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Maurizio Sarri is ‘pathetic’ and a ‘joke’: Chelsea boss DESTROYED by former rival chairman
MAURIZIO SARRI has been branded “pathetic” and “a joke” by former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan.
Chelsea: Sarri was ‘pathetic’ in Kepa altercation says Jordan
Jordan was reacting to Sarri’s antics during Chelsea’s Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City on Sunday.
The Italian manager wanted to substitute goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga deep into extra time.
Kepa refused, insisting he was fit enough to continue after receiving treatment on the pitch.
Sarri vented his fury on the touchline, shouting at his goalkeeper, before throwing down his jacket and storming towards the players’ tunnel.
If the player doesn’t come off when he hooks him, who’s that down to? That’s down to the manager
He has received some sympathy since the incident but Jordan believes Sarri only has himself to blame.
“Most of the reaction after the game was empathy towards the manager, but I thought his behaviour on the touchline was nigh on pathetic,” Jordan told talkSPORT.
“If the player doesn’t come off when he hooks him, who’s that down to? That’s down to the manager.
“If the player doesn’t respect the manager, who’s that down to? That’s down to the manager.
“When I watch him parading around the technical area, pulling his shirt open, storming down the tunnel and then coming back, all because he can’t get a player to do as he’s bloody told – I thought to myself, ‘you’re a joke’.
“And then I see him having to be held back by [Antonio] Rudiger – who’s the boss here?
“If I’m that manager and I want that player off, I don’t care where I am, I’m going to march down the touchline until I’m directly parallel to where he is and if I have to get a shepherd’s crook I’m going to hook that player off and he’s going to come off.
“I’d rather that than the ridiculous histrionics, where he’s got Stan Laurel in Gianfranco Zola as his sidekick sitting there going, ‘well I don’t know Ollie, I don’t know Ollie, what are you going to do?’.
Chelsea: Sarri reveals Kepa incident was a ‘misunderstanding’
“I felt it was all very, very poor across the board.
“The bottom line is in all this is, if your manager doesn’t have control over the players in the first place, it isn’t actually the players’ fault, it’s the manager’s fault.
“He’s the person who has got to make sure these players understand that he means what he says and he says what he means.”
Chelsea are back in action on Wednesday as they host London rivals Tottenham.