Empower the boss or there will be more player mutiny

THE pity of it was that, before Kepa Arrizabalaga and his team- mates decided the opinion of Chelsea’s manager did not matter one iota, Maurizio Sarri was having a very good afternoon at Wembley.

His strategy, for the most part, was working, and even if it was initially negative, at least his team were not 4-0 down at half-time, as they had been previously against Manchester City. His introduction of academy products Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben LoftusCheek had found favour with previously sceptical supporters, particularly as Loftus-Cheek was not Mateo Kovacic coming on for Ross Barkley, as usual.

Eden Hazard had grown into his false nine role and was now posing a serious threat to City’s defence — and, most importantly, Sarri had ably demonstrated he was not some one- dimensional theorist, by possessing a legitimate plan B.

True, it wasn’t the most ambitious of schemes but he had tried simply duking it out with City earlier this month and that hadn’t gone well.

With 15 minutes of normal time to go, Chelsea delivered the best move of the match; indeed one of the finest passages of play from any team this season. Emerson, David Luiz and Barkley were all involved in bringing the ball out of the back with a succession of lovely, inventive one- touch passes.

Eventually, they played in one of the best footballers in the world, Hazard, who glided past a succession of Manchester City defenders to release it to Pedro. And then, instead of shooting, Pedro tried to return the pass and Oleksandr Zinchenko cut it out for a corner.

But there it was: Sarri-ball. An echo of the football Napoli played, at their best. Had Pedro possessed the courage to finish, it could well have been the goal of the season.

So Chelsea have to decide what they want. That — or at least the promise of it — or the chaos that enveloped them in the final minutes of extra time. They must decide whether they will empower this manager, or any manager, to fashion the team and the football he wants; or once again allow the dressing-room to rule, whatever the price, spiritual and financial.

And it is an expensive exercise. It has already cost them Pep Guardiola, who said at the weekend he had never even considered becoming manager of Chelsea because of the short-term way they treat managers.

Equally, the steady outlay in compensation and recruitment is one of the reasons Chelsea remain a selling club. They have to trade to make the books balance. It is an unhealthy state, all round.

And it isn’t just exclusive to one club. Leicester’s players, it would seem, have done it again — Claude Puel joining Craig Shakespeare and Claudio Ranieri in failing to find favour with a group whose only desire seems to be a reprise of their greatest hits. In a city whose motto is Semper

Eadem — ‘always the same’ as if that is something to be proud of

— the players seem very resistant to change. Mess with a game-plan that worked in 2016 at your peril.

Jamie Vardy and his team-mates may have talked about trying to adapt to puel’s demands, but the drip, drip of negativity about the manager and his methods told it differently.

‘leicester have good players, they just don’t have the manager who can get the best out of them,’ said peter Schmeichel, father of goalkeeper Kasper. ‘Once they’ve got all that sorted out, you’ll see leicester in fifth to eighth place where they belong.’

This may come as a surprise to the managers leicester have sacrificed. How many weeks have these players spent in fifth place since winning the league? none. Sixth? none. Seventh? They held the position for one week in 201718, and for three short spells this season, all under puel (below).

He had them eighth, too, between matches 16 and 34 last season, and for another six weeks in this campaign. at the moment, though, leicester reside in 12th, separated from eighth by eight points. and we must believe that is wholly the manager’s fault, that margin.

no possibility of issues transitioning from an ageing squad to a younger one; or from counter-attacking to possession-based football.

as for getting the best out of the players, this season leicester have beaten Manat chester City, Chelsea and Wolves, and drawn at liverpool. it might be argued, until a recent run of six league games without a win, puel was achieving a decent level of return.

Schmeichel Snr, however, maintains they belong as high as fifth — the position now occupied by Manchester United. if that is what the players are being told, no wonder no manager is ever good enough.

LEiCESTEr aren’t the fifth best team in the country. They are high mid-table at best, low mid-table at worst, which is where puel had them. Watford, Wolves, West Ham, even Crystal palace, are in the same boat. Yet at all of those other clubs, the manager is being supported. puel was not. and if leicester’s players can be rid of ranieri after what he did, they can be rid of anybody. So we have no idea of where puel might eventually have taken leicester, given the board’s backing, and no idea what the future holds. The club are trying to entice Brendan rodgers from Celtic, a man whose preferred style of play has about as much in common with leicester’s title winners as Sarri- ball does with Harry Bassett. So how will that end, if he tweaksk ththe ffamiliar? ili ? leicester’s owners, also, have a choice. Do they let the dressingroom dictate, or support the next manager in attempting to evolve the club?

The big myth about Chelsea’s display on Sunday was that the players were giving their all for Sarri. it was trotted out a few times during broadcasts, but the insubordination told the real story.

Chelsea’s players were performing in a final, on a huge stage, with a trophy and medals at stake. They were doing it for themselves — as they did against Tottenham in the last four, in similar circumstances.

When Sarri needed them — when they should have intervened on his behalf, he was deserted. Cesar azpilicueta, the captain, claimed not to know the goalkeeper drama was even unfolding; senior players like Hazard were of no help re- establishing the manager’s authority.

This is a culture that comes from the top. Chelsea, like leicester, have stripped the manager of his authority and reap the reward.

Heavy-handed clubs think they are keeping control but have let it slip to the dressing-room instead. it is, however, never too late to change.

The choice is straightforward: empower the manager, or watch helplessly as history repeats. and repeats. and repeats.