Claudio: Languages Causing A Problem...

Last updated : 30 September 2003 By Rich Godden
Much was made of Claudio's own problems with the English language when he first arrived and, although it is much improved, he can still have problems getting his point across.

But, without further ado, here's Claudio: "When I arrived at Chelsea it was a mess. I could speak with Marcel Desailly in Italian or Gus Poyet in Spanish and they would pass it on to other players.

"It is more or less the same now, but the players can talk to each other. Mutu is Romanian and Crespo is Argentinian but they can communicate with each other because they both speak Italian. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is Dutch but he can speak Spanish and can talk to Crespo.

"When I talk to the players I speak first of all in English, then I say `sorry, now I will speak in Spanish, or Italian'. Then on the touchline I speak another language so the other manager doesn't understand what I am saying!

"The important thing is to build a link between the old players and the new. Makelele and Crespo have had maybe only 10 training sessions with us and you cannot see everything in that time.

"For example, Crespo may like the ball played in a certain direction, but we don't know all those things about him yet. It is the same with Mutu, Johnson or Bridge.''

"The most important part of my job is helping my players when they do not play. They are strong but they need my support and I try to help them because I was a player once and I know how they feel.

"As a manager I am very happy because I have a great list of players to choose from. As a man, I feel like a father and these players are like my sons so it is not easy.

"If you want to win something it is important to arrive in the last three months in very good condition. In every country there is a lot of games so you need a lot of players.

"The important thing is that the players understand the manager. They must not think that just because they are left out it means the manager doesn't believe in them. It simply means they are being rested so that the team can arrive at the last three months of the season with all your players in good condition.''

At least there's no longer the problem of past years, when Dennis Wise spoke the worst English at the club!