Maurizio Sarri's Sack Watch | And Now Our Watch Has Ended

[noodlehair]

These clubs know this before they hire these managers. The most important thing to them is the process.

As we heard from LVG every week for 2 years.

The problem is where you have a situation in which the players don't seem to buy into the philosophy, and the manager insisting on sticking with it despite it preventing some of those players being able to play to their strengths, then if you're going to keep the manager you're also going to have to pretty much buy a whole new team....and as we saw with LVG, even then it might turn out the manager just likes mismanaging his players.

If I was a Chelsea fan I'd be very uneasy at the idea of keeping Sarri long term, even though I think the argument that he needs time is a fair one.

It took united fans less than a year to lose patience with LVG. Granted we weren't actively chanting against him, but I remember the booing of backward passes, sarcastic cheers when a player would have a shot etc.

 

[SilentWitness]

It's a worry how much they dropped from the start of the season and how stubborn he is in his management. They have City in a final and then Spurs in a game after. I can't see him lasting after those two games.

 

[Adisa]

As we heard from LVG every week for 2 years.

The problem is where you have a situation in which the players don't seem to buy into the philosophy, and the manager insisting on sticking with it despite it preventing some of those players being able to play to their strengths, then if you're going to keep the manager you're also going to have to pretty much buy a whole new team....and as we saw with LVG, even then it might turn out the manager just likes mismanaging his players.

If I was a Chelsea fan I'd be very uneasy at the idea of keeping Sarri long term, even though I think the argument that he needs time is a fair one.

You're right, it's why I said Sarri might prove to be a dud. But giving up after six months to me feels like an admission Chelsea will never play the kind of football Abromovich has been dreaming of playing. Chelsea have not tanked. They're just two points of top four and it's not like they finished there last season.

 

[noodlehair]

You're right, it's why I said Sarri might prove to be a dud. But giving up after six months to me feels like an admission Chelsea will never play the kind of football Abromovich has been dreaming of playing. Chelsea have not tanked. They're just two points of top four and it's not like they finished there last season.

They do look pretty awful though. It's the drop off in performance that would alarm me. Being 6th by 2 points isn't so bad until you consider that before things started going wrong they were in a title race and 11 points clear of the team now above them in 4th.

Losing to City, Bournemourh and United is also no cause for panic, but losing to them with an aggregate score of 12-0 probably is.

 

[blue blue]

These clubs know this before they hire these managers. The most important thing to them is the process.

It's not just a dig at the fans, it's the entire club. As much as people hate the word, Chelsea saw Napoli and wanted a bit of "Sarriball". That's the truth whether we like it or not. It's a totally different way to how they have played since Abromovich got to England. There are widespread reports he's been looking incorporate that style for over a decade. The problem is the club have no patience to go through the pain of changing to that style.
The comparison with Mourinho is also lazy. Mourinho ho had been at United for two season prior to this one. Most importantly, style of football is not a consideration when bringing in Mourinho. You bring Mourinho to immediately be competitive. If he's not, there's no need to keep him. He's not working towards anything. It's a very different case with Chelsea. The man has never won anything.

I think the team did adapt to Sarriball quite quickly. They were very successful with it earlier in the season but it doesn't work once the opposition close you down properly. Chelsea play quite a lot of quick passes through Jourginho but they lead to nothing. They have good attacking midfielders in Willian, Pedro, Hazard, CHO and Loftus Cheek but the ball isn't getting to them in good areas. The opposition have got back before they get something going.

You say the club have no patience and if I'm honest tend to agree but this is how many clubs operate these days. Successfully in Chelsea's case. If the managers style doesn't suit the players the manager goes. I'll put off another lazy comparison with the Mourinho situation at Utd. Maybe Chelsea did want a more attacking style of football after Mourinho and Conte but lets face it there's been a downward trajectory for the last two months. The team were playing Sarriball. They are still playing Sarribal but the opposition have sussed it. You can't just have one plan. Sarri has said he finds it difficult to motivate this set of players. That's a very poor criticism of players. Its his job to do this. In some ways the players ran very hard against Utd the other night. The players looked motivated to me. It was the tactics and team set up that lost them the match. Its all too predictable. Stifle Jourginho and the side struggles. He doesn't offer enough. He doesn't break out of his deep position enough and he doesn't play penetrative passes.

Sarri needs to make changes and he isn't man enough to do it. The fact remains he has one of the worlds best defensive midfielders at his disposal and he plays him out of position to suit the man he brought with him. Its a tough decision but it has to be made.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

The example of Sarri is why Man Utd are right to wait until the end of the season before deciding whether OGS is the right man for the job.

After 18 games, Sarri was being lauded as a great manager - going unbeaten. I don’t think OGS is going to unravel like he has, but he might - and we have the opportunity to take our time to make a decision.

I hope they pull it out of the bag at City, and then continue to stink up the league for another month before his inevitable sacking. Hopefully by then, we will have some daylight between us and them.

 

[blue blue]

You're right, it's why I said Sarri might prove to be a dud. But giving up after six months to me feels like an admission Chelsea will never play the kind of football Abromovich has been dreaming of playing. Chelsea have not tanked. They're just two points of top four and it's not like they finished there last season.

They won the cup last year and if they carry on in this vain they will win nothing. Abramovich dreams of wining. I really don't think he knows that much about football. Yes we all want to be entertained but you don't have to play perfect passing and attacking football to be entertained.

I was all for giving the manager 2 years to work something out but this last month has been a disaster. Huge damaging defeats. If 4-0 to Bournmouth and 6-0 to City isn't tanking I don't know what is. When did Utd last win by two goals at SB. The trajectory is in the wrong direction and if it carries on he will be out by next week. I can't see how persevering with this manager helps the club. He won't change his ideas to suit the squad he has in front of him. You don't get that luxury in the modern game. You have to work with what you've got and gradually introduce your ideas. The current performances are as bad as anything I have seen in the last 10 years and there's no sign of anything changing. He has the opportunity to change things he just chooses not to.

JT and Zola until the end of the season.

 

[blue blue]

It's a worry how much they dropped from the start of the season and how stubborn he is in his management. They have City in a final and then Spurs in a game after. I can't see him lasting after those two games.

They have Malmo on Thursday at Stamford Bridge and the crowd will be all over Sarri that night. If they lose that night he might not even make the Final. They really should beat Malmo but I get the feeling if they get beaten badly by City on Sunday he could be gone before the Spurs match. I really can't see Chelsea getting any type of result against City or Spurs.

 

[Mb194dc]

Stifle Jourginho and the side struggles. He doesn't offer enough. He doesn't break out of his deep position enough and he doesn't play penetrative passes.

Sarri needs to make changes and he isn't man enough to do it. The fact remains he has one of the worlds best defensive midfielders at his disposal and he plays him out of position to suit the man he brought with him. Its a tough decision but it has to be made.

Jorginho was never that penetrative for Napoli, 3 to 4 assists a season max, mainly just distributed the ball around. I don't see that much difference in his performances from Napoli.

Main issue / difference for me is the other two midfielders, forwards and full backs. Total lack of creativity from the front 5. Kante has done ok against the weaker teams, for me he clearly can't play the position he is being asked to against anyone half decent imo. All front 5 too focused on keeping the ball or giving it to Hazard, as opposed to creating chances, playing one touch football etc.

I think Sarri's system would look a lot better if he swaps Kante for Kovacic as we did against Malmo for 60 minutes. Agree if we want to use Kante properly we need to switch to a midfield 2 in 4 4 2 or 4 2 3 1. Kante has never played in a 4 3 3 in England and I don't think for France either, always in a 2 with Pogba.

Sarri has 2 games to make changes to show big improvement in performances or he'll be sacked for sure with leaks going to Sky and ESPN:

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/chel...ning-week-after-disappointing-results-sources

I hope he can sort it as I would prefer us to develop the 4 3 3 style. The problems seem pretty obvious to me, was very shocked to see the same team for the Utd game.

 

[Kapardin]

The example of Sarri is why Man Utd are right to wait until the end of the season before deciding whether OGS is the right man for the job.

After 18 games, Sarri was being lauded as a great manager - going unbeaten. I don’t think OGS is going to unravel like he has, but he might - and we have the opportunity to take our time to make a decision.

I hope they pull it out of the bag at City, and then continue to stink up the league for another month before his inevitable sacking. Hopefully by then, we will have some daylight between us and them.

Yeah, makes perfect sense for us to hope for a Chelsea win. While City winning ahead of Liverpool is bearable for us, obviously we would prefer any team other than City to deny them a potential double since Liverpool aren't in the competition. And it would extend Sarri's tenure.

A convincing Chelsea win against Malmo and an improbable league cup win would suit us fine.

 

[tenpoless]

Shifting Kante for Jorginho is a crime. I hope We can bring Kante here.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

People saying that he is the second coming of LvG is an insult to old Louis. At least he tried different things with formations etc. Sarri shows no signs of flexibility.

 

[crossy1686]

Shifting Kante for Jorginho is a crime. I hope We can bring Kante here.

Don't think they'd sell to us at this stage. More likely to end up at Madrid.

 

[roonster09]

Don't think they'd sell to us at this stage. More likely to end up at Madrid.

Madrid have better player in Casemiro.

Chelsea should back Sarri and sell Kante to us, their usual place for unwanted players.

 

[FootballHQ]

Jorginho was never that penetrative for Napoli, 3 to 4 assists a season max, mainly just distributed the ball around. I don't see that much difference in his performances from Napoli.

Main issue / difference for me is the other two midfielders, forwards and full backs. Total lack of creativity from the front 5. Kante has done ok against the weaker teams, for me he clearly can't play the position he is being asked to against anyone half decent imo. All front 5 too focused on keeping the ball or giving it to Hazard, as opposed to creating chances, playing one touch football etc.

I think Sarri's system would look a lot better if he swaps Kante for Kovacic as we did against Malmo for 60 minutes. Agree if we want to use Kante properly we need to switch to a midfield 2 in 4 4 2 or 4 2 3 1. Kante has never played in a 4 3 3 in England and I don't think for France either, always in a 2 with Pogba.

Sarri has 2 games to make changes to show big improvement in performances or he'll be sacked for sure with leaks going to Sky and ESPN:

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/chel...ning-week-after-disappointing-results-sources

I hope he can sort it as I would prefer us to develop the 4 3 3 style. The problems seem pretty obvious to me, was very shocked to see the same team for the Utd game.

If given the choice, would you want to go back to Conte style 3-5-2? Alonso and Luiz would look better in that formation anyway and could get Christensen back into team then.

 

[Castia]

It’s bizarre because it seems a simple fix. Put Kante in DM and drop Jorginho is the obvious one and give Hudson Odoi a chance because Willian/Pedro are offering nothing but he won’t change it up.

Christiansen looked decent when he got the chance last season but he can’t get minutes either, I think he needs to change it up fast else he’ll be fired after the cup final if they lose.

 

[MadMike]

The example of Sarri is why Man Utd are right to wait until the end of the season before deciding whether OGS is the right man for the job.

After 18 games, Sarri was being lauded as a great manager - going unbeaten. I don’t think OGS is going to unravel like he has, but he might - and we have the opportunity to take our time to make a decision.

I hope they pull it out of the bag at City, and then continue to stink up the league for another month before his inevitable sacking. Hopefully by then, we will have some daylight between us and them.

Difficult to draw parallels beween the Sarri situation and Ole. One difference is that Sarri had not only had the pre-season but also a few key signings to make the team click. Ole had neither of those. Another reason is that we know what Ole is all about as character and how he feels about the club so whatever happens we know hat his heart is in the right place. So all in all he should be afforded way more leeway than Sarri if the team goes through a dip. But he doesn't seem to need it that leeway so far.

 

[Mb194dc]

If given the choice, would you want to go back to Conte style 3-5-2? Alonso and Luiz would look better in that formation anyway and could get Christensen back into team then.

Probably need Conte to coach for 3 5 2, yes squad probably suits it more, can't see any other managers pulling it off though. Have no idea what plan the club could have if Sarri goes next week, guess they are probably figuring it out at the moment.

I would rather play 4 3 3, if we can do it "properly". I prefer to watch teams playing 4 3 3, pushing up the pitch dominating the ball like Barcelona, Real Madrid, City. They all play 3 very technical midfielders, and 2 of them are typically attacking, creative, the "holding" player mainly distributes the ball.

Can't see what Sarri is thinking. It's obvious our midfield doesn't work against any decent team. We improved against Malmo with changes, then he just goes straight back to the same team as against City (bar Barkley), and we're woeful again. We'll see if he's got any ideas next two games, or it's the sack I'm afraid.

 

[crossy1686]

It’s bizarre because it seems a simple fix. Put Kante in DM and drop Jorginho is the obvious one and give Hudson Odoi a chance because Willian/Pedro are offering nothing but he won’t change it up.

Christiansen looked decent when he got the chance last season but he can’t get minutes either, I think he needs to change it up fast else he’ll be fired after the cup final if they lose.

Sarri never strays away from Sarriball and it's philosophy. There's no way he's going to tweak anything. Expect more of the same.

 

[breakout67]

Sarri never strays away from Sarriball and it's philosophy. There's no way he's going to tweak anything. Expect more of the same.

Which makes the LVG comparisons even more stupid. LVG tried everything under the sun to get things going. Some people think that because LVG had principles that he was not flexible which is just wrong. LVG had one bow but many ways to string that bow, a manager that can get a tune out of any decent youth player must have tactical knowledge, he is able to play to the strengths of players, he just had a horrible transfer record.

 

[Denis_unwise]

The only way i can see them getting a result on Sunday is by starting Giroud & playing direct. They started well in the league game against City but their confidence will be shot now after the heavy defeat. Sarri say's his philosophy won't change. If he doesn't change it up Sunday it will be another heavy defeat.

 

[crossy1686]

The only way i can see them getting a result on Sunday is by starting Giroud & playing direct. They started well in the league game against City but their confidence will be shot now after the heavy defeat. Sarri say's his philosophy won't change. If he doesn't change it up Sunday it will be another heavy defeat.

There is more chance of Solskjaer resigning tomorrow and Pochettino coming in immediately. The only chance Chelsea have of getting a result is sacking Sarri before the final and putting a new manager in charge, cue chaos scenario, anything could happen.

 

[PSingh]

Well they gave him Jorginho, Higuain, Kepa and Kovacic, not to mention Pulisic coming in the summer also. He can't say he hasn't been backed or had the players he wanted.

Still I think they should have made a commitment for two seasons before firing him, his football takes time to bed in to a team. In saying that however, it's hard to look past the fact he's a bad manager and probably shouldn't have been appointed in the first place.

Well he’s been backed to an extent. The majority of that squad is still Mourinho’s and Conte’s doing - the opposite style of football to what Sarri demands. Getting the right players in is going to be a work in progress. So I think it’s harsh to judge him on the back of two transfer windows.

But knowing how trigger happy Chelsea are, I don’t think he’ll get that time. His confidence in Sarri-ball is admirable. But ultimately it’s stubbornness that’ll get him sacked.

If the penny isn’t dropping with this team, he has to show some flexibility to adapt to the players at his disposal. Surely he can find a way to get Chelsea back into form without comprising the principles of Sarri-ball.

 

[crossy1686]

Well he’s been backed to an extent. The majority of that squad is still Mourinho’s and Conte’s doing - the opposite style of football to what Sarri demands. Getting the right players in is going to be a work in progress. So I think it’s harsh to judge him on the back of two transfer windows.

But knowing how trigger happy Chelsea are, I don’t think he’ll get that time. His confidence in Sarri-ball is admirable. But ultimately it’s stubbornness that’ll get him sacked.

If the penny isn’t dropping with this team, he has to show some flexibility to adapt to the players at his disposal. Surely he can find a way to get Chelsea back into form without comprising the principles of Sarri-ball.

Agree with you but where do we draw the line and just saw he's a shit manager? For me, if a new manager needs 11 new players identical to the 11 old players he had previously at his new club then he's a shit manager and a busted flush.

Pretty much nailed on they'll sack him now, I reckon it will be done before the final as well, probably Friday.

Well he has a formation and tactics he has ultimate faith in and he seems to believe the issue is the conviction and motivation of the players he currently has. Personally, I think that is bat shit. You can't sit around a blame a squad of 23 players for your lack of flexibility, surely common sense would kick in at some point?

 

[PSingh]

Well he has a formation and tactics he has ultimate faith in and he seems to believe the issue is the conviction and motivation of the players he currently has. Personally, I think that is bat shit. You can't sit around a blame a squad of 23 players for your lack of flexibility, surely common sense would kick in at some point?

Well I think that says more about the Chelsea squad than Sarri. Largely the same group of players that switched off last season because they didn’t like Conte.

 

[crossy1686]

Well I think that says more about the Chelsea squad than Sarri. Largely the same group of players that switched off last season because they didn’t like Conte.

And Mourinho before Conte...

 

[Eric7C]

You say the club have no patience and if I'm honest tend to agree but this is how many clubs operate these days. Successfully in Chelsea's case. If the managers style doesn't suit the players the manager goes.

Don't disagree about Sarri perhaps needing the sack, but I would like to question the idea that Chelsea's model of firing managers is what gave the club success. You had a great spine to your team in Cech/Courtois, JT, Makelele/Essien, Lampard, Drogba/Costa etc. Now you don't. Your keeper is dodgy. You have Sideshow Bob as one of your center halves. You have hazard, who is a great player, but goes missing when the going gets tough. These players are not going to keep the results coming when there is managerial turmoil. You are in need of stability more than ever. Granted, Sarri may not be your man, but you are not going to be able to replicate the past decade's success unless a spine is built again - and in these times it is very difficult to build one that will stay loyal to your club for 10+ years.

Also, Chelsea used to be better at buying good players. Increasingly, you are buying dross. The problems are way deeper than who your manager is.

 

[breakout67]

Call yourself a positional coach, name drop Guardiola and you'll get all sorts of concessions.

There is this assumption that 'Sarri-ball' is the epitome of dutch football and all he needs is the players. It is completely unfounded, the only thing to support that is Napoli, but then you have to discount huge parts of his time at Napoli where they weren't good.

This guy is the same level as Spalletti or Fransesco except he gets hailed as some revolutionary.

 

[el3mel]

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[Adisa]

They're not even hiding that they will sack him.
They might as well sack him now. He's not winning that final. I just feel they should never have appointed him. Kind of wired to pin fans as a reason for sacking him. Sounds like they're trying to hide behind the fans.

 

[SATA]

Playing David Luiz as first choice is also one of the main reasons to his probable downfall, never mind the Kante/Jorginho thing. Not sure why he plays Luiz there regularly when he could have just play Cahill who is a better defender although older

 

[breakout67]

Playing David Luiz as first choice is also one of the main reasons to his probable downfall, never mind the Kante/Jorginho thing. Not sure why he plays Luiz there regularly when he could have just play Cahill who is a better defender although older

Chistensen looked a good prospect but in true Chelsea fashion they are hesitant to use a youth product. I suspect Sarri plays Luiz because he will sacrifice anything to have a playmaker around that area.

 

[Adisa]

He plays Luiz cause without him, there are no balls from deep. No one between Jorginho, Kante, Kavacic and Barkley can play a ball between the line to save their lives.

 

[breakout67]

He plays Luiz cause without him, there are no balls from deep. No one between Jorginho, Kante, Kavacic and Barkley can play a ball between the line to save their lives.

Yep, the main things he wants are line breaking passes and passes in behind. Luiz is better at that than Jorginho.

 

[Red00012]

As we heard from LVG every week for 2 years.

The problem is where you have a situation in which the players don't seem to buy into the philosophy, and the manager insisting on sticking with it despite it preventing some of those players being able to play to their strengths, then if you're going to keep the manager you're also going to have to pretty much buy a whole new team....and as we saw with LVG, even then it might turn out the manager just likes mismanaging his players.

If I was a Chelsea fan I'd be very uneasy at the idea of keeping Sarri long term, even though I think the argument that he needs time is a fair one.

It took united fans less than a year to lose patience with LVG. Granted we weren't actively chanting against him, but I remember the booing of backward passes, sarcastic cheers when a player would have a shot etc.

I don’t think there was anyone chanting against Mourinho either.

He got some decent responses leaving OT after a bad result , I would love to know did they support him because it’s the “Utd way “ or they didn’t want him sacked?
And how do they feel about him now since Ole took control.

 

[blue blue]

Don't disagree about Sarri perhaps needing the sack, but I would like to question the idea that Chelsea's model of firing managers is what gave the club success. You had a great spine to your team in Cech/Courtois, JT, Makelele/Essien, Lampard, Drogba/Costa etc. Now you don't. Your keeper is dodgy. You have Sideshow Bob as one of your center halves. You have hazard, who is a great player, but goes missing when the going gets tough. These players are not going to keep the results coming when there is managerial turmoil. You are in need of stability more than ever. Granted, Sarri may not be your man, but you are not going to be able to replicate the past decade's success unless a spine is built again - and in these times it is very difficult to build one that will stay loyal to your club for 10+ years.

Also, Chelsea used to be better at buying good players. Increasingly, you are buying dross. The problems are way deeper than who your manager is.

Potentially the current problems go right to the top with RA not even going to the games anymore. I do however think your criticism of Luiz, Kepa and Hazard is harsh. Hazard would walk into any team and the jury is out on Kepa. Luiz does some good stuff with his bad stuff.

The team is in trouble and its with regret that I say we need a change of manager this early into his tenure. I think the squad can perform better with a different approach. He is intransigent in his views and lacks imagination in his selections.

The squad doesn't have the leaders it used to have. I think Ampadu could bring a bit personality to the team but Sarri hardly ever uses him. Azpilequeta is a grafter and motivated and Higuaín also looks like a trier. Kante works hard too. Rudiger is strong and quick and could be around for a while. He isn't JT but who is? The squad isn't far off competing for the PL and could do with a couple of world class additions. I still maintain the squad is good enough for top 4 if they are played to their strengths.

If you are implying it's difficult to find loyal and hardworking players in todays market I agree. This makes the coach all the more important.

 

[Dancfc]

You're right, it's why I said Sarri might prove to be a dud. But giving up after six months to me feels like an admission Chelsea will never play the kind of football Abromovich has been dreaming of playing. Chelsea have not tanked. They're just two points of top four and it's not like they finished there last season.

It doesn't have to be.

We brought AVB to change the style sacked him and still carried on with the "project" in the summer by adding players like Hazard and Oscar to the team with De Bruyne set to follow in a year. It was only after Jose's first six months the direction changed back because Jose realised that building such a side was beyond his capability.

If there's a serious dedication to changing the style at the club than the show will go on with or without Sarri.

 

[Robertd0803]

It's a worry how much they dropped from the start of the season and how stubborn he is in his management. They have City in a final and then Spurs in a game after. I can't see him lasting after those two games.

I sort of fancy them on Sunday for some reason and Chelsea being Chelsea and Spurs being Spurs means they will probably hammer Spurs and then lose the game after that to start the whole cycle again.

Be beyond comical if Malmo knock them out first though.

 

[el3mel]

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[crossy1686]

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The circus continues.

He'd be daft not to take that offer.