Former Chelsea player Gary Cahill remains in the right on Maurizio Sarri

Gary Cahill opted to leave after Maurizio Sarri brought his Chelsea career to a grinding halt. The Englishman has remained in the right ever since.

The entire Maurizio Sarri tenure of Chelsea was coated in buzzwords and odd caveats on players that made no real sense outside of FIFA. If a player was too slow, they were bad. If they were not able to play hundreds of passes, they were bad. If they did not bend their knee to the system, they were bad.

Gary Cahill saw this more than any other player. Make no mistake; Sarri’s treatment of Cahill (the then club captain) was absolutely abhorrent. It was not a matter of the player “not fitting his system”. It was a matter of Sarri deciding right away he wanted nothing to do with the player and nothing would change his mind.

This is not a new story here or anywhere else. And it remains top of mind for journalists talking to Cahill about his successful season at Crystal Palace in the shadow of his snubbing last season. Sarri may be having a good time at Juventus after quitting Chelsea rather than be found out, but Cahill remains in the right between the two.

The interview with Jamie Redknapp covers a few issues and topics, but Cahill starts on his Sarri comments with the 2018 World Cup. Cahill missed out on that preseason where the Italian imprinted on the players that were present. Sarri figured out the players he would work with and everyone else, no matter how well they trained, had no chance.

Cahill states that he knew he could have thrown up a stink but he respected the club and everyone else at it. He put his head down and kept working despite the relationship being nonexistent. He did what he should have done as best as he could have done despite Sarri not really caring.

And even though Sarri opted to quit rather than deal with a transfer ban or prove that he had already peaked at Chelsea, Cahill opted to leave. He opted for Crystal Palace over several Premier League clubs and as Redknapp rightly states, he could be seen as a signing of the season. Not just for Palace. That is Premier League wide.

In addition, Cahill praised Antonio Conte unprompted several times in the same interview. And while it is hardly surprising for a player to praise a manager that played them and downing a manager that did not, it is still telling that Cahill opted to do so without any goading.

Conte may not have been ideal at all times (depending on which narratives people opt to believe in) but he did make Chelsea feel like Chelsea. He gave players chances to play their way into the team (see, Cesc Fabregas) and he did not blow smoke when talking about “his way” or whatever the buzzword of the day was.

Cahill may not be a Chelsea legend, but he is surely on the step just below as a Chelsea great. His exit was unnecessary but understandable after his treatment last season. His time at Palace has only served to prove his side of the story. Chelsea has a manager now that gives players chances to work their way into his plans. And that might just save the Blues their next Chelsea great from having to go elsewhere and prove their side of things.