MX23RW : Saturday, November 16 11:51:14| >> :120:42630:42630:

'Dreamer' Maurizio Sarri won't alter Chelsea tactics

'Dreamer' Maurizio Sarri won't alter Chelsea tactics
© Reuters
Blues' Italian boss is determined to stick to his principles.

Maurizio Sarri described himself as a "dreamer" on Friday and called on Chelsea to show patience in him and his methods, which he has no plans to change.

Wednesday's 4-0 loss at Bournemouth was Chelsea's worst Premier League result in over 22 years and head coach Sarri returned to London separately from his playing squad, following a lengthy dressing-room inquest, to begin preparations for Saturday's clash with bottom club Huddersfield.

The 60-year-old defended his tactics when facing the media on Friday, stressing his opposition to altering his favoured 4-3-3 formation with Jorginho as a central playmaker.

And the Italian, appointed as Antonio Conte's successor last July, pointed to the example of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, who had a challenging start at Anfield before leading a title challenge to Manchester City and Tottenham this season.

Sarri, who had fewer than seven hours' sleep in the 48 hours after the Bournemouth loss, said: "The situation is very clear. There are three teams above the others.

"English football is in the hands of these teams because they had a plan and they were patient.

"I want to remember that in the first season Klopp and Liverpool were in the middle of the table (the Reds finished eighth in 2015-16).

"I am a dreamer, I want to play my football."

Jorginho
Jorginho is central to Maurizio Sarri's 4-3-3 formation at Chelsea (Nick Potts/PA)

Sarri refuses to compromise on his footballing principles – or even to have a contingency plan.

"Why? First of all I want to do Plan A very well, I think," he added.

"I don't want to change something that at the moment doesn't work very well. First of all I want to see my football played very well, then we can go to change something.

"Everybody 10 years ago knew Barcelona very well, but Barcelona won everything, because Barcelona played their football very well.

"First of all I want to play my football very well. Then I can change."

N'Golo Kante and Jorginho
N'Golo Kante, left, is being played out of position to accommodate Jorginho, right (Nick Potts/PA)

Sarri was asked if he would consider playing N'Golo Kante in Jorginho's role. The France World Cup winner has excelled throughout his career in deep midfield but nudged farther forwards on the right to accommodate the Italy international.

"Only (for) 20 minutes if I have to defend a result," Sarri added.

Chelsea are fifth entering this weekend's fixtures, behind Arsenal on goal difference after five losses in 12 league games, but are in next month's Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.

The Wembley clash comes at the end of a week which sees them play Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round and Malmo in the Europa League last 32 second leg.

Sarri admitted the job is more difficult than he anticipated, while insisting his position is always precarious – even after December's surprise league win over Manchester City.

The former Napoli boss said: "My job is always at risk, and I love my job for this (reason). I thrive on pressure.

"I know very well the rules. You can win against City, but after three days you are at risk."

Eden Hazard
Chelsea's Eden Hazard has been singled out for criticism by Maurizio Sarri (John Walton/PA)

Sarri says he wants to take a collaborative approach to improve Chelsea, with input from his players, after the loss at Bournemouth.

Sarri added: "Probably we are doing something wrong, the staff and coach first of all. Probably I am not able to motivate them.

"It's a part of my job, of course. But I want first of all to change the mentality."

One player singled out by Sarri recently was Eden Hazard, the forward who is out of contract in June 2020 and has been linked with a summer move to Real Madrid.

Sarri said: "I think he's changing. He was used to playing as an individual player, now he has to play in a co-operative way.

"It's not easy for him, because he became Hazard playing in another way.

"I think very well that it's not easy. But I can see that now he's more available to playing this way. Of course he needs to improve."

Defender Antonio Rudiger is a doubt with a minor knee problem.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Matt McGeehan, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '2ccab786-ef00-4813-854b-d7c17a04e622');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': '\u2018Dreamer\u2019 Maurizio Sarri won\u2019t alter Chelsea tactics'});

ID:348994: cacheID:348994:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:10398:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Maurizio Sarri in charge of Chelsea on January 8, 2019
Read Next:
Sarri 'refused to travel on coach with players'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!