LONDON • Much has been said of Chelsea's lack of a clinical forward but manager Maurizio Sarri said that was not the main reason the Blues fell to a shock 1-0 defeat by Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday.
Instead, the Italian tactician was left scratching his head why his players did not react to Jamie Vardy's 51st-minute goal at Stamford Bridge which eventually condemned the Blues to their first home loss of the season .
"I was really very happy at the end of the first half - we played very well. We were dangerous, we gave the opponents nothing," said Sarri.
"After the goal, the reaction was, for me, a strange reaction, not in the right direction, not as a team, but as 11 different players.
"There was time to score, without reacting as a team shocked, as a team in mental confusion."
With Alvaro Morata fighting his way back to fitness from a knee injury and Olivier Giroud struggling for goals, Sarri deployed Belgian winger Eden Hazard up front in a "false nine" position flanked by Willian and Pedro.
Chelsea enjoyed a lot of possession but could not convert it into clear-cut chances, with Hazard missing the two chances which came his way.
In the first half, he struck Kasper Schmeichel's crossbar with a powerful drive and the Danish goalkeeper pulled off a fine save to tip another Hazard effort to safety after the break.
Giroud was thrown on for the final half an hour but the French striker could not find an equaliser for the Blues.
"I was really very happy with the team, the use of Hazard like a striker. Then, after the goal, the position of Hazard was not important," said the 59-year-old.
Chelsea, fourth in the table, have struggled to get goals from their attackers all season, with the exception of Hazard, who has eight Premier League strikes.
Morata has just five league goals in 14 appearances and is set to return from injury when Chelsea face Watford on Boxing Day, but Sarri may persist with Hazard up front.
Sarri cannot comprehend why the issue of the Blues not being able to take advantage of their possession keeps recurring and he wants a response at Watford on Wednesday.
"If I knew, I (would have) solved the problem before this match," he said. "It's difficult to understand, because we have players with long experience, so it's very difficult to understand.
"In the match, we had a bad reaction. Now it depends on our reaction in the next three days."
REUTERS
Manchester City will assess injured duo Bernardo Silva and Oleksandr Zinchenko before Sunday's Premier League trip to Crystal Palace. Pep Guardiola's Silva was a surprise late
Vunipola stands firm after 'liking' Folau's anti-gay comments
Klopp plays down Liverpool fatigue concerns ahead of season run-in. Klopp plays down Liverpool fatigue concerns ahead of season run-in. Soccer Football - Champions League - Liverpool
Klopp plays down Liverpool fatigue concerns ahead of season
english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/6/330292/Sports/Klopp-plays-down-Liverpool-fatigue-concerns-ahead-.aspx
Klopp plays down Liverpool fatigue concerns ahead of season run-in. Sports Egyptian Football | Talents Abroad Klopp plays down Liverpool fatigue concerns ahead of season run-in (Photo
Klopp plays down Liverpool fatigue concerns ahead of season
Gianluigi Buffon will leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer after it was agreed to not renew the former Italy captain's contract, the French champions announced on Wednesday. World Cup winner
World Cup winner Gianluigi Buffon to leave PSG | Football
West Indies' fury at 'dodgy' decisions as Australia get rub of the green. Bangladesh bowling attack exposed for lack of wicket-takers "Even when we were bowling we thought a few balls
West Indies' fury at 'dodgy' decisions as Australia get rub
UK rescuers launch bid to recover body from Sala's plane. Mearns said his discovery of two seat cushions on the French coast last week revealed that the plane had broken up.
UK rescuers launch bid to recover body from Sala's plane
Football: Rafael Benítez fumes as Wolves deny Newcastle with another stoppage-time equaliser. Benitez wants VAR straight away after last-gasp loss.
What Firmino did in the final 5 minutes vs Crystal Palace
sportslifetale.com/soccer/what-firmino-did-in-the-final-5-minutes-vs-crystal-palace-sums-him-up/
A player more used to scoring and creating goals instead of keeping them out, the Brazilian forward reverted to right-back as the match entered five minutes of stoppage time. And Reds fans online felt that the move summed up Firmino's relentless and selfless nature.
Benitez fumes says Prem 'don't understand the rules' after
Here, AFP Sports looks at five things we learnt from the Premier League's final fixtures of 2018. Liverpool's title to lose? The league leaders haven't lost all season and unless City end their
Five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend
up
Synonyms for keep up at Thesaurus.com with free online thesaurus, antonyms, and definitions. Find descriptive alternatives for keep up.
LONDON (AFP) - Ryan Giggs has responded to Zlatan Ibrahimovic's criticism of the "Class of 92" by insisting players with "over 2,000 games between us" are entitled to have an opinion about
Giggs hits back after Zlatan criticism of Man Utd 'Class of 92'
Bournemouth (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Nine-man Tottenham Hotspur's bid for Champions League football was rocked on Saturday after Nathan Ake's last-gasp winner punished red cards for Son Heung-min and Juan Foyth and condemned Spurs to a 1-0 Premier League defeat at Bournemouth.
Arsenal inflict first domestic defeat on Solskjaer to surge into top four. Unai Emery's men also close to within just a point of third-placed Tottenham and now hold the upper hand in the race for
Chelsea passed another tough test in Europe after claiming a valuable away draw in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie against Eintracht Frankfurt. Luka Jovic gave the Bundesliga
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Chelsea - Europa League semi-final
Getty Images. German soccer champions Bayern Munich have agreed a three-year partnership with national agency Singapore Sports (SportSG) to support the club's international youth tournament held
FC Bayern and SportSG sign youth partnership in Singapore
The founder of the Garage contemporary art center and billionaire Roman Abramovich's longtime girlfriend, Dasha Zhukova, apologized Tuesday for a photograph showing her sitting on a chair designed
Abramovich's girlfriend apologises for posing on naked 'black
The Leap is a fantastic company which take care of you from the moment you book to your last day. I was very fortunate to be surrounded by some amazing people during my 6 weeks. This includes both the staff, locals and my fellow volunteers.
Taking the Leap Without a Net - The Ascent
0 comments:
Post a Comment