‘Perfectionist Sarri keeps you alive’ – Rudiger

Working with Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea is proving as much fun as Antonio Rudiger expected, as the defender prefers the new coach’s playing style to that of Antonio Conte.

After guiding his pulsating Napoli team to second in Serie A last season, Sarri was lured to London to take over the Blues and restore them as Premier League title challengers in the wake of their fifth place finish under Conte.

Chelsea have a perfect record in the English top flight after four games as Sarri’s pass-heavy style begins to take hold and it is going even better than former Roma star Rudiger expected.

“I played for Roma in Italy so I knew the way the manager liked to play and it was something I favoured,” he told the Mail on Sunday. “He wants us to press high compared to last season when everyone knows we sat back.

“Now it is different. We create a lot of chances and for me that’s very good. Mostly he likes the defenders to play the ball short and keep possession.

“I have shown so far I can do it but I want to improve every day. He is a coach who is not happy, he is always saying you can do better, and that keeps you alive.

“To be honest, I’m surprised how well we’ve done because players like Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante had big World Cups and came back late for training. They are in good shape and that’s impressive.”