SARRI, ROMAN ...WE HAVE A PROBLEM
New boss warns Abramovich not to expect the best ‘results and performances’ as it will take two months for his methods to bed in
MAURIZIO SARRI has warned Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich there will be “problems” with his new team in the first few months of the season.
The Italian reckons it could take as long as two months for his squad to grasp the new ideas and methods of play he has been drilling into them for the last four weeks.
The 59-year-old former Napoli coach, whose side open their Premier League campaign at Huddersfield today, was asked what those “problems” could be and he replied: “The results.
“The performances in the first part of the season will not be in line with the potential of the squad.”
They are brave words for the new Chelsea head coach, who has seen two of his predecessors, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Andre Villas Boas, sacked from the Stamford Bridge hot seat, after only eight and nine months respectively, by an owner (Abramovich, below) not known for his patience.
But Sarri last night pointed to his late appointment and a chaotic pre-season as legitimate reasons why he should be given time to get things right in west London.
The Italian said: “We are not at the top of our potential. I hope to be at the top of the potential of the squad in one or two months, but I don’t know.
“I hope the second part of the season will be very good with a lot of points. In the first part, I expect some problems with the results.
“Maybe the performances in the first part of the season will not be in line with the potential of the squad. The board know this.
“Next year I will try and change pre-season completely, if I can. I arrived in the middle of July, so the problem was there. I had to accept it completely but, for the future, it would be better to change.” Sarri is set to give new £71.6million world-record goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga his debut at the John Smith’s Stadium today, but his other new capture this week, Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic, is likely to have to wait.
The manager’s style of quick-passing, high-pressure football became known as “Sarri-ball” at Napoli, where he led the club to two second-place finishes in Serie A in three years. For that, though, the fans are going to have to be patient.
Sarri said: “You have to wait for a couple of months. I don’t know exactly what ‘Sarri-ball’ is. It’s not my definition.
“At Napoli, we played at great speed, moving the ball forward and back with continuity. It was fun for the supporters, and useful for results.
“We got 91 points last season. On 23 of the last 25 Serie A seasons, that was enough to win the title. So it was a bit unlucky.
“I don’t know if we can play the same way in England. It depends on the characteristics of the Premier League and my players. I have to adapt myself.”
Scoring goals was a problem for Antonio Conte’s team last year – they netted only 62, the fewest in the top six – and Chelsea netted only three in five warmup games this summer.
Sarri (above) warned his players: “The offensive phase may be a problem. We have to play at another speed. If we do that, scoring will not be a problem. But at this speed, it may be.”