Maurizio Sarri is one of the football coaches in the world who achieved beyond the expectation of critics. When he joined Premier League side, Chelsea, from Italian Serie A side Napoli, he was an underdog despite being 58-year-old old then.
Apart from helping clubs to gain promotion to a higher division of football leagues and probably ending up as a runner up in a couple of major competitions, the 61-year-old Juventus coach didn’t achieve much before he went to Stanford Bridge.
Amidst the fact that he was not a high flying coach, within a season at Stanford Bridge, he won the biggest title in his coaching career which is UEFA Europa League.
However, the joy of winning such a prestigious title was short-lived when he had to leave the club to return to Italy in 2019 to manage Juventus a few months after such a big win.
Maurizio Sarri: From Conflicting Relationship to crying partners
When Sarri was about to leave Chelsea football club, he said he cried alongside some players of the club who have grown fond of him.
This he said was special to him because he had a conflicting relationship with the players in his first 5 to 6 months as Chelsea’s manager.
“The higher the level, the more difficult it is to build a relationship with the players,” said Sarri.
“It’s not the players who change, but the surroundings. You need more time, but you still manage.
“I had a conflicting relationship with the Chelsea locker room during the first five to six months, but then when I left after the Europa League final I cried and also a lot of the guys did.”
Sarri also revealed that almost a season after he had left the club, some players still call him for advice especially those who intend to go into coaching after retirement.
“The best relationships I have now are with those former players who did not play much. Those who are at the end of their career and want to start managing come to me for advice on football in general, on the experience they are having and some even ask to be in my staff to learn how to become a manager”, he said.
