POT AND BOTHERED
Sarri: I’d give up ALL my possessions to break my trophy duck with Chelsea
MAURIZIO SARRI says he would sacrifice everything he owns to win a trophy with Chelsea.
Sarri was named Blues boss on Saturday, ending the club’s prolonged pursuit of the 59-year-old Italian.
He arrives with a big reputation having transformed Napoli into one of the most exciting teams in Europe, though he has yet to turn the thrilling football played by his teams into the tangible reward of silverware.
He aims to end that duck at Stamford Bridge.
Sarri said: “I surely will give all my possessions to win something with Chelsea.
“What’s achievable? To enjoy the fans, the fans will have to be proud of the team.
“First of all I want to play my football, I want to enjoy myself and probably I want also to win something.
“It will be 100 per cent hard work, 90 per cent fun. It is impossible in my job to promise something else.”
Sarri has been tipped to light up the Premier League with his attacking style. Former striker Francesco Baiano knows both the Premier League and Blues boss having spent three years at Derby before ending his career under Sarri at Tuscan non-leaguers Sangiovannese.
The ex-Italy international said: “To me he’s one of the best managers in Europe. He’ll do well in the Premier League. Chelsea will have an offensive mentality with him. The Blues are among the best seven, eight clubs in the world and Sarri plays attacking football.
“He can adapt to any league. He already knows Premier League players, he studies everything.”
Sarri was at Sangiovannese between 2003 and 2005 before Serie B Pescara gave him his first professional job.
It was in Italy’s lower leagues that he started laying the foundations for his exciting brand of football philosophy now known as Sarri Ball.
Some of the players to first put his plans into action describe Sarri as a football “maniac”, a stickler for detail, who worked tirelessly on setpieces, hated losing and disliked players wearing nonblack football boots. Former defender Gianbattista Scugugia said: “Sarri was almost like a maniac of football. He aimed for perfection. I’ve never met such a hard worker in my career. “Fifteen years ago Sarri took care of every smallest detail, every day. He’s changed a bit but is still a hard worker as well as a winner. He doesn’t like to finish second. “He’s done miracles with that Napoli side. He almost won the league against a much better Juventus side.” Sarri’s former captain Cristiano Caleri said: “In his house in Vaggio there is an entire room dedicated to football. “We were playing in Italy’s fourth division but even then he studied opponents by watching videos. That’s how he got to know me as a footballer.
“He wanted me to be more aggressive and play the ball forward more: his football manifesto.
“Set-pieces are one of his strong points. He had so many schemes. It’s not surprising to see he still does the same at higher levels.”
As time has moved on, Sarri had to abandon his attempts to ban coloured boots. “Fifteen years ago he was a kind of old-fashioned manager,” Caleri recalled.
“For example, he didn’t like us wearing white boots and sometimes spray-painted them black.
“Now things are different of course but the one thing that hasn’t changed is that Sarri takes his job very, very seriously and that he’s also a very funny and pleasant person.”