Chelsea fans and board are too forgiving of players who undervalue support

Maurizio Sarri is hardly the first manager to be hung out to dry by his Chelsea squad. The players do not deserve so many fans running interference for them.

An article from the Evening Standard has made the rounds on the Chelsea web over the last two days, highlighting the club’s current issues in the wake of Maurizio Sarri’s comments following the Arsenal match. Most of the article pointed the finger at the manager, placing the blame on his training schedule, monotonous drills and so forth.

As most Chelsea supporters know, this isn’t the first time the Blues have played the motivation card before. Complaints that Antonio Conte’s training regimen was too intense and repetitive preceded his sacking, not long after Jose Mourinho had issues with players performing. It’s fair that Mourinho’s case gets thrown out the window and chalked up as the players having enough of him and his ways.

That this isn’t the first time is the most damning thing for the Chelsea players. Maurizio Sarri, to his credit, wants to ensure that if things are going to go down like the rest, everybody will know why.

The players have cried wolf one too many times. At what point does the board have to sit down and think to themselves, “We can’t keep firing managers every two years because the players quit on them?”

The players have to be held responsible for their action. Football may be a sport, but it’s a sport where the players are paid handsomely to do a job. Nowhere in the contract does it say that if a manager doesn’t motivate you, you can slack off and still get paid. You get paid to perform and give your all, the entire time. Not when you feel like it. Not when it suits you. But every single minute of every training session or match.

Players are rarely concerned with what the fans / supporters think. But this behavior slaps in the face those fans who show up every match and live or die with Chelsea. The players that have been professional the entire time have done so to be loyal to the badge and supporters.

Being a professional athlete is a rare occupation to have, one that hardly anyone can do. But that doesn’t give the players the right to use their ability and talent to extort a club into doing what they feel is right.

They should put their heads down and give their all for the club, the fans, and the paycheck they receive. It is not the players’ job to decide whether the training regimen is too overbearing or not. Even if they feel that way, the effort displayed in the first leg of the Tottenham match and the Arsenal match should never occur, certainly not to the extent where it is called out by the manager.

Effort and the will to win are characteristics every player should have at that level. They are the first building blocks. If you lose a match because the team across from you wanted it more, you should be ashamed of yourselves and embarrassed to represent your club and badge.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume some players are right to dislike a light training session before an evening match. The professional thing to do is express your grievance to your appropriate superiors: club captain, coaching staff, and the head coach. You then go about your business to give yourself the best chance to start.

Simon Johnson in the Evening Standard made the point that most players know that only certain players are going to be selected for any upcoming match. Those who know they won’t start train as if they don’t care, simply because they know they won’t start. That seems pretty stupid to my mind: if Maurizio Sarri sees you half training, he won’t care what the reason is. He will not trust you or want to select you for any other competition either.

These players claim to be bored in training when they don’t even fully understand the system yet. They need to be held accountable. Yes, it is easier to get a new manager than a new starting XI, but at some point, it won’t be. Prospective managers are going to look at Chelsea as a place where managerial careers go to die.

That is not what the supporters or fans deserve. They deserve the passion and drive that they put in coming back to them from the effort and results on the pitch.