It’s not Sarri’s fault but Pep knows Chelsea are nothing to worry about

MAURIZIO SARRI looks a character but he also looks a fish out of water – and you can’t blame him for that.

He arrived at Chelsea only three weeks ago.

And while he knows what he wants to do with a team and proved he is able to translate what is in his head to his players, there’s no way he can fully understand English football culture yet.

When Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea and when he took over at Manchester United, he had years of Premier League experience.

While Pep Guardiola will have known for most of his sabbatical he was on his way to Manchester City and will have had time to soak up everything he needed to know.

Sarri hasn’t had that luxury and the fact he has had no time to immerse himself in our game will be a worry for Chelsea fans with their kick-off just five days away.

The first six games of a season can be make or break and there’s no telling how they will fare.

But what is blatantly obvious after Sunday’s Community Shield defeat by City is they are three years, maybe more, behind the defending champions –and that they are way off playing how Sarri wants them to ahead of Saturday’s trip to Huddersfield.

Chelsea might start the season well and, with a bit of luck, have a resounding victory, and they might go on a 10-game unbeaten run.

But the style change the new manager is supposed to bring is 10, 15, 18 games away and that will require patience from Chelsea fans even if the team do manage to bag a few results.

I would imagine Sarri’s remit when he came in was along the lines of, ‘Work with the lads we’ve got and maybe a couple of others, and we’ll see how things go from there.’

What it should have been was, ‘You have two or three years to rebuild this club, shape the team around four or five players, and get them playing the same football you played at Napoli’.

Because when it came to squad depth over the past five years or so Chelsea

would always have been up in the top two. But they’re probably the fourthstrongest now in that respect with City, United and Liverpool above them.

It has probably been 15 years since Liverpool had a better squad than Chelsea but the Blues just aren’t making signings that make you sit up and take notice anymore.

Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, a young Eden Hazard all got fans off seats but they haven’t come close to that of late.

I’ve said before I don’t know what their identity is these days and the big question for Sarri must be about his squad’s mentality individually and collectively.

How can a team win the league then finish 10th, win it the next season then finish fifth?

There’s a lack of freshness and a perceived lack of direction at the club in terms of their playing style.

And Guardiola will know already that, as far as title threats go, City have nothing to worry about from Chelsea.

Jose had years of experience when he came back to Chelsea

PEP JUST YEARS AHEAD Pep Guardiola took the honours at Wembley and Blues will offer no threat this season