Maurizio Sarri has defended his record at Napoli after the latest public criticisms from his former club’s president, Aurelio de Laurentiis, as he seeks to maintain his perfect league start as Chelsea’s head coach.
Sarri spent three seasons in Naples, twice finishing as runners-up to Juventus and once in third place while improving the club’s record top-flight points haul from 82 to 86 and 91 points each year. His team were praised for their eye-catching, attacking style but failed to win a trophy, a reality bemoaned by De Laurentiis in an interview with L’Equipe.
“We gave Sarri everything and in three years we didn’t win anything,” he said. “There remains the pleasure of having played well but also the bitterness of not having won anything.” That followed criticisms of Sarri’s approach being “one-dimensional” and was followed by lavish praise of Napoli’s new manager, Carlo Ancelotti.
“I don’t know but maybe he is talking about me because he is missing me,” said Sarri, when his former employer’s comments were put to him. “We didn’t win in Naples but we had the record number of points for the club.
“We qualified three times for the Champions League and it was unusual for Napoli. So I think we did very well. Nobody won in Italy except Juventus in the last seven years.” Asked whether he missed De Laurentiis, Sarri said: “At the moment, no. But I am used [to him].”
Sarri confronts another former Napoli manager, his predecessor Rafael Benítez, at St James’ Park on Sunday expecting Newcastle to pose a difficult challenge at a ground where Chelsea have not won since December 2011. Eden Hazard, despite impressing off the bench in the team’s two games, is not deemed fully match fit and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will discover only on match day whether he is to be included among the substitutes.
The England midfielder, who will learn on Thursday whether he has been retained in Gareth Southgate’s national squad, has been told to fight for his place at Chelsea having been omitted from the 18-man party last weekend. Sarri twice this week spoke to the 22-year-old, who had been interesting Schalke and clubs in Spain and France, and, while offering no guarantees of greater involvement, ruled out another loan move this month.
“Loftus-Cheek will remain with us,” he said. “We can speak again about his situation but I think only in December. I am not able to promise anything to anybody. It’s up to him. I usually look at the training and then I decide. So it’s up to him only.
“Here the problem is the bench because, in Italy, the players’ list for the match is 23; here only 18. It’s not so easy in this period because we play only once a week. But I told the team that this month they have to be patient. In the future, starting from September, I think we play three times three games a week, so there will be space for everybody.”
