talkSPORT’s Andy Jacobs has blasted the “absolutely hopeless” Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri following their dismal defeat at Arsenal on Saturday.
The Blues were beaten 2-0 thanks to goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny in a game where Arsenal were comfortably the better side.
After the match, Sarri launched an astonishing attack on his players’ mentality.
But Chelsea fan Jacobs hit back at the Italian, suggesting his team selection was chiefly to blame for the loss – with Eden Hazard playing in a false nine position while defensive midfielder N’golo Kante has been started in a more advanced role throughout the season.
On Monday’s Hawksbee and Jacobs, Andy ranted: “They’re hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.
“Having a go at the players is something else and it really is brilliant when it is YOUR [Sarri’s] fault basically. You’re wasting these players, you’re wasting the best player in your league.
“And when you do that and blame somebody else for it then it’s quite staggering!”
Playing Hazard in a false nine role has been a tactic Sarri has tried often as it worked quite well when it was first attempted during Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Manchester City last month.
However, future games have seen games pass the Belgian by and Andy urged Sarri to start playing an out-and-out striker to allow Hazard more freedom on the pitch.
He added: “It was a pretty abject performance but it’s no different to the performances we’ve seen under Sarri with a false nine.
“Although Olivier Giroud is not the answer you saw from the minute he was on Hazard was free and Chelsea looked better.”
But Andy wasn’t done there. He then had a go at Sarri for his decision to bring on Ross Barkley for Mateo Kovacic as his first substitution even though Chelsea were chasing a two-goal deficit.
Andy also went on to say Chelsea were the “worst-run top club in Europe. ”
He added: “He’s [Sarri] an inflexible typical Italian manager who’s the ‘Professor of Possession at the University of No End-Product’. It’s pitiful and a kind of madness not to see what’s staring at you in the face. Everyone else can see it.
“Even if he played Pedro there [false nine] it would be better than playing Hazard there. It doesn’t work!
“Jorginho has been chronic for weeks but that’s partly because he’s not used to playing in the intensity of this league.
“So you think ‘if you’re such a great tactician why don’t you find a way of freeing this player up?’”
“Willian has been awful all season. He’s awful so why keep picking him?
“Why not play David Luiz in midfield and play Christensen, who’s dying for a game, in defence?
“It’s the worst-run top club in Europe. It’s not just the manager – the board, the transfer policy, the way they do business, everything about it.”