Maurizio Sarri apologised to an irate Chelsea fan after being confronted outside the Vitality Stadium following his side's humiliating 4-0 loss by Bournemouth.
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The Blues boss, who is now fighting to save his job after Chelsea's worst defeat in the Premier League for 23 years, was heading towards the car park when he stopped to listen to one of Chelsea's travelling supporters.
A small group had gathered outside the exit, but one frustrated fan made his voice heard as Sarri and his assistant Gianfranco Zola came out of an exit.
'Maurizio, you should resign after that, that was appalling,' the man shouted as Sarri walked alongside a steward.
The former Napoli boss chose not to ignore the calls, instead stopping to engage in a short conversation.
The fan continued: 'Terrible, terrible. If you can't motivate them, you said you may be using them wrong. That was disgusting, the worst performance ever.'
Sarri was quick to apologise, even admitting that the fan was 'completely right' to be unhappy with Chelsea's display on the south coast.
'Sorry. The performance second half,' Sarri said while shaking the man's hand and patting him on the shoulder.
The fan then gestures to the group behind him, who had waited for over an hour after the full-time whistle to make their feelings known, and says: 'Tell them'.
Sarri responds: 'I am really sorry for you. You are completely right.'
The man thanked Sarri for his response before watching the 60-year-old climb into a car for the journey back to London after he decided against taking the team coach.
Sources claim this was so he could study why his tactics are not working away from the noise of the team, but his unusual decision could indicate a disharmony between him and his players.
Sportsmail revealed on Thursday that Sarri had held a 50-minute dressing room inquest after the embarrassing defeat at Bournemouth, which left his side sitting fifth in the Premier League table.
The Italian asked his coaching staff, including assistant Zola, to leave so he could speak to his players alone.
It is understood Sarri did not lose his temper or raise his voice but the players were left in no doubt as to how angry he was with their performance.
He is now in danger of losing his job, with Blues' chiefs yet to be convinced that he has a long term future at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea fans had turned on Sarri during the game at the Vitality Stadium, chanting: 'You don't know what you're doing.'
And it is understood that some players have private concerns about the manager's lack of tactical adaptability. Having gone 18 games unbeaten at the start of Sarri's reign Chelsea have now won only one of their last five league games.
Senior members of the squad believe their Premier League rivals have cottoned on to how they play and worked out how to nullify Sarri's system. The Italian has been so focused on impressing his Sarri-ball style on the squad that players feel they do not have a plan B.
This month could define Sarri's future with Premier League games against Huddersfield, Manchester City and Tottenham, a two-legged Europa League tie against Malmo, the FA Cup fifth-round clash with Manchester United and the Carabao Cup final, also against City.
12UnitedGuyReborn
112
I just pity sarri a lot because I think Sarri isn't totally at fault here, come to think of it he is not the first coach to be sacked by Chelsea for a bad run or players turning against their boss Chelsea should address their players rather than sacking coaches here and there, if they sack sarri now the next coach that will come will still end up the same way boys matter who he is Chelsea dressing room is toxic and the fans and Board too impatient Sarri has his style and half a season won't be enough for him to implement it fully in his current squad and losses like this help him to understand better where the mistakes lies and how to address it Sack Sarri now and the next coach will cone and the same disgusting players will also play badly like this again and get that one sacked too and it will continue like that until Chelsea Board and Fans find a way to pit their players in line you don't get paid hundreds of thousands every week to play the type if rubbish ununified game Chelsea players are playing but I am not a Chelsea fan so I will leave it to them to solve their problems I have said my piece...✌✌✌
Jinxm
89
SINGAM23
62
talk talk talk till the cows come back home but game plan never changed, causing heaviest Defeat in 23 years for the Blues... Fans and Supporters has their rights to raise their concerns.
loso313
53
it takes at least a couple seasons of good transfer and implementing tactics to get they acts right. my advice, coaches should be given time basically to build their team
Tiuaiopru
49
Honestly, we also sucked in the first half. A plan B is crucial for either during a match or different matches.
Charlesugwu
48
I predicted long time ago that Sarri ball is not going to work in PL unlike Seria A, a less fancied league. unfortunately Sarri didn't come to PL with a plan B. Blaming the failure of your tactics on Hazard is as good as telling Madrid to sign him without further delay.
Abbawaziri
44
Sarri is a very stubborn manager who always adapts to his style of play with his kind of players or not and he should understand the fact that this players are meant to deend he should please get his kind of players because this group of players might cost you your job. Get kante out of the team, get more technical players who have fast thinking and the right mentality to play your style please stop deceiving yourself by trying to change their mentality which it won’t work, use pep Guardiola for example he gets his own players without trying to change their mentality because he already knows they can’t play tiki taka so please Sarri if you want to keep your job get your own type of players.
frankieij
43
The reason why Chelsea board refused to sign fabregas replacement is because they want Sarri to use Kante in his best position and bench Jorginho for games. Jorginho look tired or confused since December. Sarri is very stubborn, he should at least rotate the team and change the system. Hazard Higuain/Giroud Pedro/Odoi Barklay. Kante. Kovacic/RLC Emerson. Chistianson Rudigar. Aspi Kepa