Maurizio Sarri has only been Chelsea manager for six months but is his job already under threat?
The Italian’s Chelsea side were thrashed 4-0 at Bournemouth last night - the west London club’s heaviest league defeat for 23 years - and they have now slipped to fifth in the Premier League table.
Following the 4-0 thrashing the 60-year-old “reacted furiously” to his side’s performance, the Daily Star reports, and kept them locked in their dressing room for nearly an hour at the Vitality Stadium.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
After the 2-0 loss against Arsenal on 19 January Sarri said that his squad was “difficult to motivate”. It was claimed he held clear-the-air talks to “head off a player revolt”, but after last night’s dour showing he again hit out at the Stamford Bridge stars.
Quoted by The Guardian, Sarri conceded that maybe he was not the right man to motivate the Chelsea squad. The former Napoli boss said: “I think the players are good enough. Maybe we are not at the top of the Premier League at the moment but we are competitive.
“We cannot lose 4-0 against Bournemouth. I want to respect Bournemouth, and you know I like very much the coach Eddie [Howe] but it’s impossible to lose 4-0 here.
“Maybe it’s my fault, maybe I’m not able to motivate them. But the team is very strong, it is also able to win without the coach.”
‘Sarriball is just a fraud’
According to The Sportsman the pressure is mounting on Sarri and some Chelsea fans have called for his sacking.
@IamDemola_ wrote on Twitter: “We, Chelsea fans, all enthused with the appointment of Maurizio Sarri. We thought now, our team can play like a Guardiola team, but it’s all obvious now that Sarriball is just a fraud.”
One supporter has even suggested that Chelsea should turn to two former club legends to replace the Italian. Nana Boateng tweeted: “Sack that useless Sarri already and give the team to Frank Lampard and John Terry, I bet they will do better than him.”
Alex Goldberg added: “Chelsea’s number 1 problem is cultural. The way they just collapse is not normal. You can feel the constant disconnect between the club & manager. Always seem to have different visions. Seems like this will continue until Lampard, Terry & others return in some capacity.”
Will Sarri be fired?
According to The Sack Race website Sarri is second favourite to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job. Leicester City’s Claude Puel is 6/4 to be sacked next and second favourite Sarri is 2/1. Oddschecker prices place Sarri at 3/1 to get the chop.
Next fixtures
Chelsea should get back to winning ways on Saturday when they play bottom-of-the-league Huddersfield Town at the Bridge (3pm).
But in the next month Sarri’s side face Manchester City in the league and Carabao Cup final, Malmo in the Europa League and Manchester United and Tottenham in the Premier League.
Premier League results, fixtures and TV guide
Midweek results
- Arsenal 2 Cardiff City 1
- Fulham 4 Brighton & Hove Albion 2
- Huddersfield Town 0 Everton 1
- Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 West Ham United 0
- Manchester United 2 Burnley 2
- Newcastle United 2 Manchester City 1
- AFC Bournemouth 4 Chelsea 0
- Southampton 1 Crystal Palace 1
- Liverpool 1 Leicester City 1
- Tottenham Hotspur 2 Watford 1
FixturesSaturday 2 February (3pm unless stated)
- Tottenham Hotspur vs. Newcastle United (12.30pm, live on Sky Sports)
- Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Watford
- Burnley vs. Southampton
- Chelsea vs. Huddersfield Town
- Crystal Palace vs. Fulham
- Everton vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Cardiff City vs. AFC Bournemouth (5.30pm, live on BT Sport 1)
Sunday 3 February
- Leicester City vs. Manchester United (2.05pm, live on Sky Sports)
- Manchester City vs. Arsenal (4.30pm, live on Sky Sports)
Monday 4 February
- West Ham United vs. Liverpool (8pm, live on Sky Sports)
