One manager under immense pressure is Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri. The Italian tactician was appointed as manager of the Blues last summer and succeeded fellow Italian Antonio Conte.
Conte led the club for two seasons. During that time, he won the Premier League his first season in charge. In spite of that, things went wrong along the second season as the Blues finished in the fifth position and failed to qualify for the Champions League. Chelsea is known for being one of the harshest clubs in the football world. Even though Conte led the club to the FA Cup during his last game in charge last season, failing to guide the club to the Champions League was the final nail in the coffin for him.
Sarri meanwhile could be set to face a similar fate this season. The former Napoli coach has been strongly criticized following the West London club’s recent defeats against the likes of Bournemouth (4-0) and Manchester City (6-0). The Blues are currently in the sixth position and as things stand, they are in line to miss out on Champions League qualification for a second successive season unless of course, they manage to win the Europa League.
Another reason why Sarri has drawn major criticism is that he has opted to play Jorginho in the defensive midfield role while moving N’Golo Kante out of his natural defensive role and into an attacking one. To many, this was a brainless move. Kante is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and played the role to near perfection while helping Leicester City and Chelsea to Premier League titles respectively. Similarly, he also played the role to near perfection for France during the 2018 World Cup as Les Bleus won the World Cup for the second time in their history.
Unless Sarri can rectify things soon, he too will be headed for the sack, just like those that came before him.