Sarri takes on a friend and mentor
MADE IN ITALY: Sarri and Ranieri this summer MAURIZIO SARRI says Claudio Ranieri was his inspiration as he began his climb from amateur football in Italy to the Premier League.
Sarri does battle with Ranieri tomorrow as his Chelsea side take on Fulham and said the two Italians are about as close as you can get to friends in football.
Sarri was 40 when he ditched the life of a currency trader to take up coaching full-time – and it was Ranieri he turned to as his guide.
“I went to speak to Claudio when he was coach of Fiorentina 20 years ago,” said Sarri. “I lived near Florence, Fiorentina’s stadium. I went often to see them train.
“I was a coach in Serie D, the most important category of the nonprofessional teams in Italy around 1998.
A little team called Antella.”
So Sarri knows what to expect tomorrow: “Usually Claudio’s teams are very solid. They defend very well, sometimes low, but very well.
“Usually he has a team which is very dangerous on the counter-attack, like he had in Leicester, but not only there. Of course he inspired me.
“I also watched his Chelsea teams play. It was more difficult then. Now it’s very easy, with television you can see every match in Italy.”
Ranieri became one of the first Italians to coach in the Premier League when he took over at Chelsea in 2000.
He is credited with helping build the team Jose Mourinho first took to the title in 2005. He was the man at the helm when
VChelsea were revolutionised by the takeover of Roman Abramovich, below, in 2003.
Ranieri and Sarri renewed their relationship in the summer when the former was out of work.
Sarri said: “Claudio came to our training ground to see two, maybe three sessions. He wanted to speak to me and Gianfranco Zola.”
Ranieri took over at struggling Fulham two weeks ago and steered them to their second win of the season in his first game last week, against Southampton. He said while being a football manager drives you mad, being unemployed is worse.
Sarri agreed. “Usually you can live very well for two, three months, then you’re in trouble,” said Sarri.
“You miss the adrenaline. You have to feel the pressure.
“I want to win, so I put pressure on myself. I don’t know why Claudio wasn’t given a really top job in football after Leicester. Sometimes club presidents are very strange.”
Fulham chase their first league win at Stamford Bridge since
1979 and could move off the foot of the table and out of the drop zone with victory. EMMANUEL PETIT has claimed the north London derby is in danger of losing its edge as one of English football’s great rivalries.
Petit remembers going to war with Tottenham in some unforgettable battles during his three years at Arsenal when victory was the only thing that mattered.
But despite being one of the Premier League’s best foreign imports, Petit believes some of the passion has gone from the fixture largely because of the influx of foreign players.
He said: “It’s not the same now. The players are too polite. For me, football is the war without guns. I believe that more players are coming on the pitch with a flower instead of a gun. I want to see tears and blood on the pitch.
“There were so many great battles. I remember Tim Sherwood – we had some good battles. He was the last one to kick
More players are now bringing a flower instead of a gun
you on the pitch. I know he’s an Arsenal fan – just like Harry Kane!
“The atmosphere was fantastic, couldn’t hear yourself think.
“It’s not just this game but the whole Premier League. It’s the impact of the foreign manager and the foreign player and you get less English players coming through. They bring qualities technically and tactically but the league has lost some of its passion.
“Football has changed so much. I still believe there’s a big passion for the game but it’s not the same as back in the day.
“It’s not their fault now because it’s the world they live in. There’s too many games and sometimes
I have the feeling that it’s just another game.”
Petit played at a time when Arsenal were dominant under Arsene
Wenger but he did endure one memorable defeat at
White Hart Lane when the visitors finished with nine men after Martin Keown and Freddie Ljungberg were sent off.
Petit admits that Tottenham are on the way back under Mauricio Pochettino but had a warning for the Spurs boss that he must start winning trophies – or lose his best players.
“Tottenham used to be so frustrated 20 years ago because Arsenal were
far ahead but now Pochettino you