Rio Ferdinand Reveals Why Chelsea Players Could Turn on Marizio Sarri

Seething Sarri launched an extraordinary outburst about own players after Saturday's limp 2-0 Premier League loss at Arsena but former Ferdinand thinks it sends out wrong message

The former Manchester United defender thinks Maurizio Sarri's attack on his players may well come back to haunt him.

Goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny secured the Gunners a deserved win, which saw them move three points behind the fourth-placed Chelsea.

Sarri, the former Napoli manager, was left furious, switching to his native Italian for his post-match media conference.

He said he "to send a message to my players and I want my message to be very clear," before the 60-year-old attacked their attitude and personalities.

"I have to say I'm extremely angry, very angry indeed. This defeat was due to our mentality, more than anything else.” Sarri said

"This is something I can't accept. We had a similar issue in the league game at Tottenham (in November).

"I thought we'd overcome this issue. But it appears we still have this issue. This group of players are extremely difficult to motivate."

However, Ferdinand believes the outburst could well be counter-productive - and actually send out the wrong message. 

"He [Sarri] looks depressed and I think he has got every right to be," the United legend told BT Sport.

"That is a huge cause for concern. To say that your team are lacking motivation, especially in these big games. You should be bouncing out of bed and flying onto that pitch, raring to go."

Although Sarri had a right to be concerned, Ferdinand believes that he passed that the wrong way - and the players will now be going behind his back.

"The WhatsApp group will be going bananas," he continued. "'Have you seen this? Get on this' - there will be comments on it. And they will all abort the WhatsApp group after."

Sarri has regularly criticised his players' dedication and motivation this season, but took a step further in describing their flaws. 

"It seems to me that, as a group of players, they're not particularly aggressive from a mental point of view," he added.

"They don't have that ferocity in their mentality. That's down to the type of players they are, their characteristics.

"It's something that is difficult to change. It could take quite a long time."

Change could come from a new player, or leadership” Sarri said.

The Italian insists he has the ability to make the change, but suggested the available resources are the issue. 

Gonzalo Higauin has been linked with a move to re-unite with his former manager at Chelsea, complicated by the fact he is already on loan at AC Milan from Juventus. 

"I'm very aware of the fact this is never going to be a team well known for its battling and fighting qualities," he added.

"But what we need to become is a team capable of adapting, a team that can perhaps suffer for 10, 15 minutes during the game but then play our own football. Today we didn't play our own football."

The former Napoli boss has been consistent with to a 4-3-3 formation, but absolved himself of tactical blame, with Jorginho's continued struggles as a playmaker and the blunt attacking display with Eden Hazard as a 'false nine'.

"Don't get me wrong, we could have lost that game anyway, but we could have lost it for tactical reasons," he said.

"I think that we lost it because of our determination. But I couldn't possibly say I am not responsible as well, in part at least, for the mental approach. That's something we have to share."

Sarri did not hold back in his view when questioned if the players should fear for their places.

He added: "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."