Maurizio Sarri Says Chelsea Players Have Yet to Learn the Basics of His Style

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri believes his side "haven't even learned the most basic moves" of his style of play yet, but he insisted he will not change his approach. 

The Blues were humiliated away at Bournemouth on Wednesday, as they were thrashed 4-0 to drop out of the Premier League's top four:

Sarri has taken criticism in the wake of the loss for sticking to his preferred system rather than making changes to his style, with Dominic Fifield in the Guardian among those calling for tweaks to the game plan.

But the Italian has made it clear he believes Chelsea's problems are because his players have not yet learned his style of play rather than a result of his approach, telling Sky Sport Italia (h/t MailOnline's Jordan Seward):

"We are struggling, above all mentally. We had assumed that we learned a certain style of football, but the truth is we never did learn it and are paying the consequences. We haven't even learned the most basic moves yet. We need to work on the basics, the primary foundations of my football, and only then will we try to change a few things. 

"It was a good first half, but we conceded after the restart and then stopped being a team. We stopped attacking or defending as a team, we did everything individually. I don't understand why that happened, because we had 45 minutes to go and could comfortably have turned the situation around if we'd kept our focus.

"Every now and then this team reacts in a way I cannot decipher, so that creates some uncertainty. Perhaps some of the steps were inevitable, but we need to understand why we have these mental black-outs and what we can do to stop them."

Sarri made an excellent start to his tenure at Chelsea after being appointed Antonio Conte's successor in July.

He oversaw a 12-game unbeaten start to the 2018-19 Premier League season that saw Chelsea as among the contenders to win the title.

However, in Chelsea's next 12 Premier League games, they lost five times, including recent back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Bournemouth, and they are consequently in danger of missing out on the top four:

Their first defeat of the English top-flight campaign came against Tottenham Hotspur in November.

Per Fifield, Spurs were the first side to effectively shut down midfielder Jorginho, setting a precedent for how to upset Chelsea's rhythm.

According to Matt Law in the Telegraph, there are many players in the Chelsea dressing room who believe "the Italian's approach is too dependent on summer signing Jorginho and that opposition teams have worked them out."

BEN STANSALL/Getty Images

It is clear, though, that Sarri will not change the way he plays football. 

Chelsea host bottom-of-the-table Huddersfield Town on Saturday. The Terriers have picked up just one point in the league in their past 11 matches, so Chelsea could hardly have asked for a better side to be facing as they look to return to winning ways.

However, anything other than a victory against Huddersfield, and Sarri could find his job in serious jeopardy, especially if the same shortcomings emerge again.