Sarri isn’t getting carried away with Chelsea’s recent winning streak

Fortunes can change very quickly in football. One day you’re up, one day you’re down. From cream of the crop to bottom of the barrel. From 18-match unbeaten runs to embarrassments upon embarrassments.

Maurizio Sarri knows this better than most, despite managing at the top level only for a handful of years. So he’s not getting carried away with Chelsea’s current three-match winning streak (and five-match unbeaten run if you count the League Cup final as a draw).

“For me, it was really very important the performance in the final against Manchester City. Two weeks before that match we lost 6-0 in Manchester. A fortnight later, the players were able to play at the same level as them, so that was important for our confidence.”

“In the last five matches, we won four matches and drew against Manchester City. In five matches, we conceded only one goal. So we are improving in consistency. But we have to be careful. We had a long period of good results in the past and then, suddenly, two weeks of disaster. So we have to be careful.”

The upturn in form is especially ironic as it featured an incident that was widely (and probably inaccurately) termed a mutiny in the media, with a “big misunderstanding” between Sarri and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga leading to the latter refusing to be substituted in the aforementioned League Cup final.

But Sarri’s hardly alone in putting this incident forward as a turning point of the season, with the player and the squad emerging stronger and more united from those shenanigans.

“In the end, the Kepa situation was a good thing for our group, too.”

-Maurizio Sarri; source: Goal

So it’s three and counting for Chelsea now, with one leg in the Europa League quarterfinals and a chance to make it four in a row tomorrow at the Bridge against Wolves. Just keep winning!