Sarri himself has already admitted he is struggling to motivate his players.
And the Blues are in no position to sell half the squad and rebuild under Sarri now they have a transfer ban hanging over them.
Asked if he was worried about his side’s top-four hopes, he said: “If you are speaking about the second half you are right. If we play like the second half in the last eight matches then we are in trouble to arrive in the top four.
“We need to recover only three points [to reach the top four] so I think it’s not impossible. I am worried about our mentality but if we play 90 minutes for eight matches like the first half then we can do everything.”
Sarri insists that finishing in the top four is not impossible, but it will be impossible if we do not improve. We cannot repeat this second half.#EVECHE— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 17, 2019
Sarri might be buoyed by Chelsea’s first-half display, which was impressive, but the crucial aspect was they did not score.
He preferred to start his January signing Gonzalo Higuain, who returned from illness, instead of Olivier Giroud, who scored a midweek Europa League hat-trick against Dynamo Kiev.
As former Tottenham and England winger Chris Waddle said on BBC Radio 5 Live: “Chelsea have only got themselves to blame. They play some wonderful football but they try to score the perfect goal at times instead of putting the ball in the net.”
Whether it is team selections, tactics, mentality or results, there are still plenty of conundrums and time is running out for Sarri to prove he can solve them before the end of the season.