Sarri has nothing but love for his players

Maurizio Sarri finished his Tuesday by throwing a fit and walking off the pitch in the middle of training after an apparent incident between two of his players.

Just a couple hours before, he was waxing poetic about his love for them.

“We did a wonderful season because, in the last season, Chelsea weren’t in the Champions League. Now we are in the Champions League. We played a final in a competition in which we played against Liverpool and against Tottenham, and qualified. Against the two finalists in the Champions League. Then we lost the final on penalties to Manchester City, the best team in Europe at the moment. And now we play the final in the Europa League. We played a very good season. Of course, if now we can win the final, the season will become wonderful.”

“For me, at the beginning of the season, it was really very difficult to understand my players, to understand the mentality. But, after a very difficult month in January, in February they started to change, I think. Or probably I changed, I don’t know. In this moment, I love them because I have 20-22 wonderful men, and wonderful players. So now I’m really very happy with them. And, of course, I have to consider it for the future. And I have to consider that I love English football, I love the Premier League.”

Life comes at you fast.

Of course, with the looming tension and the uncertainty of the next day and the summer ahead, it’s easy for nerves to get frayed. Sarri had a bit of a reputation for having a temper when he first arrived at Chelsea, too, and while we hadn’t really seen that much, it has bubbled to the surface a few times. Maybe it’s a good thing not all training is open to the public!

Unfortunately, regardless of its impact or meaning, the training ground incident will now enter the popular consciousness and make it that much more complicated to maintain focus and intention. And that’s before we even consider the big bad Juventus question.

In the press conference, Sarri said all the right words, but his actions reveal a fraught situation with much smaller margins for error.

“I want to think only about the final, of course. Then I have a contract with Chelsea for two years. So, first of all, I will speak with Chelsea. But this is not the moment. Now we have to think only about the final. Because you know very well, our feeling is that we deserve to win. And so we want to win.”

-Maurizio Sarri; source: Football.London

Winning makes everything a little nice, happier, easier.