Sarri returns training-ground favour to Ranieri after more than 20 years
Maurizio Sarri watched Claudio Ranieri’s Fiorentina train regularly in the 1990s and returned the favour when his fellow Italian was out of work earlier in the autumn.
Now Sarri’s Chelsea will be seeking to bounce back from their first Premier League loss of the season, to Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday, against Ranieri’s Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Ranieri – sacked by Leicester City nine months after their title success and having had a season-long stint at Nantes in Ligue 1 – was twiddling his thumbs when he visited Sarri and his former Chelsea player Gianfranco Zola at the Blues’ Cobham training ground earlier this season.
“I spoke with him for three days – I don’t remember exactly [when],” said Sarri, who said they dined together only in the Chelsea training ground canteen. “He came to Cobham to see two, three trainings. He wanted to speak with me, with Gianfranco.”
Sarri does not expect the 67-year-old Ranieri, who won his first match as Fulham manager against Southampton last Saturday, will recall having hosted him when he was working in a bank while also coaching Tuscan amateurs Antella. That was a few years before Ranieri was appointed Chelsea manager, in September 2000, for a fouryear stint which ended when owner Roman Abramovich brought in Jose Mourinho.
The 59-year-old former Napoli manager said: “I went to speak to him when he was the coach of Fiorentina, 20 years ago, maybe. I don’t remember very well, but I don’t think he can remember this meeting.”
Sarri said – but found it difficult to fathom why big clubs did not make offers for Ranieri following his exploits with Leicester in 2015/16. “Usually, presidents are very strange,” he said.
He more understood Ranieri’s frustrations at being out of work, before Fulham called. Sarri added: “Usually you can live very well for two, three months, then you’re in trouble. Every coach is like this. For two months, you’re happy because you have time, and after two months you miss adrenaline.”
When asked what he learned from spending time as Sarri’s guest, Ranieri said: “I was there one week and we had lunch after the training session.
“He was very kind. We spoke normally but when I don’t have a job, I often go around and watch all the teams.
“I also went to watch [Jurgen] Klopp at Borussia Dortmund.
“I don’t want to stay at home. I look and I go around the world; it’s important to look at what’s happening.”
Before last week’s 3-1 defeatagainst Tottenham, Chelsea were one of only three teams unbeaten in the Premier League, alongside leaders Manchester City and Liverpool.
Ranieri praised his compatriot for the start he has made to life in England, but refused to take any credit for it.
“Sarri is not inspired by me, he’s a very good coach because he arrived so late at the highest level,” Ranieri said. “He deserves it. He has a lot of jobs in his career, and he deserves where he is.”