Maurizio Sarri apologizes to fans and insists he did not attack his players: Press Conference

Chelsea suffered 4-0 defeat to Bournemouth and that was left the London club outside the top for. The Blues will be aiming to get back to the winning ways in the game against Huddersfield. Ahead of the game, Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has spoken out to the press. Sarri insists he did not attack his players the following defeat to Bournemouth “I didn’t attack the players, I talked to them because I needed to understand. Then I went home immediately because I wanted to review the match, there wasn’t another reason.” The Blues boss goes on to elaborate on his recent comments about motivating his players “I am not able to motivate them, I said this, but if we have some mental problems then I think the reason could be the players or could be the technical staff, could be the club. I can’t think about the club, only the players. The staff, first of all, the players first of all. I said I am probably not able to motivate them. After another match, I said probably it is difficult to motivate them. It is part of my job of course. I want to change the mentality, it is a long way.” 'I need to change completely the mentality' “I think my football is co-operation so I need to speak to my players and involve them more than I am doing at the moment. We need to improve in the reaction, the offensive phase as we have a lot of individual players, it is not easy to change. In the last game we built up the action in the first half well, but then we were too tight with the offensive players so it was easy for the players to defend. We need to stay high and wide. I need to change completely the mentality as they were used to playing in counter-attacks, it is a long way I think but I am trying to change the mentality. I want to score and have the right reaction if we concede a goal. We have to just play. We were in control, we have to start again. We have only to play.“ Sarri is asked if he relies too much on Jorginho “Why? First I want to do very well the Plan A. I don’t want to change something that isn’t working, I want to see it play well and then we look to change something. Everybody ten years ago knew Barcelona, they won everything because they played well their football. I want to play my football.” Sarri has suggested he needs time to implement his ideas. “I want to remember that Klopp in Liverpool was in the middle of the table, the situation is clear. There are three teams above the other, in those the coach had five years, the other 4 and the other 3. They were really patient and we need to work to change the mentality and go on.” Do you need assurances from the board? “I don’t mind, because I am a dreamer, I want to play my football.” Kante only a central option in last 20 minutes “Only 20 minutes if I have to defend the result.” Is this a tougher job than Sarri expected? “Probably yes but I knew the level was very high, this team played another football and they won with another football. It is really very difficult, but we can do it I think.” Sarri on Jorginho “It depends what you want from Jorginho. If it is the last pass then he has not adapted. He usually plays 40 or 45 minutes from goal, so it is impossible to so the last pass. He is very good at other things.” Why are you confident things will improve? “Because every day I see the training and they are improving. We lost confidence after the goal, but at the beginning, we entered with the right mentality. The approach was very good. Now we have a problem, some to score and we are working on this. We played with four or five players with their back to the opposing goal. You have to go there to receive the ball and on the run. This is not a big problem, but I like to speak to my players about tactical problems, not mental problems.” Sarri says Eden Hazard is adapting to play less as an individual: “I think that he is changing. He was used to playing as an individual player, but now he has to play in a co-operative way. It is not easy for him as he became Hazard in another way. It is not easy but I can see how he is more available to play in this way. He is fantastic from the technical view and I think he can do more tactically. It is not easy to play in a striker with this team, we have a lot of individual players, like Hazard, Pedro, Willian, so it is not easy for the striker to move at the right time.” Chelsea boss has a message for the club’s supporters: “First of all, we have to say sorry for that, because the result was a disaster. I can understand them very well. They have to be patient with us as we are trying to do something great. We have to be patient, we will lose matches, but we are trying to do our best.” Sarri on Gonzalo Higuain: “At the moment he is not at the top physically because in 45 days he played few matches because of his back and because of the market. He needs to improve as he can generate more than now. If he can improve physically then he will be useful for us immediately.”

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