Maurizio Sarri was enraged by the
performance of his Chelsea side at Arsenal
Gary Neville accused Chelsea's players of
"turning it on and off like a tap" after Maurizio
Sarri's criticism of his squad, and revealed
more about the level of player power at
Stamford Bridge.
Sarri fumed at his side after they floundered to
a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday, their fifth
loss in their last 12 games, and accused them
of being difficult to motivate during an
explosive rant translated from his native
Italian.
Neville said the number of previous Chelsea
managers who had revealed problems in the
Stamford Bridge dressing room was too much
to ignore - but added Sarri may not be around
long enough to fully address the problem.
He said on the Gary Neville Podcast: "Sarri
knows he's going to get sacked at some point
in the next 18 months or two years, that's
inevitable at Chelsea. He may as well call it
how he sees it in the first six months when
he's got a little bit of control.
Sarri launched into a scathing attack on his
players after full-time
"It's just a dressing room which can turn it on
and off like a tap, it's been able to do that for
years. Sarri has probably thought he's an
experienced guy, he's been around the block,
and thinks he doesn't need to take it.
LISTEN: Gary Neville podcast - Jan 20
"I have to say normally I would always say it's
not right to call out your players. But we're
going to see more of it, there's no doubt in the
next five or 10 years. I think it'll become the
norm, because it's us or them.
Alexandre Lacazette scored the opener at the
Emirates
"When managers have an aspect of control in
the early parts of their jobs, they'll have to
seize it and basically will realise they are a
difficult bunch at Chelsea. In the last 10-15
years, they've had the power to remove
managers."
Neville recalled a game in 2012 when he first
became aware of the level of player power at
Chelsea, in the build-up to their 3-1 Champions
League defeat by Napoli which would go some
way to costing Andre Villas-Boas, the club's
manager at the time, his job.
He said: "There were noises in the afternoon, I
was covering the game for Sky and there were
agents of players ringing Sky reporters and
commentators who were out there. It was the
day Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard were left
out, and Michael Essien.
"I remember thinking about those players
dropping in that he's lost the dressing room,
he's left three big players out, that was before
a Champions League game. They won it that
season, and I thought 'Whoa, is this what
happens on the other side?'
Villas-Boas was forced out of Stamford Bridge
after less than a year in charge
"I'd been at Manchester United as a player and
seen a period of tranquillity, and players
certainly don't go to their agents to tell the
media about what's going on. But it's been like
that - that's the type of club it is in terms of
the way it operates.
"Covering the second leg at Stamford Bridge,
the players did that huddle on the pitch and
basically took over the team."
