Why Higuain is key to Sarri’s system

-

Feb 3, 2019

SEE MORE: Former Liverpool star claims Gary Cahill snubbed a move to Fulham because he thinks Sarri is going to be sacked

Willian has praised Chelsea and Higuain on the back of their 5-0 win against Huddersfield Town.

‘We have a lot of good players, a quality team, and very good players in front,’ said the Brazilian, whose corner kick set up David Luiz for our fifth goal of the afternoon. ‘It doesn’t matter the player that plays there, we have the same profile of football and that’s what the manager says to us: “Play fast, play quick.” Higuain played very well with his movements, with one-twos around the box, so it was very good for us.’

‘It was much better,’ added Chelsea‘s No22. ‘We played really well, we did what we had to do – we had possession, we scored goals, we were clinical. That’s it. We have to keep going.

‘We know when you play for Chelsea, when the results don’t come, the pressure comes. You have to work on the situation and, of course, we know in football you always have to improve, even when you win games. After the [Bournemouth] game, which was a bad game for us, we came strong and we showed character. This is Chelsea.’

Chelsea frustrates me: Holloway

By

-

Feb 3, 2019

SEE MORE: Former Liverpool star claims Gary Cahill snubbed a move to Fulham because he thinks Sarri is going to be sacked

Ian Holloway has expressed his frustration at Chelsea for their transfer policy and how they do not allow their squad players to play more because the managers have to deliver constantly.

“It doesn’t surprise me that they can bounce back with the sheer talent that they’ve got in and around the club at all levels really,” Holloway said. “I probably get more frustrated with Chelsea than anyone else as a manager.”

“I think they’ve been buying some brilliant young players, stacking and racking them for years and years to save themselves some money, but they don’t get into the team. [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek, every time I go there I think ‘oh please give him a game, give him a game, bring him off the bench’. I just don’t understand it. It’s probably because their manager has to win.”

Chelsea came back strongly after a humiliating defeat and Sarri is happy with his team for now.

“Higuain is improving,” said Sarri. “He wasn’t physically at the top when he arrived, because he had a back problem and wasn’t involved, so only played a few matches. He is a great player. Apart from the goals, he is really very suitable to play very close to Eden [Hazard].”

How Sarri being similar to Pep is a bad idea!

By

-

Feb 3, 2019

SEE MORE: Former Liverpool star claims Gary Cahill snubbed a move to Fulham because he thinks Sarri is going to be sacked

Maurizio Sarri is a purist, much like Guardiola and Klopp. This is how he works.

“Plan A, Plan B, and he referred to it again in the press conference too, it’s something that Johan Cruyff used to say, it’s something that Pep Guardiola borrowing from Johan Cruyff used to say, and it’s part of Sarri’s idea, if Plan A doesn’t work, execute Plan A better,” Marcotti told ESPN FC.

“Don’t switch to Plan B if you think Plan A is the right plan. When you screw up, it’s either because you have a wrong plan or you’re not executing you’re original plan better – and he thinks his plan is the right one and time will tell if that’s the case.

“But that’s not why he’s gonna go and change everything around and put [N’Golo] Kante in front of the back four or whatever, because that’s not his plan.

“Pep Guardiola explained this too. Because remember, last season in October people went to him and they said: ‘oh look, you changed. Because in your first season you finished fourth and everybody made fun of you when [Gael] Clichy and Bacary Sagna ended up in the middle of the park and whatever else.’

However, Chelsea is known to have much less patience with their managers and a lack of results for even a few months could see him go down before he can emulate the success part of the journey Pep is on now

Hazard thinks Chelsea can beat anyone

By

-

Feb 3, 2019

Chelsea’s Belgian ace Eden Hazard believes that the club are good enough to beat anyone if they want to.

Chelsea are having a roller coaster season with performances varying from beating City 2-0 to losing 4-0 to Bournemouth. The Blues manager called for consistency earlier this week and Hazard feels the players are now up for the challenge that will see them face City twice, United once and Spurs once in the space of a month. Moreover, two of these encounters will be in cup competitions with City facing Chelsea in the league cup final.

Hazard said, “We need to be focused. We knew before that this month (February) is going to be hard but … we are Chelsea, we can beat everyone if we want. So we just need to go play our football like we did today, and then we’ll see.”

“I think [Sarri] will be happy because he was wanting a reaction from us and we gave him one. We are happy and we’re looking forward to playing Man City [in next Sunday’s EFL Cup final]. We need to keep winning like this. This kind of game is the way the manager wants us to play.”

SEE MORE: Italian journalist claims Maurizio Sarri is copying Pep Guardiola at Chelsea

Italian journalist claims Maurizio Sarri is copying Pep Guardiola at Chelsea

By

-

Feb 3, 2019

Italian journalist claims Maurizio Sarri is copying Pep Guardiola at Chelsea

Marcotti insists Sarri’s decision to insist with his plan A is straight out of Guardiola’s playbook

Journalist Gabriele Marcotti claims that Maurizio Sarri is copying Pep Guardiola’s style at Chelsea, with the Italian insisting that Sarri’s decision to stick with his plan A and not change his tactics is straight out of Pep Guardiola’s playbook.

Sarri came under criticism for his philosophy and team selection when the Blues suffered a 4-0 defeat away at Bournemouth on Wednesday but a 5-0 thrashing of Huddersfield on Saturday seems to have eased the pressure on the manager.

And Marcotti believes that Sarri, much like Guardiola, is going to continue to try and implement his philosophy in a better way in the days to come.

“Plan A, Plan B, and he referred to it again in the press conference too, it’s something that Johan Cruyff used to say, it’s something that Pep Guardiola borrowing from Johan Cruyff used to say, and it’s part of Sarri’s idea, if Plan A doesn’t work, execute Plan A better,” he told ESPN FC.

“Don’t switch to Plan B if you think Plan A is the right plan. When you screw up, it’s either because you have a wrong plan or you’re not executing your original plan better – and he thinks his plan is the right one and time will tell if that’s the case.

“But that’s not why he’s gonna go and change everything around and put [N’Golo] Kante in front of the back four or whatever, because that’s not his plan.

“Pep Guardiola explained this too. Because remember, last season in October people went to him and they said: ‘oh look, you changed. Because in your first season you finished fourth and everybody made fun of you when [Gael] Clichy and Bacary Sagna ended up in the middle of the park and whatever else.’

“And he came out and said: ‘no, the concepts are exactly the same. Sometimes we tweak the formation but the ideas are the same, the concept is the same, the philosophy is the same. But the people had to go and understand the philosophy first and then they could go and make the change.’

“Pep also made the point about in his first season why he didn’t rotate very much, he said: ‘because you can only teach this if you work with 12 to 14 players.’ That’s something Sarri alluded to as well.

“You can think that Sarri’s a fool because he thinks he’s Pep Guardiola and he’s trying to copy Pep’s stuff, but this is directly out of Pep’s playbook.

“Maybe Pep just does it better, maybe Pep’s a better manager, maybe he has better players, maybe he’s had more time, maybe it’s all of the above. But it’s not like he’s gone insane, he’s following this playbook.”

Former Liverpool star claims Gary Cahill snubbed a move to Fulham because he thinks Sarri is going to be sacked

By

-

Feb 3, 2019

Former Liverpool star claims Gary Cahill snubbed a move to Fulham because he thinks Sarri is going to be sacked

Stephen Warnock makes an audacious claim about Gary Cahill

Former Liverpool and England defender Stephen Warnock believes Gary Cahill snubbed the opportunity to join Fulham because he thinks Maurizio Sarri is on borrowed time at Stamford Bridge.

Cahill was expected to join Chelsea’s west London rivals Fulham in their relegation battle but the 33-year-old opted to stay at Stamford Bridge despite Maurizio Sarri making it clear that he is not in his plans.

Warnock told 5Live: “The players are coming out now and challenging Sarri whereas they didn’t challenge Pep, they agreed with everything Pep said because they knew it was the right thing to do.

“Now with Sarri, when we go back to the Gary Cahill incident at this moment in time, he must be sat there thinking, ‘I’m not going because I’m getting a sense of something in this changing room that the players are not having this.’

Ian Denis added: “Cahill rejected an opportunity to go to Fulham so Cahill is going to be staying at Stamford Bridge then he’ll asses his option in the summer.”

Maurizio Sarri has previously admitted that Cahill can’t expect much game time under him.

“I respect him very much because he has won everything with this club, but then I have to do my job,” he explained.

“Every match I have to choose.

“For me, it is not [possible] to have him on the bench.

“Maybe he is the best [of our defenders] in the box, but our defenders may play 100 or 110 balls in a match so I need defenders [to play] very technically.

“It is not my decision, it is up to him and the club [whether he stays].

“He is in the last year of the contract, he has to decide for a new contract here or another club.

“For the [players] over 30 the club usually offers only one year of a contract.

“If he has an offer of three years [somewhere else] he can, of course, choose something.

“It doesn’t depend if I am sentimental or not.”

See also

Bakayoko reveals one factor that might decide his Chelsea future

By

-

Feb 3, 2019

Bakayoko reveals one factor that might decide his Chelsea future

Bakayoko admits his future will depend on where AC Milan finish in the Serie A

Chelsea loanee Tiemoue Bakayoko has revealed that he wants to leave Stamford Bridge permanently to stay at AC Milan.

The Frenchman was recruited by the Blues back in 2017 for a whopping £40 million but he was sent out on loan after a lacklustre 2017-18 season where he failed to adapt to the standards of the Premier League.

He struggled to cope with the Serie A in his initial days at San Siro but the 24-year-old has recovered from a slow start to life to become a regular starter under Gennaro Gattuso.

While the Frenchman has revealed that he hopes Milan will exercise the buy clause in the deal at the end of the season, he also admits that the decision to make his stay permanent will depend on whether the Rossoneri manage to finish in the top-four in the Serie A this term.

“I heard what Leonardo (Milan sporting director) said,” Bakayoko told Corriere Dello Sport.

“But I’m not in a position to talk about it.

“It’s a matter for Milan and Chelsea.

“Staying at Milan is my dream, the only thought in my mind, but I have a contract with Chelsea.

“I just want to finish the season in fourth place, then we’ll think about it.”

Milan currently sit 4th in the standings, just a point clear of Roma and both the teams are set to fight it out in the Serie A on Monday in their pursuit of Champions League football next season.

Italian journalist claims Chelsea are not a ‘mad sacking club’ and defends Abramovich

By

-

Feb 3, 2019

Italian journalist claims Chelsea are not a 'mad sacking club' and defends Abramovich

Marcotti claims Chelsea will not sack Sarri if he manages to secure a top-four finish

According to journalist Gabriele Marcotti, Chelsea are not a ‘mad sacking club’ despite boasting of an infamous record of managerial instability, with the Italian claiming that owner Roman Abramovich is not the same man that he was 10 years back.

Sarri’s stubborn philosophy and the decision to play N’Golo Kante out of position has evoked immense criticism in recent weeks due to the team’s lacklustre performances, with many fearing that the manager was under borrowed time at Stamford Bridge following the team’s 4-0 humiliation against Bournemouth.

Marcotti, however, has dismissed such claims and the Italian believes that Chelsea will put their trust in Sarri for the upcoming season if he manages to finish in the top-four.

“In [Sarri’s] mind, he’s not having a meltdown,” he told ESPN FC.

“This business about Chelsea being this incredibly impatient club, certainly Sarri’s been at more or just as impatient clubs in the past, but it’s also kind of a myth.

“The last two managers Chelsea went through, [Antonio] Conte and [Jose] Mourinho, Conte effectively sacked himself and Mourinho got the whole club in all sorts of legal issues and the brink of the relegation zone.

“Before that, you actually go through it and don’t count the interim coaches and all that nonsense, and you see that actually, Chelsea are not this mad sacking club, Abramovich is in a different place and time in his life right now, I don’t think he’s the same guy as he was 10 years ago.”

“The one thing that Chelsea really emphasise is understood is that this was a massive sea change going from Conte and Mourinho to Sarri,” he said.

“He alluded to it in his press conference today. It’s a very different way of playing.

“They haven’t been able to change the whole squad so he’s had to take the time to go and get his ideas across to his players, and the club understood that and said: ‘look, all we ask for you this season is get back in the Champions League, we don’t think that’s too big an ask.’ And really it isn’t too big an ask.

“‘That’s the minimum goal and take the time that you need as long as you hit that goal.’ They still feel that they’re on track to hit that goal.”

Eden Hazard believes Sarri will be happy with Chelsea’s performance against Huddersfield

By

-

Feb 3, 2019