Losing to Arsenal is no fun. It’s even worse when it that loss feels like it’s going to precipitate a massive meltdown on the part of your own club.
That’s probably a little exaggerated, but things took a big step in the wrong direction tonight at the Emirates.
The showing from the Blues was sufficiently weak that their manager Maurizio Sarri chose to come out and speak in his native Italian after the game, so that his translator could carry the full weight of his words.
What he said made his thoughts very clear in quotes carried by the Telegraph:
“This defeat was due to our mentality more than anything else. We played against a team which mentally was far more determined than we were. This is something I cannot accept,” the coach stated in a tense presser at the Arsenal stadium.
Sarri on Chelsea players after losing at Arsenal: "This group of players is extremely difficult to motivate"
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) January 19, 2019
“The fact of the matter is it appears this group of players are extremely difficult to motivate,” he went on.
That’s a bold card for Sarri to play, and you have to respect his cojones. Instead of taking any blame, he’s putting it square on the players, and challenging them to step up.
We’d love to see that, but we fear we already know what comes next. This dressing room eats up managers, and they are starting to lick their lips now.
