Chelsea went from midweek humiliation against Wolves to unlikely glory at the weekend against Man City, and that was in great part thanks to Maurizio Sarri.
The coach had received plenty of criticism for his tactics and selections in recent defeats to Spurs and the defeat at Molyneux, so clearly the pressure was on.
And according to Antonio Rudiger, the follow up to that second defeat was full on:
“After the Wolves game, he (Sarri) was terrifying. He was going crazy. But that was okay because we shouldn’t have lost this match,” the German defender is quoted as saying in the Evening Standard.
That’s great to hear.
The players desperately needed a rocket up their backsides ahead of the vital City game, and the fact that Sarri is able to strike fear into them despite not having a strong reputation as a former players means that he’s already earned their respect.
We really hope the former Napoli coach doesn’t have to resort to this mode too often, but it’s nice to know that when he does snap – everybody listens.