Fuming Blues boss vowing to packet in

MAURIZIO SARRI has promised to give up smoking while he is at Stamford Bridge.

The chain-smoking Chelsea boss admits he finds it hard not to light up – especially during a “horrible 15 minutes” against Arsenal.

But Sarri, pictured on the touchline with a tab-end in his mouth (above), has vowed to kick the habit.

He said: “I am going to stop. Just for one or two years, then I will start again.”

That is not saying much about how long Sarri expects to remain at Chelsea as the club is hardly renowned for sticking with managers.

But the former Napoli coach’s style – christened “Sarri ball” – was taking shape against Arsenal and he says it is only a matter of time before his players adapt.

Did he need a fag when Arsenal responded to his side’s early strikes from Pedro (below) and Alvaro Morata?

Sarri said: “No, no, I just needed the first half to end! I needed half-time. I can speak about the other 75, I think that’s better. Because I remember the good things instead of the worst.

“In quality, we are going very well. In quantity, we have to improve. That’s normal. We start to work together two weeks ago so now my target is to play 90 minutes like the first 25. “We did very well for 75 minutes of the 90. Inside were 15 horrible minutes. We lost distances, we were not able to press, we were not able to defend. We were in trouble. “So in the second half we did well from a mental point of view.”