English Premier League: The Chelsea-Sarri marriage should break as soon as possible

It is tough to find a man as helpless and broken as how Maurizio Sarri looked during Chelsea’s 6-0 mauling at the hands of Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday evening.

The Neapolitan was clueless about why his side was imploding right in front of his eyes, making him wonder as to what he’s done wrong for his players to go down like a pack of cards without putting up any fight whatsoever.

It made for a contrasting view if we compare it to how things were at Stamford Bridge when Pep Guardiola’s men were the visitors. Sarri’s selection ran rings around Guardiola’s men, who were overpowered and overrun in midfield.

The Chelsea players were right up for the task, executing the instructions exactly how Sarri had told them to. It worked to perfection. But on Sunday, the same batch of players seemed clueless and hapless.

While Sarri has been very keen on the fact that he has one style, one approach, and one way of viewing the game. The more direct form of possession football, or what has famously come to be known as ‘Sarriball’ seemed just about invisible against City.

Sarri has gone on about him not having any Plan B because of his love for Plan A, there was no Plan A at all on Sunday. The players had no idea how to approach the game. All that, despite having a proper striker on the pitch.

It was almost as if what Sarri has been going on about in the press is true. The players are very hard to motivate. But as things stand, it seems like it isn’t about motivation. It is about how much Sarri has conveyed his ideas to the players he has in his squad.

A good share of this team won the Premier League not long ago under Antonio Conte, but they seem far adrift of Sarri’s ideas of playing football. Sarri’s English skills aren’t helping and it seems his expressions get lost in translation.