Chelsea risk players leaving if Sarri stays in charge at Bridge
A NUMBER of players will consider leaving Chelsea this summer if Maurizio Sarri remains in charge at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian is under pressure after the club suffered their heaviest loss for 28 years in the 6-0 defeat by Manchester City on Sunday.
The Blues have suffered another five Premier League defeats since late November and stand sixth in the table, but Chelsea are standing by him for now.
As reported yesterday, the club have made winning their Europa League last-32 tie against Malmo this month — the first leg takes place in Sweden on Thursday — even more of a priority. The hierarchy see it as another avenue for Sarri to ensure Chelsea qualify for the Champions League, which is likely to have a major say in whether the coach gets to stay in his role or not.
But Standard Sport understands that many members of the squad are becoming increasingly unhappy because of Sarri’s methods and selection policy, so will think of going elsewhere if he stays at the helm next season.
It was first revealed last month how a number of players had become bored of Sarri’s training sessions. They also complained about his decision to make them do drills the morning of an evening game. The former Napoli coach has also picked from a core group of 13-14 players to start Premier League matches, meaning many others have had to wait for cup fixtures to get minutes.
Sarri has admitted on more than one occasion that he is having problems motivating his players and publicly questioned their mentality.
Chelsea were already facing a battle to keep Eden Hazard and promising youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi at the club before unrest spread.
Hazard’s current contract runs out in 2020 and he has not shown any willingness to discuss an extension for some time. The Belgium playmaker has expressed a happiness to play under Sarri but is hoping Real Madrid will agree a fee with the Blues in the next transfer window so that he can move to the Bernabeu.
Meanwhile, Hudson-Odoi handed in a transfer request last month to try and force a move to Bayern Munich. The
Sarri has admitted that he is having problems motivating his players and publicly questioned their mentality
Bundesliga club had four bids for the 18-year-old rejected as Chelsea are desperate to keep the winger. Bayern are going to make another approach in the summer, so Chelsea are desperate to persuade Hudson-Odoi to agree a new deal beforehand.
Sarri has not helped their efforts, however, as he has given the youngster just 13 minutes of action in the Premier League since then and did not even name him on the bench for the defeats against Bournemouth and City.
The Chelsea coach revealed last week that Hudson-Odoi had been suffering from illness but he is in contention to face Malmo in two days’ time. However, one club insider told Standard Sport that they believe Sarri’s actions are encouraging Hudson-Odoi to quit the club.
The Blues have a tough schedule for the rest of this month, which includes an FA Cup fifth-round tie against inform Manchester United, the Carabao Cup Final against Manchester City and a home League game against high-flying Tottenham.
Chelsea are still hoping that the team can recover from the disappointment at City’s Etihad Stadium as they have done from other setbacks this season.
While there has been increasing concern about Sarri’s lack of rotation in the squad and different tactics as results have deteriorated, there have still been some notable wins in the last few months. Chelsea were the first team to beat City in the League this season, a performance came shortly after consecutive away defeats to Tottenham and Wolves.
Sarri’s side also overturned a 1-0 deficit against Spurs in the League Cup semi-final last month to beat them 2-1 in the second leg and go through to the final on penalties.