Maurizio Sarri insists he can cope with the abuse he has been subjected to by his own fans but fears his players are at risk of being negatively affected.
The club’s fans chanted ‘f*** Sarriball’ during Sunday’s dramatic late comeback win over Cardiff, as they had done during a recent FA Cup fifth round defeat against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
Goals from Cesar Azpilicueta and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the closing six minutes on Sunday kept alive Chelsea’s hopes of a top four place ahead of Wednesday’s match against Brighton.
Sarri insists he is experienced enough to be able to ignore the criticism of his methods but believes his players may not be so thick skinned.
‘I am not happy but I am not concerned,’ he said at this pre-match press conference.
‘I can understand very well the frustrations but we are not doing so badly. We have won 33 games and I think in England only Man City did better than us.
‘I think that they [the fans] have to help the players, during the match. After they can say anything but during I hope they can help my players.
‘I think we are a group and at the moment I think we a re a good group so I think that it’s not helpful for my players. For me it isn’t a problem, I am 60 so I can understand but when I was 25 it was probably different.
‘I like to stay on the pitch. I enjoy during the training of course. As I said before I am not happy but can understand, it’s normal I think. We need to improve, play better and want to try change their opinion.’
