Maurizio Sarri: ‘It will take a year for Chelsea to reach Liverpool’s level’

With Chelsea held to a frustrating goalless draw against West Ham, Maurizio Sarri has played down his side’s chances in their impending double header against Liverpool.

The Blues travel to Anfield in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday, before hosting Jurgen Klopp’s side at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. While Chelsea lost their perfect record this weekend, Liverpool continued theirs with a thumping 3-0 win against Southampton and now sit top of the Premier League table on 18 points.

Asked in his post-match press conference whether beating Liverpool next weekend was a must if Chelsea are to maintain their momentum in the league, Sarri said: “No. ‘Must win’ in football doesn’t exist. We are to play against a team which is very, very good, against a team which have worked with the same coach for four or five years – I don’t know exactly – and they are a step forward from us at the moment.

“We started to work all together 35 or 40 days ago, 35 or 40 days and less time [because of breaks] with the international teams. It’s a little early for us.

“We have to work, then maybe in one year we will be at the same level as Liverpool.”

Drastic changes?

Queried as to whether he would be making wholesale changes for the League Cup match in the midweek, he said: “I don’t know. We have played today and we have another match ahead of us. I want to see the picture tomorrow during our training session. Maybe I will have to change 11 players, maybe five, I don’t know.”

Finally, asked about how his vision of ‘Sarriball’ is coming on, he said: “We need to move the ball quicker I think. We need more movement without the ball. We are improving in the defensive plays, in the last two or three matches we’ve done very well, but we have to improve in defensive plays especially in this kind of match.”