Maurizio Sarri strides out at Wembley a dead man walking. He can cling to football’s capacity to shock, and even convince himself an appearance in the Carabao Cup final will shrug Chelsea out of their slump in form. Theirs should be the greater motivation, after all, given the wounds are raw from the six-goal pummelling inflicted by Manchester City only a fortnight ago. Yet, in truth, there is a sense of inevitability about where this is heading.
Passage was negotiated safely, in the end, beyond Malmö in the Europa League on Thursday, with Dynamo Kyiv to come in the last 16, yet the respite seems temporary. The home support, so vociferous in their dissent a few days previously as the team’s FA Cup defence petered out against Manchester United, had barely acknowledged their head coach, instead joyously latching on to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s rare start or the welcome distraction of the cameos delivered by Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ethan Ampadu off the bench. It would be a surprise if any of that trio start on Sunday.
Written by Dominic Fifield
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/feb/22/maurizio-sarri-chelsea-bell-tolls-carabao-cup-manchester-city under the title “Maurizio Sarri heads to Carabao Cup final as Chelsea’s dead man walking | Dominic Fifield”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
