Stubborn Sarri is facing exit door
MAURIZIO SARRI could be within days of the sack at Chelsea with the club shocked at the way the fans have turned on the Italian.
Sarri’s struggling team crashed out of the FA Cup on Monday as Manchester United won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to inflict Chelsea’s fifth defeat in their last 10 games.
Fans chanted “**** Sarriball”, “You don’t know what you’re doing”, and “You’re getting sacked in the morning” as frustration mounted at another shambolic performance.
And Sarri is unwilling to change his tactics.
Express Sport can reveal there has been concern at his inability to connect with the fans – and his dismissal of that as a problem.
The former Napoli boss, appointed only in July, took training yesterday as Chelsea began preparations for tomorrow’s Europa League last-32 second-leg meeting with Malmo at Stamford Bridge.
He is likely to hear more calls for his head from many of those fans even though Chelsea, holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg, are expected to see off the Swedes.
But defeat in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against a Manchester City side who beat them 6-0 in the league last week, or next Wednesday’s clash with Tottenham, and they may well get their wish.
Senior club officials were shocked at the reaction of fans to Monday’s defeat and the feeling is that, unlike Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti or Antonio Conte, Sarri has never connected with the fanbase – nor made any effort to. Frustration at his reluctance to change his tactics, including playing N’Golo Kante out of position and persevering with Jorginho as his defensive shield, and his apparent unwillingness to play youngsters such as Callum Hudson-Odoi, is also mounting.
There is concern he has been reluctant to do media work to promote the club, unlike Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
One factor protecting Sarri is that there is no obvious replacement.
His assistant Gianfranco Zola is a possibility, but the former Chelsea striker has been unwell this week, having an operation for gallstones which kept him away from the United game. Plus his managerial track record is poor.
Former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has been mentioned as a candidate, as has former Paris SaintGermain coach Laurent Blanc and another former He hasn’t connected with fans Blues player in Frank Lampard.
But it is thought unlikely Lampard would walk away from his first managerial job at Derby County at this stage. Former Chelsea skipper John Terry, now assistant manager at Aston Villa, was at the game on Monday night but has no managerial experience.
Leonid Slutsky, the former Russia and Hull manager and friend of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich currently at Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem, could also be a contender.
Chelsea’s players and Sarri – who will give a press conference today ahead of the Malmo game – had another clear-the-air meeting after training yesterday.
Those players – many of them serial trophy winners – are increasingly wondering why they should take instruction from a coach who has never won anything at senior level, nor sought their input.
There is frustration at monotonous training sessions – some of them run by Zola – and the pair’s insistence on sticking to the same system and tactics for every game.
Sarri will make changes for the Malmo game with Sunday’s cup final in mind, and it is likely Ruben Loftus-Cheek and HudsonOdoi will come into the team.
Such a move by him buys time with the fans – at least at the start of the match.
Otherwise the atmosphere could turn more poisonous still.