players, Scottish, Irish,” Capello said. “In the Premier League only 35 per cent of the players are English. In Italy it’s about 72 per cent.”