Maurizio Sarri Says There's Much Work to do for Chelsea

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri claimed that his side has a lot of work to do in order to be prepared for the start of the Premier League season, following the 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri claimed that his side has a lot of work to do in order to be prepared for the start of the Premier League season, following the 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.

Speaking in the wake of the defeat, via the Evening Standard, the Blues boss was held back in his criticism of his side, who were comprehensively outplayed by the Citizens throughout the match. Sarri said: "In this moment there is a little difference, maybe not little, between us and City.

“About the performance, I think in the first half not too bad in the second half there was a big difference from the physical point of view. So we have to work. Our pre-season until now has been a bit crazy I think and so we have to work. 

“Some (of my playing style is in the team) I think, but not too much.

"In this moment I think we have the idea to press but sometimes we press in the right way, sometimes not. We have the idea to be in control of the match but today we were not in control of the match. So I think it is a long way, we have to work. It is not very easy in the next week we have a friendly, and I prefer in this moment to be on the pitch with the players for training.”

Manchester City took the lead within the opening quarter of an hour, as Sergio Agüero found himself with acres of space on the edge and buried a low shot into the bottom corner. The Argentine ace doubled his side's lead midway through the second half, as City cut through the Blues defence with a vicious counter-attack, and Agüero clipped home a tidy finish.

Chelsea fans will have been frustrated with the performance, given the clear lack of team cohesion on show. However, with the likes of Eden Hazard and, most importantly, N'Golo Kanté still to return, the Blues still have a lot of potential to improve. Sarri will need to hope his side adapt to his style of play sooner rather than later, with the Premier League looming ever closer.

Meanwhile, Sarri's hopes of strengthening his defence appears to have been dealt a massive blow, after his number one target Daniele Rugani reportedly turned down a €20m contract offer from the Blues in order to remain with Juventus. 

The former Napoli boss will now be under immense pressure to find a backup signing, with the transfer window set to close on Thursday.