''I Hope Sarri Leaves After This Season'' Chelsea Fans Are Losing Faith In Their Manager

In the early weeks of the season, Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea were lauded as one of the best teams in the Premier League.

The manager's "Sarriball" approach was the subject of intense scrutiny and hailed as the perfect way to get the most out of big summer signing Jorginho.

Chelsea went 18 games unbeaten in all competitions at the start of the season, losing for the first time against Spurs on November 24.

Fast forward to the cold, dark days of January and Sarri's very future is being discussed and Jorginho's style of play is suddenly "wrong" for the Premier League.

Sarri himself looks to be feeling the strain, even resorting to his native tongue to deliver a damning assessment of his team after their tame 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.     

"To send a message to my players and I want my message to be very clear," said Sarri who this week attempts to overhaul a 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first leg deficit against Tottenham Hotspur. 

"I have to say I'm extremely angry, very angry indeed," he continued. "This defeat was due to our mentality, more than anything else. This is something I can't accept. We had a similar issue in the league game at Tottenham (in November).

"I thought we'd overcome this issue. But it appears we still have this issue. This group of players are extremely difficult to motivate."

Chelsea fans have been tweeting their frustrations with Sarri arguing that Eden Hazard is wasted as he continues to be played out of position while Olivier Giroud looks to be little more than a bench player.

But Sarri's analysis hinted at much deeper divisions within his squad: "It seems to me that, as a group of players, they're not particularly aggressive from a mental point of view," he added.

"They don't have that ferocity in their mentality. That's down to the type of players they are, their characteristics. It's something that is difficult to change. It could take quite a long time."

On Twitter, Chelsea fan Samuel Edwin posted: "I hope Sarri leaves after this season. We get unlucky with coaches lately."

Lucas Kawana agreed: "If Sarri will continue playing Jorginho Chelsea will never be in Champions League next season, trust me."