One of the advantages of speaking to someone in their second, or, in Luiz Felipe Scolari's case, fourth language is that they occasionally let slip an inadvertent indiscretion. Sitting in the bar of the Baltschug Kempinski hotel, on the banks of the Moskva River, the Chelsea manager patiently and painstakingly explained his vision for the club in his rapidly improving English, offering a slightly different one from that of his employers.

Chelsea's club anthem is Blue is the Colour, but given their desire for global domination, Garbage's The World Is Not Enough, from the 1999 James Bond film of the same title, would be more appropriate. If not quite a Bond villain, Peter Kenyon, the chief executive whose stated aim is to make Chelsea the world's leading club by 2014, has been compared to Austin Powers's Dr Evil.

It was refreshing, therefore, to hear Scolari bring a tone of realism to a club noted for their grand ambitions, pointing out that it could take Chelsea 50 years to match the status of Manchester United. As well as delivering trophies and entertaining football, part of the Brazilian's remit is to improve Chelsea's image, a daunting task to which he has made an impressive start. Honest, humble and incredibly eager to please, Scolari is a welcome addition to the pantomime that is the Barclays Premier League.

“I want to make Chelsea loved around the world, like Barcelona and Manchester United,” he said. “It's a surprise for me that people say Chelsea are unpopular, because when we went to China, they love Chelsea. There were many people there. It's a big surprise people don't like us in England. Here in Russia, in Malaysia, it's even better, but maybe not yet in Brazil or South America.

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“Chelsea is a club that is a growing name. Before, it was Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Milan. If we win one or two big competitions, I'm sure we'll have fans all over the world. Maybe it won't be the same as Madrid, Manchester or [AC] Milan because our history is not the same and you don't make a history in two, three or ten years. Maybe in 20 or 50 years, Chelsea will be on that level.”

After unintentionally putting Kenyon straight, Scolari went on to contrast himself with José Mourinho, in whose shadow he will reside until he wins the Premier League or Champions League. Without quite labelling the Portuguese arrogant, Scolari made it clear he is far more modest, pledging that he will never boast about his achievements.

“I am not José Mourinho, so why compare me with him?” he said. “Mourinho says, 'I will win ten championships.' I don't say, 'I will win ten.' I say, 'I will try.' I am from South Brazil. We're different. I'll say, 'We will try to win all the competitions,' but in my culture, I'll never say, 'I will win this, this or that.'

“I'm more modest. Maybe Mourinho says, 'I win', and afterwards if he does not win, it causes problems. Because the manager doesn't play, it's the players and if they make a mistake, you then have to say, 'It is the players who are bad,' and I will never do that. You are the man who must take the responsibility.”

Scolari will use different methods and claims that the days of huge spending are over despite the club's interest in Robinho, the Real Madrid forward. “Since I came to Chelsea we have only spent €10million [about £8million] for Deco,” he said. “Who else have we bought? [José] Bosingwa was before me. Maybe they spend more money before, but now they don't spend the same because they already have a base. They need a coach to develop young players and I am that coach.”

Scolari also has a job on his hands lifting the morale of Chelsea's first-team squad after revealing that many of them are still shattered by last season's penalty shoot-out defeat by United in the Champions League final. The 59-year-old has been shocked by the mental frailty of some of his players, but will not tiptoe around them for ever.

“The players are still affected by last season's disappointments,” he said. “If you're talking about penalties, some players refuse to take one. I need to change this mentality, where some players are afraid of penalties because they don't want to be right or wrong.

“Throughout the world, if you ask the players about me, they say, 'I like Scolari because he is a true man, he speaks honestly in front of you and he's very good as a person.' I will try to remain the same until my last day in Chelsea. If I need to say something to a player, I will say it to his face. I'm not afraid to upset the players.”

For all his subtleties, Scolari is capable of using language that all his players understand.

Blue romance

Four ways to make Chelsea loved

Get Roman Abramovich to subsidise the nation’s energy bills. With his interests in oil and gas, who better to cut prices for the hard-hit UK consumer?

Replace Bruce Buck, the anodyne chairman, with the charismatic Will Smith.

Send Andriy Shevchenko on loan to Luton Town. What a noble gesture as Luton start the season on minus 30 points.

A vodka-fuelled Delia Smith-style rant would be a great way for Abramovich to end his public silence. “Shed End, where are you? You are quieter than Chukotka in February! Let’s be havin’ you!”

Words by Tom Dart

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