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There is no doubt in my mind that Wednesday’s 2-0 win for Chelsea over rivals Tottenham allowed the Blue’s manager Maurizio Sarri a stay of execution. Had Chelsea lost I believe Sarri would have been gone by Thursday morning.
As it turned out, the Chelsea players rallied around their manager and produced a winning performance which dominated Spurs. However, this win, no matter how vital it was, does not mask the underlying problems at Chelsea. There has been a huge backlash this week to Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga’s refusal to be substituted at the end of the match against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final.
Personally, I have never seen such disgraceful behaviour from a senior football player. However, what it proves beyond doubt is that player power is bigger than manager power at Stamford Bridge. Can you imagine, for instance, a player refusing to leave the pitch if called off by Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho! No matter how Chelsea and Sarri attempt to dress up the situation as a “misunderstanding” it was clear to everyone else that the goalkeeper had been told to leave the pitch. Sarri wanted Willy Caballero to replace him for the end of game penalty shoot out (Willy has proven his brilliance in penalty shoot outs on previous occasions).
What most people do not know is that Arrizabalaga was feeling tension in his hamstring and this had happened twice during midweek training and he almost did not play against Manchester United in the Cup Final.
Despite his hamstring problem the goalkeeper refused to obey his manager’s instruction to leave the field. It was humiliating and embarrassing for manager Sarri and also his coach Franco Zola. Arrizabalaga simply ignored their decision. Sarri got his revenge by dropping Arrizabalaga to the bench for the 2-0 midweek win over Tottenham and he must have prayed that Cabellero played well, which he did.
However, this is just the latest player power confrontation at Stamford Bridge. You will remember Diego Costa wanted an away move to Atletico Madrid and stayed at home in Argentina, effectively going on strike, because he could not get his own way.
Remember goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois behaving badly because he wanted a move to Real Madrid. In recent history, Arjen Robbin, John Terry, Michael Ballack and even Eden Hazard have all had issues with a Chelsea manager. One of the problems is Chelsea being controlled by an absent owner. Roman Abamovich did not even attend Sunday’s Cup Final and has been absent all season. He will blame the British government for taking away his work visa but in reality he is the owner and should be seen to be so.
There are ways around the visa problem. When he personally supported Jose Mourhino and Antonio Conte, he did so verbally and by visiting the training field. This helped Chelsea to win the Premier League title. (Inside Soccer )
