Frank still bears the bitter scars

Frank Leboeuf today criticised Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri and the club's training facilities but said he would in the future like to return to Stamford Bridge as general manager.

The French international defender, who left Chelsea for Marseille in the summer, also criticises former England captain Alan Shearer, whom, he claims, typifies the violent reality of English football.

Yet Leboeuf has nothing but praise for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

In an interview published today in France Football, Leboeuf explains how he became fed up with travelling to training with Chelsea.

He says: "It had become a wearing routine to go to the training ground at Harlington, with aircraft taking off on your left, the motorway to the right, the coffee factory close by, the wind and the rain every day. I got the feeling I was stagnating."

Leboeuf also claims that Ranieri and other Italian coaches have too high an opinion of themselves.

He says: "Ranieri told me, 'If you listen to me, you will become a great player'. I did want to be nice to him, but I had known other coaches before him. So I just replied, 'Yes, coach. Yes, coach'.

"I think Italians talk themselves up a bit too much. They watch their navels and they have not been beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League for three years. The Italians are not the best teachers or coaches."

Leboeuf goes on: "Why not be the general manager of a club when I stop playing? It would interest me to be the link between the administration and the pitch at Chelsea, Marseille or elsewhere.

"On the other hand, I do not see myself as a coach. You get blamed for everything, get fired for nothing, do not choose your players and are stressed out."

The Frenchman certainly does not miss the physical excesses of the Premiership.

"What you do not find in France are strikers like Shearer who think about busting your nose with an elbow before taking the ball," he says.

"Another difference is that you have time to play the ball out without fearing an assault from behind by an opposing forward. I appreciate being able to make a chest control without being charged in the ribs.

"When I complained about the violence I was turned on, but it is very much a reality of English football."

Leboeuf singles out Wenger as the man he would liked to have worked for.

"Wenger makes other succeed. Every year he makes a new one flourish. He launched Anelka's career, has made Henry one of the best strikers in the world and did well with Petit, Vieira, Wiltord and Pires. The confidence he transmits is monumental. I would have loved to have worked with him on a daily basis."