Maurizio Sarri should resign and save some face before Chelsea FC and their obnoxious players drag him too far into the mud. He still has time to revive what should be an excellent and long managerial career at the top of the game.
I am not Maurizio Sarri’s biggest fan. I have been highly critical of him this season, but it’s not like his squad has done him any favors. He deserves a little bit of slack. If he was given the job and Chelsea’s players were an open-minded, adaptable and malleable team of hardworking, unselfish and dedicated players it would be one thing. But they’re not.
Other than perhaps Real Madrid – and the Spanish giants have earned their reputation with three of the best seasons of football ever – Chelsea have without a doubt the worst dressing room in world football.
Everybody who knows me knows I am big fan of Kepa Arrizabalaga. But there’s no excuse for what he did on Sunday during the Carabao Cup Final. It’s good that he apologized immediately, but Chelsea should follow this up with action to drive home the point. A few weeks on the bench, a fine, a demotion for a couple of weeks and a tightly-scripted press conference apology that can be disguised as a clarification are in order. If he takes it on the chin and improves as he should then this issue can rest.
His little Twitter apology was a move in the right direction and shows the sort of instincts I suspect he has. But it is still insignificant in terms of what is necessary. Things like this must be eradicated with swift and supreme action.
He will, of course, have a future and I think that fire in him shows something of the sort of leadership all Chelsea players should have. This should be a learning opportunity, education does not mean being lax in punishment. If Kepa is a proper footballer in the vein of greats he’ll understand the punishment is in order. It will spur him on to good things.
The fact that you, dear reader, may be shaking your head and thinking this is too harsh is the problem. It isn’t. Chelsea have too often compromised the basic ideals of footballing leadership and discipline for the squad they’ve cobbled together over the past few years.
Arrizabalaga is strong enough to take what should be the punishment for his actions and put this behind everyone. Many of his teammates could not take it. Willian would probably moan about it on Instagram and no one knows what Luiz would have done. That’s why they’re the bigger problem. Nevertheless, Chelsea must act. He’ll grow from it – such is his character – and I remain resolute in my faith in him.
No player, regardless of who they are, should be allowed to treat the manager that way privately, let alone in public. Even if it’s just a moment and immediately followed by an apology it is too much. It shows just how pathetically inadequate the authority at Chelsea is: the players’ instincts are to be anything other than respectful.
This failing starts at the level of the board. They have for too long collected the spines of managers like The Predator and made it impossible for a chain of command to function.
It shows everything that is wrong with Chelsea that in the moments following the match people could even think any differently. What? He felt like he wasn’t injured after having been down for extended periods twice in 20 minutes? It matters not that yes, he was good in the penalty shoot out.
There simply must be order and this is not it.
Maurizio Sarri has not done a good job, but who could in circumstances like this? The manager must have the first, middle and last word on player selection and there’s no ground to be discussed on the matter. Anybody who feels any different should stay away from me and away from football, and that’s final.
Chelsea players spend too much time concerned with what they want and what they think, as opposed to getting their noses down and getting to work. It’s why the club is in sixth place. It’s why they’re not in the Champions League. It’s why they’re going to lose yet another talented and smart manager who wasn’t able to achieve his best for the club. The players are a bunch of selfish and cowardly imbeciles. Never before have I seen such an embarrassment coming from one group at one football club.
They are an absolute shame to everyone who has ever been a part of the Chelsea following. Anyone who can’t see that is as well.
The chain of command is the most important thing at a football club, and Chelsea have none. The owner is nowhere to be seen, there’s no technical director, the manager isn’t allowed to manage, the players are in open revolt and the supporters don’t even recognize the club anymore.
It used to be that when the managers were lacking, at least there was leadership in the locker room. The Blues had genuine class individuals to lead the team forward. When the players were too terrible, Roman Abramovich came to move the club forward yet again. Before that it was a hardworking and ingenious team supported by one of the most loyal and well-humored groups of supporters in world football. The team punched above their weight despite a magnificent amount of debt holding them down.
Now though, it’s group of minimally talented boys without a single ounce character or spine to lean on. You know where that gets a Premier League football team? To the best of the middle of the table. Sixth place. What a joy.
This is the most unacceptable running of a football club that I have ever seen and the only way forward is massive change from top to bottom. Hopefully Roman Abramovich saw this and decides to step in and finally fix things. I have the sneaking suspicion that in his 15 years he has matured in how to run a football club. Though his political situation has distracted him, Chelsea need him back and in prime form.
Only he can fix this now. God speed, Mr. Abramovich.