Maurizio Sarri - Chelsea coach

[Mb194dc]

Win the same as Pochettino.

If we want to compare with Poch, need to look at his first season as well not after 4 years of coaching.

Spurs lost 3 - 0 away to stoke that season and finished 5th up one place from 13/14 but with 5 less points, they would have finished 6th but liverpool choked their last two games including a 6 1 defeat on the last day.

Poch also got to the league cup final in his first season.

I think we will stick with Sarri as long as it looks like we're improving for the rest of the season and have a good run in the Europa. We beat spurs only a week ago and played very well in that game. We're just very inconsistent. Like the late 90's Chelsea, conceded 4 goals in the first half against Sunderland in a game back then and beat Utd 5 0 in the same season. Jekyll and hyde team.

This is the new Chelsea, club are more focussed on making money these days than competing at the top end of the league and winning the CL again. The target is champions league qualification, as long as similar money is coming in from a deep Europa run I don't think Abramovich will be too bothered.

 

[CM]

I do have some sympathy for Sarri because this current Chelsea team certainly lacks in a couple of areas. He's probably right when he says they've failed to grasp the basics of his system - they don't come close to the tempo of his Napoli side, and unless Hazard drops deep, nobody looks capable of creating anything either.

Sarri's problem is he hasn't played to the strengths of the team either and publicly chastising his players won't win him any favour. There are definite shades of van Gaal in his refusal to change system and experimenting with the roles of the two best players at the football club. I can't see Chelsea being as patient as we were with that kind of approach though.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

If we want to compare with Poch, need to look at his first season as well not after 4 years of coaching.

Spurs lost 3 - 0 away to stoke that season and finished 5th up one place from 13/14 but with 5 less points, they would have finished 6th but liverpool choked their last two games including a 6 1 defeat on the last day.

Poch also got to the league cup final in his first season.

I think we will stick with Sarri as long as it looks like we're improving for the rest of the season and have a good run in the Europa. We beat spurs only a week ago and played very well in that game. We're just very inconsistent. Like the late 90's Chelsea, conceded 4 goals in the first half against Sunderland in a game back then and beat Utd 5 0 in the same season. Jekyll and hyde team.

This is the new Chelsea, club are more focussed on making money these days than competing at the top end of the league and winning the CL again. The target is champions league qualification, as long as similar money is coming in from a deep Europa run I don't think Abramovich will be too bothered.

Nope, comparisons to Poch are entirely false.

Sari has the likes of Hazard and Kante, and spent big money on players like Jorginho, Kepa and Pulisic (Kovacic on loan too)and now has Higuain on loan. He's got a team of established internationals which only 2 seasons prior won the league, Hazard/Kante are arguably the best two players in their position in the PL.

One of the most expensively assembled squads in the league, with one of the biggest wage bills to boot. The team Poch took over had sprinklings of quality but no established world class players and relied on the likes of Capoue, Chriches, Chadli, Mason and Bentaleb. The expectations for Sarri are much higher because he has a much better squad, with far more to spend.

You won 2-1 at home to a Spurs side lacking Alli, Kane or Son. Congrats, I guess? I don't even think you played that well, we were awful and totally disjointed in attack.

 

[iHicksy]

Feels like the wheels are falling off the Chelsea bandwagon. Sarri seems quite happy airing their problems in the media. Which, you have to feel is going to backfire hugely. He's told the star player he can leave. He's signed higuain, who is a hugely talented goal scorer but not someone known for staying in decent physical condition. He's probably not the striker they need as a Jan signing because the prem is a very, very physical league and coming into it with no experience and out of condition does not bode well for Chelsea.

Seems like a dressing room that could very easily lose confidence in the manager with his comments to the press. Coupled with reports that he's asking the players if it's his fault, feels like a recipe for disaster.

 

[broccoli]

Sometimes a manager just doesn't work, but in the case of Chelsea, it's very obvious the players are behind it as it was in United. The main problem is that players are stupid, they always were but now they have more power and more protection. Can't stand Hazard, overrated little scrote.

 

[JPRouve]

I have no sympathy for Sarri, I do believe that he is a good coach but he is having a mare here. When he realized that he couldn't use his favorite organization, he should have accepted it and changed it instead of going public and lambast the players. He exposed himself to an incredible amount of pressure when he should have done what Guardiola did and ride the waves. Creating tension will only fasten his exit.

 

[Trizy]

Sometimes a manager just doesn't work, but in the case of Chelsea, it's very obvious the players are behind it as it was in United. The main problem is that players are stupid, they always were but now they have more power and more protection. Can't stand Hazard, overrated little scrote.

To be fair I think Hazard is rated accordingly. On the caf anyway.

The popular rating is He's world class on his day, doesn't score enough goals to be mentioned with the best players, goes missing in some games, little shit of a personality and has a fat arse.

He's absolutely disrespecting Chelsea the past couple of years with his comments and flirting with Madrid but he has them by the balls. If you take Hazard out of that Chelsea team, they're worse than Arsenal.

 

[broccoli]

To be fair I think Hazard is rated accordingly. On the caf anyway.

The popular rating is He's world class on his day, doesn't score enough goals to be mentioned with the best players, goes missing in some games, little shit of a personality and has a fat arse.

He's absolutely disrespecting Chelsea the past couple of years with his comments and flirting with Madrid but he has them by the balls. If you take Hazard out of that Chelsea team, they're worse than Arsenal.

Chelsea needed a proper restart after what happened with Jose and then Conte. Getting rid of Hazard would allow them to rebuild the team with younger and more motivated players. See what happened to Liverpool with Coutinho. It wasn't the end of the world like many predicted.

 

[Mb194dc]

Nope, comparisons to Poch are entirely false.

Sari has the likes of Hazard and Kante, and spent big money on players like Jorginho, Kepa and Pulisic (Kovacic on loan too)and now has Higuain on loan. He's got a team of established internationals which only 2 seasons prior won the league, Hazard/Kante are arguably the best two players in their position in the PL.

One of the most expensively assembled squads in the league, with one of the biggest wage bills to boot. The team Poch took over had sprinklings of quality but no established world class players and relied on the likes of Capoue, Chriches, Chadli, Mason and Bentaleb. The expectations for Sarri are much higher because he has a much better squad, with far more to spend.

You won 2-1 at home to a Spurs side lacking Alli, Kane or Son. Congrats, I guess? I don't even think you played that well, we were awful and totally disjointed in attack.

Shouldn't the manager be judged how the squad performed the previous season? We finished 5th with 70 points last season and lost 3 0 to Newcastle in the final game and won FA cup.

Sarri has come in, changed the formation and completely changed the style of play. Never going to be an easy task to get everything right the first season, I don't think Kante is suited to the style of play Sarri uses, if he's used in midfield two as a ball winner he's world class though. That is the hardest problem to solve.

The expectations for us are CL qualification and a trophy.

Now the hard work really starts for Sarri, things are not working well and he needs to fix it. Wondering if he might try 3 4 3 against teams that sit deep or something else different.

 

[Kentonio]

Hazard I can understand. But why willian?

Willian is not popular amongst Chelsea fans for the most part. I've actually been one of his biggest defenders, but this season he's even lost me. He is wildly inconsistent, disappears far too often, has become petulant over time and is just not offering us enough of a threat on that right side. I'd rather have Pedro on than him basically always, even though Pedro can also be pretty inconsistent at times.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Shouldn't the manager be judged how the squad performed the previous season? We finished 5th with 70 points last season and lost 3 0 to Newcastle in the final game and won FA cup.

Sarri has come in, changed the formation and completely changed the style of play. Never going to be an easy task to get everything right the first season, I don't think Kante is suited to the style of play Sarri uses, if he's used in midfield two as a ball winner he's world class though. That is the hardest problem to solve.

The expectations for us are CL qualification and a trophy.

Now the hard work really starts for Sarri, things are not working well and he needs to fix it. Wondering if he might try 3 4 3 against teams that sit deep or something else different.

No, he should be judged on the quality and resources he has available. Sarri has far more of both than Pochetinno did thus the expectations on him are higher. The team were clearly at odds with Conte so the fact you won a cup and got 5th despite that says a lot.

You've just fallen behind Arsenal, a team who spent less than you and were worse than you last season. They have an objectively inferior side. Your football recently has shown no sign of progress whatsoever, you're both bland to watch and ineffective in terms of results. Where is that acceptable at a club with Chelsea's resources?

The 'it takes a season to bed in the new system' argument is valid and you'd expect teething problems, but this goes way beyond that. My view is that Sarri is a good manager, but it looks like he's totally unsuited to Chelsea. I don't think that'll change anytime soon, might be wrong but we'll see.

Reminds me a lot of the AVB appointment TBH. Stubborn system manager who isn't adapting to the league and whose tactics are ill suited to your key players, which he won't adapt to. We all know how managers do when they get on the wrong side of Chelsea players.

 

[CM]

Chelsea needed a proper restart after what happened with Jose and then Conte. Getting rid of Hazard would allow them to rebuild the team with younger and more motivated players. See what happened to Liverpool with Coutinho. It wasn't the end of the world like many predicted.

The difference is Liverpool already had a well functioning front 3 and Coutinho's contract still had 4 years to run.

Chelsea look genuinely dull when Hazard doesn't play well and he will only have a year left on his contract in the summer. If he goes, that team will need investment way beyond any money they receive for him.

 

[bond19821982]

Any chance he could put Kante in the market?

 

[::sonny::]

At the first difficoults dissolved like the snow in a sunny day

 

[Josep Dowling]

Another manager trying to instill his philosophy and in doing so ignores the strengths of his team.

Both Hazard and Kanté play out of position. Chelsea should have gone all out for a centre forward, that and maybe a CB and they would be challenging for the league.

Instead they keep buying pretty mediocre players, their transfer targets have been shocking for about 3 seasons now. If and when Hazard leaves the real talent in that squad will start to diminish and there aren’t many for managers for them to test out, Tuchel maybe.

 

[Scroto Baggins]

I feel the wheels fell off after that Everton game where they pressed the hell out of Jorginho. Spurs copied that tactic to great effect and it has all sort of fallen apart since then.

They lack a top quality striker as well, will see how Higuin gets on, but Morata never really looked the goods as a main striking option.

 

[shamans]

Hes won nothing in his career to say hes a good coach.
Nothing.

Lazy analysis. Hes 10 times the cach Di Matteo is who has won a champions league.

 

[Mb194dc]

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/engl...rve-title-hopes-are-chelsea-ripe-for-an-upset

Interesting what he has to say:

"I think that my football is about cooperation, so I have to speak to my players and involve them in my football, more than we are doing in the moment," Sarri said. "Now we have the mentality for doing the match, but we need to improve in the reaction. We need to improve in the offensive phase.

"We have a lot of individual players, so it's not easy to change in four or five months. For example, in the last match, I think we built up the action very well in the first half. Then, we were able to close spaces ourselves because we stayed too tight with the three offensive players. So it was easy for the defenders to defend.

"Sometimes, we need to stay very high and wide. We have to go inside to receive, not to stay inside. So we need to improve. I need to change completely the mentality because they were used to playing on counter-attacks, so they could run to the ball. Now we have to change."

I would agree if things don't improve there is a good chance he will go the way of AVB, Scolari etc. I would expect a bit more patience these days from the club than those days though.

 

[charlenefan]

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/engl...rve-title-hopes-are-chelsea-ripe-for-an-upset

Interesting what he has to say:



I would agree if things don't improve there is a good chance he will go the way of AVB, Scolari etc. I would expect a bit more patience these days from the club than those days though.

Well Conte go the season last year, I expect Sarri will get the same. He'll be gone if he doesn't get top 4 though

 

[Suvvernmanc]

I'm very underwhelmed with him as a coach. With his time at Napoli i thought he was a great coach, and great with man management. I think i was wrong. His arrogance and stubbornness is astounding. He has the best DM on the planet (imo) in Kante and he moves him out of position into a position not suited to him. He's best at breaking up the oppositions play and starting attacks from deep. Supposedly what Jorginho was good at, yet all I see from Jorginho is good passing but simple passing. Hazard has been playing out of position even though him and Giroud were teaming up very well before, with Hazard coming off the left in a free role, only to change the setup into one that just isn't working. It's been plain to see and his stubbornness to change from his beloved 433 has been detrimental to Chelsea.

Sarri seems to like to play with a vary small group of players with not alot of rotation. He did it at Napoli but their league is a little slower with less competition at the top of the league. This is where his arrogance comes in. He has expected his ways to work here while underestimating the PL I think. Rotation is key with so many competitions to be involved in.

Chelsea have some good players in the squad that aren't getting a look in too. Kovačić gets more game time than Loftus-Cheek yet hes been fairly poor. Andreas Christensen has been dropped even though he had a good season under Conte and was probably the best academy player to come out for a very long time. The Callum Hudson-Odoi situation too, Sarri said recently "If you are one of the best young players in Europe, maybe the academy helped you," "He has to respect the work of the academy coaches." As if Hudson-Odoi owes Chelsea and should stay out of loyalty? Is he serious? Before hand, Sarri said he is as good as Pedro and Willian, but only started playing him once Hudson-Odoi wanted out. He has just started digging his players out in the media too. Apparently they are a group that struggle to motivate themselves. In my opinion, players motivation comes from having a belief in the manager and his system. It seems to me that some of the players could very well be disillusioned with Sarri and his ways. I have a feeling this could end the very same way it ended with Jose at Chelsea and here with us!

 

[Canagel]

Tweet

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Not about to change anything yet. He wants his football to be played correctly first.

 

[Infestissumam]

still trying to punch square pegs into round holes. Forcing a system onto a squad instead of using its strengths never works well, and doing it with a squad that's used to killing managers is a recipe for disaster. Can't see him last beyond the summer.

 

[Catt]

A damned shame they're playing Huddersfield tomorrow.

 

[Womp]

Will be sacked long before he gets his team playing the way he wants, I feel.

 

[haram]

Another manager trying to instill his philosophy and in doing so ignores the strengths of his team.

Both Hazard and Kanté play out of position. Chelsea should have gone all out for a centre forward, that and maybe a CB and they would be challenging for the league.

Instead they keep buying pretty mediocre players, their transfer targets have been shocking for about 3 seasons now. If and when Hazard leaves the real talent in that squad will start to diminish and there aren’t many for managers for them to test out, Tuchel maybe.

It’s not about ignoring players strengths. People go on about training and developing players, but when a manager attempts to do so the Chelsea players dont want to know.

The players want everything easy. They get away with it because the board will continue to sack managers.

 

[yumtum]

If Sarri stays then surely Kante is up for grabs?

 

[Keeps It tidy]

If Sarri stays then surely Kante is up for grabs?

Kante has been their best performing midfielder this season. The whole thing has been blown way, way out of proportion. The more pressing needs is finding a creative midfielder since Kovacic has not been cutting it.

 

[yumtum]

Kante has been their best performing midfielder this season. The whole thing has been blown way, way out of proportion. The more pressing needs is finding a creative midfielder since Kovacic has not been cutting it.

He's still not as effective as Sarri would want, and he already has Jorginho so Kante will be surplus to requirements if Sarri stays, so surely one has to go??

 

[adexkola]

Reading this thread it’s hard to believe that a good number of posters on the caf labeled Herrera as better than Kante at one point

 

[Keeps It tidy]

He's still not as effective as Sarri would want, and he already has Jorginho so Kante will be surplus to requirements if Sarri stays, so surely one has to go??

He is going to want a high energy midfielder on the right side of his midfield. He is not going to do much better than Kante for that role. They have much bigger issues in that squad.

 

[Jules_T]

Criticising the team in the media is the beginning of the end.

I don't see a way back for him. Gone in the summer when they finish outside the top 4.

 

[CognitiveNeuro]

I'm very underwhelmed with him as a coach. With his time at Napoli i thought he was a great coach, and great with man management. I think i was wrong. His arrogance and stubbornness is astounding. He has the best DM on the planet (imo) in Kante and he moves him out of position into a position not suited to him. He's best at breaking up the oppositions play and starting attacks from deep. Supposedly what Jorginho was good at, yet all I see from Jorginho is good passing but simple passing. Hazard has been playing out of position even though him and Giroud were teaming up very well before, with Hazard coming off the left in a free role, only to change the setup into one that just isn't working. It's been plain to see and his stubbornness to change from his beloved 433 has been detrimental to Chelsea.

Sarri seems to like to play with a vary small group of players with not alot of rotation. He did it at Napoli but their league is a little slower with less competition at the top of the league. This is where his arrogance comes in. He has expected his ways to work here while underestimating the PL I think. Rotation is key with so many competitions to be involved in.

Chelsea have some good players in the squad that aren't getting a look in too. Kovačić gets more game time than Loftus-Cheek yet hes been fairly poor. Andreas Christensen has been dropped even though he had a good season under Conte and was probably the best academy player to come out for a very long time. The Callum Hudson-Odoi situation too, Sarri said recently "If you are one of the best young players in Europe, maybe the academy helped you," "He has to respect the work of the academy coaches." As if Hudson-Odoi owes Chelsea and should stay out of loyalty? Is he serious? Before hand, Sarri said he is as good as Pedro and Willian, but only started playing him once Hudson-Odoi wanted out. He has just started digging his players out in the media too. Apparently they are a group that struggle to motivate themselves. In my opinion, players motivation comes from having a belief in the manager and his system. It seems to me that some of the players could very well be disillusioned with Sarri and his ways. I have a feeling this could end the very same way it ended with Jose at Chelsea and here with us!

Kante isn't the best DM in the world. Come off it. Rodrigo, Allan, Busquets and Casemiro are all better than him at least.

 

[Bobcat]

If Chelsea fans truly have that opinion then that's plain stupid.

This guy had to start from the complete bottom of football and he made it to Chelsea. His record speaks for itself. Ridiculous to call him a loser. Just look at his record. This is his first time in a real top club and he's trailing behind Poch, Pep and Klopp that have really really strong squads.

I have no doubt Sarri will eventually be successful, be it at Chelsea or not. If Chelsea players think he is a loser then they lack intelligence.

I think in Sarri's case, the fact that he was a banker just 10 years ago and have never played on a professional level himself is a problem. First of all it much harder for him to relate to his players since hes never been at that side himself. Second, being an accomplished footballer will automatically net you some respect. To be fair, most ex footballers are terrible coaches, but that experience is often vital in the start when you need to build relations.

Its the same in any line of work, leaders with experience from the "ground floor" are often the best ones since they know very well what their staff is experiencing. Regarding the Chelsea players inability to learn his "system" fast enough, it either means they are slow learners or they are simply not buying into his philosophy. Neither option is good news for them, but i recon it has to be second. The you have them playing like shite and Sarri publicly slagging them off and it starts smelling like a meltdown which has one of two different explanations
a) Sarri is out of his depth
b) This squad is Chelsea players are impossible to manage

 

[Mb194dc]

Kante isn't the best DM in the world. Come off it. Rodrigo, Allan, Busquets and Casemiro are all better than him at least.

In a midfield two he probably is, Casemiro and Busquets play in a 3, different position. He has back to back premier league titles and a WC medal in a 2 to prove it.

Anyway if he's playing high up the pitch today I will be banging head on the table. Doesn't work well against teams sitting deep, which Huddersfield surely will. Hoping to see changes.

If it's the same predictable team with us passing square around the box the whole game, creating nothing, not going to be happy

 

[Jezpeza]

In a midfield two he probably is, Casemiro and Busquets play in a 3, different position. He has back to back premier league titles and a WC medal in a 2 to prove it.

Anyway if he's playing high up the pitch today I will be banging head on the table. Doesn't work well against teams sitting deep, which Huddersfield surely will. Hoping to see changes.

If it's the same predictable team with us passing square around the box the whole game, creating nothing, not going to be happy

I agree. Don’t know what’s happened, Chelsea we’re solid at the start of the season. The square passing is wholly reminiscent of Van Gaal and then I saw on BBC that Sarri has said that Chelsea need to be patient in changing the football. Can’t see Higuain hitting a barn door if they keep playing the way they have. Has barely had a touch and been a total spare part in the 2 games I’ve watched

 

[Suvvernmanc]

Kante isn't the best DM in the world. Come off it. Rodrigo, Allan, Busquets and Casemiro are all better than him at least.

He really is. As others have mentioned, in a midfield 2 he is the best in he world. The others you have mentioned are nowhere near him imo.

 

[Muhammad Fauzi]

Let's hope their Meltdown continues till we play them in FA Cup at the Bridge.

I’m pretty sure they will raise game against us. As always

 

[Canagel]

 

[Rish Sawhney]

Ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Fulham on Sunday, Sarri has opened up on how he has had to change his approach on the training ground to adapt to the “English mentality”, which he believes focuses more on intensity than tactics.

“I am in the first season in England, and I started to understand some things,” he told Sky Sports.

“Now I realise that here it takes longer and it is more difficult because the mentality is different."

“For example, with an English player it is very easy to have a very good intensity during training, but it is very difficult to have a session only about tactics.

“In Italy, it is the opposite; it is very easy to work on tactics and very difficult to have a very great intensity during the training. It’s different; not worse, not better, just different.

“We have a lot of players who have been here a long time, so the mentality is an English mentality. I have to understand, and I think I also need to have an English mentality. I think I am improving!”

When asked how long it will take for Chelsea to fully adopt his philosophy, Sarri added: “It’s impossible to answer. Sometimes three months is enough, sometimes you need one season or one season and a half.

“I think if you change country, it is longer.”

Interesting comments. What do you guys think?

 

[RedFish]

Interesting comments. What do you guys think?

I think his comments are perfectly valid.