Chelsea players overdue for a reckoning over Mourinho, Conte and now Sarri

Chelsea fans have given the players a free pass for too long. The players need to be held accountable for what they have done to Maurizio Sarri, Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.

Chelsea have slipped to sixth with their loss to Manchester City. Maurizio Sarri has taken the majority of the blame for Chelsea’s woes, and I’m not okay with that. I have no particular bias towards Sarri, good or bad. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the appointment. I am a huge Antonio Conte believer. But that said, if we look back at the last two managers and their treatment by the players, a fuller picture emerges.

Chelsea won the Premier League in 2014/15 under Jose Mourinho, beating Manchester City by eight points. The following season the players didn’t like their manager, his tactics, or how he treated the physio. So they revolted, and got the manager canned.

Guus Hiddink comes in, and the team immediately reacts and starts to play for him. Leading up to Mourinho’s sacking, the Blues had lost nine of 14 Premier League matches. Once Hiddink took over, Chelsea only lost two of 20. Hiddink moved Chelsea up to 10th place from the relegation zone a few months prior.

Antonio Conte came in the following season. After that 10th place finish under Hiddink / Mourinho, a realistic goal for Conte would have been top four and back into the Champions League. Conte went on to lead his men to the title.

Expectations were high for Antonio Conte going into 2017/18. If he could overachieve with that bunch on his first season, imagine what he could do if the players fully embraced his system and regimen.

They finished fifth with rumors of unrest flowing from the Chelsea grounds by midseason. Players didn’t like Conte’s training methods, strict dietary rules, and authoritarian attitude. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, that was exactly what this club and squad needed. And it should have been a giant neon sign flashing saying “Trouble ahead.”

The club proceeded to do precisely what they are about to do now, which is fire a manager over poor results that have more to do with the players not giving their all than the manager not doing his job properly.

Some of my colleagues here say every team knows what Chelsea are going to do before they do it. How is that possible if the team is not playing the system they are supposed to? Maurizio Sarri’s players at Napoli figured it out. All of Chelsea’s opponents figured it out. And yet this current side somehow can’t figure it out? That comes back on the players. Sarri was able to implement it Napoli, why not here?

Mikel John Obi spoke last week about an earlier generation of Chelsea.

We were just so hungry. Did we take it a bit too far? Sometimes, yes, we had to. There were people fighting, grabbing round the neck, JT smashing the table and drinks. If we were losing a game you did not want to be in the dressing room.

That is not a description of how a team reacts only if they like the tactics, manager, training schedule, food, and playing time. Mikel describes an attitude that was instilled in those players. Chelsea no longer have that. Antonio Conte had a undying hatred for losing. He is the type of person who loses days of sleep over it. He had the necessary attitude, yet the players won their battle against him despite them giving up on so many battles where it counted on the pitch.

Too many players have not put forth the necessary effort for Chelsea’s issue to all come down on the manager. Isolating the blame to Maurizio Sarri (or Antonio Conte or Jose Mourinho or…) is biased and lazy. Ignoring the character issue at Chelsea is to be blinded by your passion. And if you do acknowledge it and still only blame Sarri, then I ask you, how can you be sure knowing what you do about this group of core players?

Maurizio Sarri deserves full blame for not rotating his squad throughout the season. If players are not doing what they should or putting in the effort needed, he should turn to players will are motivated to get off the bench. Ethan Ampadu and Callum Hudson-Odoi are chomping at the bit to go prove their worth. His current habit of simply putting the best players – or players perceived to have the most talent – out there is not solving anything.

Chelsea have had too many times through this cycle for me to point the finger at the manager any more. These players have been having it their way like it’s Burger King at Stamford Bridge. Even if it were only this manager’s fault, the players have created enough doubt about their loyalty that they should always be under suspicion.

Even if you aren’t happy with the manager, tactics, or whatever, you play for the team, badge, fans, and that little thing called a paycheck. You don’t have to love the fans or the club, but you do have to perform your hardest, match in and match out, because you’re being paid to do so.

If a club or manager constantly have to wonder when – not if – the players are going to revolt, the season is lost before it ever begins.