Melchiot: ‘Sarri is staying because nobody else wants Chelsea job’

Chelsea have little choice but to stick with Maurizio Sarri as nobody else will want the Blues job, says Mario Melchiot. The former Blues defender believes those at Stamford Bridge have little choice but to stick with an under-fire coach through to the end of the season.

Questions continue to be asked of the man currently at the Stamford Bridge helm. A positive start to the 2018-19 campaign has been followed by a disjointed middle and potentially tricky end. Chelsea remain in contention for a top-four finish and Europa League glory, but are seeing struggles away from home and apparently flawed tactics undermine their cause.

It is being suggested that Sarri may be on borrowed time as a result, in what is his debut season in England, but Melchiot believes he will see things out until the summer as there are no logical replacements.

The former Blues defender said “They might not have an option, that is where the tricky part is. “If they get rid of Sarri now, I don’t know if another manager wants the job because he doesn’t have the possibilities to change things around.

“So, if you need to get a new manager in and that manager can’t add any quality players to this squad, he might not want the job. “He might say ‘hey, I might sit this one out and wait for another team to come’.”

Melchiot believes that a wobble was always coming in west London as Chelsea were unable to make the necessary additions to their squad last summer. The ex-Netherlands international added: “At the beginning of the season I was doubting the situation because he remains bring in as many players that he wanted.

“So, he knew he had to work around what he already had. I think he kicked off really well, by my surprise as well. I was like ‘wow, this is going super well’ and then you got that slip.

 “And we all know that in a season you’re always going to get a bump and you have to react from the bump. Chelsea suffered a 2-0 defeat away at Everton in their most recent Premier League outing to remain sixth in the table and three points adrift of the top four.

With domestic action now shutting down during the international break, Sarri’s side will not be in action again until facing Cardiff on March 31.