Can Scolari cut it against the Big Four?

Here's a statistic that might concern Big Phil. Chelsea have not beaten a rival member of the Big Four on his watch.

As table above shows, the London club have drawn one and lost two of their matches against their fellow title contenders this season. By contrast, Arsenal and Liverpool triumphed in both their equivalent games. United have an identical record to Chelsea's but, unlike Big Phil, Sir Alex Ferguson is hardly a manager who has yet to prove himself in English club football.

As Martin Samuel wrote, Scolari has yet to enjoy a defining victory, one that confirms he can match the best tacticians in the land and win the games that are the most influential in deciding the champions.

Is it not significant, then, that he has failed his three auditions to date? If continued, could such a record cost Chelsea the title? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.

Comments

[Paul Brady]

I think big Phil has had it hard so far. Lots of injuries and due to the european championships not a lot of time to gel a team. Essien is missing - Cole, Drogba and Ballack are great players but are not really missed. It´s only half time. Lets see the stats after the return games. All said and done my money is on Fergie and Rafa.

[Moose]

I disagree.

[Jim V]

It's not completely Scolari's fault. He has been sold a dummy by Abramovich.
Abramovich offered him an open chequebook with Robinho gift-wrapped, but thanks to Kenyon there's no Robinho and with Sean-Wright Philips, Pizarro, and Schevchenko going elsewhere plus Drogba out, what attacking options does Scolari have?
Let's see...one mid-table striker (Anelka) with zero aerial presence (compare this with ManU i.e. Berb, Rooney, Tevez who are all better than Anelka). Sooner or later this weakness was going to be exposed. Because of this lack of aerial presence, Chelsea can only score by 'threading the needle' along the ground in the final third. Needless to say Petr Cech's direct route to the final third is also wasted as well as the wingbacks' efforts.
Because of the above, teams have learnt to keep compact in their third giving Chelsea no space and almost no chance of creating scoring opprtunities along the ground. Add to that, Scolari is fine for the odd international but is not tactically astute for the week-in week-out grind of the EPL. The other top managers are having Scolari for breakfast. I think it's going to get more ugly for the blues unless Drogba and Essien make a spectacular comeback.