I Am Extremely Angry At My Players – Sarri

Maurizio Sarri has come out to say that his players are extremely difficult to motivate after a shock loss to Arsenal in yesterday’s EPL game.

He said, “I prefer to speak Italian first of all because I want to send a message to my players, and I want my message to be very clear,” Sarri said via translator. “I don’t want to make mistakes with my English.

“I have to say that I’m extremely angry, very angry indeed. This defeat was due to our mentality more than anything else, our mental approach. We played against a team which mentally was far more determined than we were. And this is something I can’t accept.

“We had a similar issue in the league game at Tottenham. We spoke a great deal about that loss and our approach at the time, and I spoke to the players, and I thought we’d overcome this issue.

“But it appears we still have this issue and we still seem to lack sufficient motivation and being mentally solid and our determination. So I’m not happy, I’m really not happy.

“I’d prefer to come in to the press room, be in the changing room and speak to the players and speak to you now, to talk about the tactics, about why we lost from a tactical point of view, but the fact of the matter is it appears this group of players are extremely difficult to motivate.”

“A player at this level can’t be afraid to face up to their own responsibilities, or coming to talk to the coach about issues that might arise or mistakes that have been made,” he added. “If any player were afraid of that, they shouldn’t be playing at this level in the first place.

“I think the best thing that can happen is that the players and I talk very openly. We have to talk openly about what’s happening. I’m the person responsible for the team, of course.

“So that means we need to discuss the matters, we have to talk about issues, and it’s important my players have the attitude I’m asking them to have. If they don’t have that, then maybe they shouldn’t be playing at this level.”