Defiant Sarri will not climb down on Kante’s role

Maurizio Sarri has reiterated that he has no intention of changing Chelsea’s style of play or moving N’Golo Kante back into a defensive midfield role.

Head coach Sarri is under pressure following some dismal results and has been barracked by Blues fans during recent matches.

One of the several reasons for anger aimed at the Italian is his insistence on playing Kante in a more advanced role, with flagship summer signing Jorginho in a deeper position.

“It depends on how you see football. In that (defensive) position I want a player able to move the ball very fast,” Sarri said at a media conference on Wednesday afternoon.

“This is not the best characteristic of N’Golo. N’Golo is very useful for us but this one is not his best characteristic.”

When it was pointed out that Kante has won the Premier League twice and the World Cup as a defensive midfielder, Sarri replied: “But in another system.”

Sarri was also asked whether he would consider personnel changes and changing the system in light of Chelsea’s problems adapting to his style

“Maybe, but at the moment we are making mistakes with a lot of players,” he said.

“Everybody sooner or later was involved in a mistake. So I think we need to change more the mentality than the players.

“The system is a false problem. I know very well that when we lose (are losing) I have to put a striker on the pitch and when we win (are winning) I have to put a defender on the pitch.

“But I want to see football in another way.”

Meanwhile, Sarri revealed that goalkeeper Kepa is a doubt for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City because of a hamstring problem.