Sarri on being booed by fans, his faith in Jorginho and why Chelsea must learn from Klopp and Liverpool
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri spoke about a number of issues at a media conference ahead of the game against Huddersfield. Here’s what the Italian had to say.
On reports he travelled back from Bournemouth by car rather than the team coach because he was so angry with his players
“I didn’t attack the players. I talked to them because I wanted to understand. Then I went home immediately because I wanted to review the match. There wasn’t another reason.”
On criticising the players
“I said that probably I am not able to motivate them. If we have some mental problems I think the reason could be the players, could be the technical staff, could be the club.
“But I don’t think it’s the club. I have to think (it’s) the players or the staff. Probably we (the management team) are doing something wrong – the coach first of all.
“So I said that probably I am not able to motivate them. I said that it’s very difficult to motivate them but I have to find a way.”
On it surely being his job to motivate them
“It’s part of my job of course. But I want first of all to change the mentality.
“I think my football is cooperation. So I have to speak to my players and I have to involve them in my football more than we are doing at the moment.
“We need to improve in the reaction. We need to improve in the offensive phase because we have a lot of individual players. It’s not easy to change in four or five months.
“I need to completely change the mentality because they were used to playing in counter-attacks.
“Now we need to change. There’s a long way (to go) but I am trying to change the mentality.
“I want to be in control of the match. I want to score and I want to have the right reaction if we concede a goal.”
On whether he needs a Plan B
“Why? First I want to do very well the Plan A.
“I don’t want to change something that at the moment isn’t working, I want to see my football played very well and then we look to change something.
“Everybody 10 years ago knew Barcelona. They won everything because they played very well their football. I want to play my football.”
On whether he expects to be given time
“In their first season Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool were in the middle of the table.
“The situation in England is very clear; there are three teams above the others (Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham). In one the coach arrived five years ago, in one four years ago and in one three years ago.
“So the situation is very clear. English football is in the hands of these teams because they had a plan and were really patient. The situation for me is very clear.”
On whether the board will support him
“I don’t mind. Because I am a dreamer. I want to play my football.”
On whether he would consider moving N’Golo Kante back into his deeper role in place of Jorginho
“Only 20 minutes if I have to defend a result.”
On whether Jorginho has adapted to the Premier League
“It depends what you want from Jorginho. If from Jorginho you want the last pass, then he has not adapted.
“Jorginho is very able to move the ball, to build up the action, but he usually plays 40 or 45 metres from the goal, so it is impossible to do the last pass. He is very good for another job.”
On whether managing Chelsea is tougher than expected
“Probably yes. But I knew it was difficult because here the level is very high.
“It’s very difficult because this team played another football. They won with another (style of) football. So it’s very difficult.
“But we can do it, I think. We can improve, change our mentality and play our football.”
On why he is so confident in spite of recent performances
“Because every day I see the training and in training they are improving.
“We lost the last match very badly but the last match was different. We lost confidence after the first goal but we entered the pitch with the right mentality. We made a mistake with the reaction.
“We have some problems to score. We are working on this of course.
“But this is not a big problem. This is only a tactical problem. I like it very much when I can speak to my players about tactical problems. I don’t like when I have to speak about mental problems.”
On whether he is getting enough from Eden Hazard
“I think that he is changing. He was used to playing as an individual player and now he has to play in a cooperative way.
“It’s not easy for him, because he became Hazard playing in another way.
“I can see that now he is more available to play in this way. Of course he needs to improve, that is normal.
“He is fantastic from a technical point of view and I think he can do more tactically.
“At the moment it is not easy for our striker to play in this team because have a lot of individual players like Hazard, Willian and Pedro, so it’s not easy for the striker to do the right movement at the right time.”
On being jeered by fans at Bournemouth
“First of all we have to say sorry to them because the result was a disaster.
“I can understand them (being angry) very well. They have to be patient with us at the moment because we are trying to do something great.
“It’s not easy, we have to improve, we have to work. We are trying to do our best.”
On Gonzalo Higuain
“I think that at the moment he is not at the top physically because in the last 45 days he played only a few matches, first of all because of his back and then he was involved in the (transfer) market.
“So I think he needs to improve because he is able to accelerate more than now and then I think if he is able to improve physically he will be able to be useful for us,”
