Keown: 'Sarri has deliberately waged war with his players'

After the final whistle at the Emirates on Saturday, Maurizzio Sarri asked for a translator to be present in his press briefing, so that he could give his address in his native Italian. The Chelsea boss did so, by means of making his dissapointment over his side's defeat crystal clear. While this appeared peculiar to many; former professional Martin Keown has claimed that Sarri took his criticism public on purpose, as to draw a more emphatic reaction from his stars. 

In his column for the 'Daily Mail', Keown analysed the actions of the Chelsea manager, and explained what he believed were the reasons behind such a furious public reaction from the Italian. Keown wrote: 'Sarri has deliberately gone to war with his players. Former Arsenal boss George Graham was open in the dressing room - it would be a war zone if he wasn't happy...Sarri seems to be thinking, 'OK, they won't listen to me in private, so I'll dig them out publicly'. He's gone for broke.'

Keown continued his analysis by suggesting that the ever-present pressure put on managers at Chelsea, has caused the Italian to be more drastic in his approach to rectifying his side's poor recent  form. He explained: 'Sarri knows he has no time to lose under owner Roman Abramovich, who is never afraid to sack a boss and start again. Chelsea have a very powerful dressing room and it seems that if they cannot be champions, they won't go for second or third.'

The former Arsenal captain concluded by suggesting that Sarri's lack of previous success in terms of silverware, could be behind an apparent reluctance from the players to follow his lead. He added: 'Part of the problem for Sarri is that he has never won a trophy and the players may disagree with the decisions he is making. N'Golo Kante is playing in an alien position, they are competing without a centre forward and Eden Hazard is being used up front rather than on the wing.'

For now, it remains to be seen how the Chelsea players will react to this extreme approach from their boss. Although there is not much time to waste, as the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final with rivals Tottenham is on the horizon.