LONDON • Maurizio Sarri will consider drafting a psychologist onto his coaching staff after suggesting that his Chelsea players are suffering from a mental block during matches.
The Blues coach had seen his team take the foot off the gas late in the recent win at Brighton and succumb to Wolves in similar circumstances, and last Saturday's 1-0 Premier League home loss to Leicester was more of the same.
Defender Antonio Rudiger branded his team's third defeat in six league games "a disaster" and down to "a lack of mentality".
Urging his teammates to make amends ahead of their league trip to Watford tomorrow, he said: "We don't talk about the title any more. If we can't win these games, we can't compete. We only talk now about top four. Stupid."
Sarri also felt Chelsea's underlying problems could not be pinned on fitness issues, saying: "There is another reason - not the players' physical condition.
"I had a sports psychologist 15 years ago in Italy, but it was really very difficult because the clubs were not ready then. But we can talk about it, why not?
The Italian is expected to shuffle the pack - striker Alvaro Morata remains an injury doubt - at Vicarage Road and he confirmed that midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek would make only his second league start of the season against either the Hornets or at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Hinting that there could be departures when the January transfer window opens, he said: "At the moment, we have too many. We have 28 players and it's impossible to use all of them. 25 is the right number.
"You already know my opinion, because I've told you in the past. We have a lot of offensive midfielders and we have only (N'Golo) Kante as a defensive midfielder so it's not easy now for the midfield to have the right balance."
But, for now, Sarri will have to put all thoughts of transfers to the side and focus on an improving Watford side, now in seventh place and with genuine designs on a Europa League spot.
The last time Javi Gracia's men played European football was in the 1983-84 season, but captain Troy Deeney feels this could be their year as they are "not a bad outfit". He told The Mirror: "I let everybody else do the ambitions. We know what we have got in the dressing room.
"But we've got to keep doing what we're doing, be a bit arrogant in terms of knowing what we have got, but humble enough to know you have to work hard to win in this league."
Teammate Craig Cathcart agreed, insisting the mood around the club was "going really well".
He said: "Since I've come to the club, it's been an uphill scale. We've managed to stabilise ourselves in the Premier League.
"We've added top-quality players since we've been here and it's just a pleasure to play for the club."
THE GUARDIAN
WATFORD V CHELSEA
Singtel TV Ch102 & StarHub Ch227, Thursday, 3.30am
Liverpool became the fourth English team to progress to Champions League last-eight. (Source: Reuters) Sadio Mane scored twice to hand Liverpool a 3-1 Champions League victory at Bayern Munich on Wednesday as they nullified their German opponents with a dominant performance that sent them through to the quarter-finals.
Liverpool ease past Bayern Munich to join Man Utd, Man City
Rangers sign Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis in loan moves
Football: Liverpool back on top with 3-2 Newcastle win but
SINGAPORE - Former Football Association of Singapore (FAS) general secretary Winston Lee withdrew his candidacy for one of nine seats on the executive committee members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), just before the Asian football body's congress in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday (April 6).
Ng: Lee requested and facilitated donation, not ex-FAS
Sunderland assistant manager Charlie Oatway refuses to blame the club's misfiring strikers for leaving them bottom of the table at Christmas. Steven Fletcher, Jozy Altidore and even derby hero
Toothless' Saddle and Tail Fin | How to Train Your Dragon
Neymar will travel to Qatar to undergo a "complete assessment" six weeks into his recovery from a fractured right foot. Neymar heads to Qatar for medical assessment | Sport24
Aspetar - Neymar heads to Aspetar for medical assessment
Football: Angry Messi says son asks why Argentines criticise
FIFA moved a step closer on Friday to expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams and hopes to confirm the plans in June if a suitable co-host can be found.
FIFA backs 48-team World Cup in 2022 - timesofmalta.com
Laurent Blanc singled out Angel Di Maria for praise after Paris Saint-Germain pushed Real Madrid all the way in Tuesday's 1-0 Champions League defeat. PSG were the better side prior to Nacho's
Paris Sg News, Scores, Schedule, Stats, Roster - soccer - MSN
The 13-times winner was so convinced that De Gea was United's future No 1 that the great Scottish manager missed a game to go and watch him play. with De Gea becoming one of the best United
David de Gea: Manchester United keeper gives Ole Gunnar
Feb 9 (Reuters) - Cardiff City's Kenneth Zohore struck deep into stoppage time to secure a crucial 2-1 win on Saturday away to fellow Premier League strugglers Southampton, who thought they had
Southampton vs. Cardiff City - Football Match Report
Guardiola coy over quadruple bid after City reach FA Cup final City can win the quadruple after his side reached the FA Cup final with a 1-0 win over Brighton on Saturday. but City manager
Guardiola coy over quadruple bid after City reach FA Cup final
We played against maybe the best team in world. I don't know how the boys did it." Klopp saluted his spirited players for refusing to accept they were out after losing the first leg by such a
Liverpool beats Barcelona in semi final of the Champions
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Crystal Palace - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 21, 2019 Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette in action with Crystal Palace's Scott Dann Action Ima
Palace punish sloppy Arsenal in 3-2 win at the Emirates
0 comments:
Post a Comment