Sarri on Hazard’s future, Hudson-Odoi, Cahill’s injury and not being as good as Man City or Liverpool
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri spoke about a number of issues at a media conference ahead of the game against Manchester City. Here’s some of what the Italian had to say.
On Callum Hudson-Odoi and Gary Cahill
“We have some little problems. Odoi had a fever but only for one day. Yesterday we had a little problem with Cahill in his back – nothing serious.
“I think every player will be available for this match. I hope so – I don’t know. We have to do another two training sessions.”
On Eden Hazard suggesting he has made a decision on his future
“I speak every day with Eden. But I speak with Eden about his position on the pitch,” he said.
“I will be really very happy with him if he wants to stay because in my opinion he is the best in Europe.
“But it’s up to him. I want to see him happy. So he has to decide.”
On Gonzalo Higuain
“I think that Gonzalo is a great player. He did very well in Madrid, in Naples. Maybe not very well in Milan but he is great player and very useful for Eden Hazard.
“They are really very suitable to play together. He is very important for us. He is determined, so the impact he had on players was really very good for us.”
On City boss Pep Guardiola insisting Chelsea are title contenders
“At the moment I don’t know so. I think we will be able to fight for the top four in this season, no more I don’t think.
“We can win something of course but in the Premier League there is a fight between Liverpool and Manchester City.
“Man City in my opinion is the best team in Europe. To win the Champions League is very difficult playing in the Premier League.”
On how close Chelsea are to being as good as City and Liverpool
“We need to work. Guardiola is in the third season, (Jurgen) Klopp in the fourth or fifth. We need to work.
“You have to be more competitive in the market or you have to work. We need only to work and we have to try to reduce the gap because at the moment there is a gap.”
On beating City earlier this season
“We were lucky because we scored in a very difficult moment of the match. Maybe we deserved it in the second half but we were lucky in the first half.
“In that match we defended really very well because they only had three goal opportunities, no more, and it is is not easy against Man City to give them only three or four opportunities.
“At home they have scored more than three in every match. We need to defend really very well. We need to be very fast when we are able to recover the ball, because they are able to press very, very well. If we are able to do I think we can find spaces.
“In the last match we reacted very well so after the match against Huddersfield I was really happy with the result but especially with the performance. Now we know that we need consistency so I hope that our version on Sunday will be the best.”
