quote:
Maurizio Sarri’s over-reliance on midfielder Jorginho is under scrutiny with fears growing that the head coach’s position at Chelsea will come under threat if he does not quickly find a Plan B. But the Italian has told his Chelsea players that they have not even picked up the basics of his ‘Sarriball’ philosophy and pointed the finger at, among others, Eden Hazard for failing to follow instructions.

But the Italian has told his Chelsea players that they have not even picked up the basics of his ‘Sarriball’ philosophy and pointed the finger at, among others, Eden Hazard for failing to follow instructions.

quote:
Rather than ranting and raving at his squad, he picked apart their woeful performance in a measured and composed manner, demonstrating his anger with his no holds barred assessment.

Hazard is understood to be among the players Sarri singled out for criticism, as he accused the Belgian of playing how he wanted to, rather than doing what he had been asked.

Sarri also asked for observations from his players and asked whether they thought he could be doing anything better.

There is a belief inside the dressing-room that the Italian’s approach is too dependent on summer signing Jorginho and that opposition teams have worked them out.

quote:
Asked why Sarriball isn’t working, he replied: “We haven’t even learned the most basic moves yet. We need to work on the basics, the primary foundations of my football, and only then will we try to change a few things.”

quote:
Those who have rarely been used this season have also felt ignored at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, with Sarri admitting that he is following the advice of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola by only working to improve 14 of his players during his first 12 months.

“For him (Guardiola), it's impossible to improve, in the first season, 20 players,” said Sarri in December. “He told me, in the first season, you have to work only on 14 players otherwise you are in trouble. You need too much time to improve all the squad. In England, it's really very difficult.”

Sarri certainly seems to be working by that theory as only 14 of his players have played over 500 minutes in the Premier League this season, with seven of those playing over 2000 minutes already.

Certainly something to pay attention to.

For whatever reason I always figured Hazard was an open minded player in terms of instruction. If he really is essentially ignoring what Sarri is trying to install into the side that is a major red flag, imo.

It is known that Sarri’s system is built around Jorginho or a similar player and that play goes through him. It is also proven that Sarri’s system works and scores goals.

Just not real sure what it is Hazard wants. Seems like he wants to do what he’s always done and just attack from the flank and have play go through him while also not tracking back. Mertens was spectacular in Sarri’s Napoli side and a big part of that was his constant effort to get back and defend and spring counters.

Maybe that’s something Sarri likes in Pulisic? Idk.