Sarri door ajar
CHELSEA have told Maurizio Sarri ‘the door is open if you want to talk to the owner’.
The coach is clinging to his job after the 6-0 rout at Manchester City on Sunday, after which the Italian said he would welcome a chat with Roman Abramovich “because I never hear from him”.
Sarri has been given a stay of execution but faces a crucial 15 days. Chelsea meet Malmo in the Europa League on Thursday and then Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday. The Malmo return leg follows on Thursday week before they take on City again in the Carabao Cup final and Tottenham in a league fixture.
Abramovich is out of the country but Stamford Bridge sources told Express Sport that if Sarri wants to talk to the Russian owner, there would be no problem.
Sarri took training as usual at the club’s Cobham headquarters yesterday. “The coach and the players have to sort this out,” said the sources. “That is their job.”
It came when he was asked whether winning his next three fixtures – against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League tonight, Chelsea in the FA Cup on February 18 and Liverpool in the Premier League on February 24 – might land him the job full time.
“You need to change the script,” he said somewhat tetchily. “That is too simple.”
It was no doubt in part a reaction to the latest in a long line of hurdles being placed in front of him. There was the first game, the first home game, the Spurs test, Arsenal in the Cup; the list goes on.
Yet there was irony as well as frustration in his answer, because the truth is if his players can stick to the lines he has given them over the course of 11 unbeaten games, the clamour for him to be given the job next season could become deafening.
Solskjaer has effected a huge change in momentum at the club during his eight weeks in charge. He remembered yesterday his reaction when United’s name was pulled out of the hat for the last 16 against PSG two days before he was appointed.
“I was watching it with Noah [his son] and we said, ‘Wow – that is a tough challenge’. But we have given ourselves the best possible opportunity in the way we have gone into it,” he said.
“We have found out what kind of team we have, the playing style, so if there is any time to go into big games it is now.”
It is a measure of how his run of 10 wins since, with just one draw against Burnley spoiling a perfect record, sees United go into tonight’s first leg as favourites.
The fact that PSG will be missing their strike pairing of Neymar (foot) and Edinson Cavani (hip) as well as marauding right-back Thomas Meunier (concussion) all adds to a feeling that United might just take a lead to Paris for the return leg on March 6.
When it was pointed out that it has been a while since Old Trafford truly rocked on a European night, Solskjaer agreed.
“It has been too long. Maybe one of the last exciting knockout games was versus Real Madrid in March 2013 when Nani was sent off,” he said. “We had Bayern too, in 2014, but the players and the supporters have been looking forward to this.”
PSG have won the French title in five of the last six seasons and lost just three games this season, but United will take comfort from the fact that one defeat came at Anfield in the Champions League group phase.
In addition, the big spenders from the French capital could prove nervy opposition, having exited at this stage in each of the last two seasons.
“I played against them for Molde in 1995 in the Cup Winners’ Cup [they lost 6-2 on aggregate in the first round]