Robbie Savage has hailed Sarri for taking a gamble that paid off as they booked their place in the Wembley showpiece.
Furious Sarri switched to his native Italian after the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, where he accused his players of being ‘extremely difficult to motivate’.
He described himself as ‘extremely angry, very angry indeed’ and said they lost to the Gunners ‘due to our mentality more than anything else’.
It was a different story days later, though, as Chelsea downed Tottenham on penalties after beating them 2-1 in 90 minutes.
“As risky as Maurizio Sarri’s outburst appeared at the time, it worked,” Savage told the Mirror.
“Boss Sarri called out his Chelsea players after last weekend’s sluggish defeat at Arsenal, saying he found his team “extremely difficult to motivate”.
“At face value, that was a strange comment to make about a group of players who have won more than 50 major honours, including Champions Leagues and World Cups, between them.
“But Thursday night’s EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Tottenham was their response.
“Chelsea produced a massive reaction. The tackles were flying in, there was an intensity of purpose, and the celebrations at reaching another Wembley final spoke for themselves.
“Oh, and new striker Gonzalo Higuain will be coming out to play soon. People might think it’s wrong for a manager to have a go at his players in public.
“But for now, Sarri can say the reward outweighed the risk.”
Chelsea meet Manchester City next month in the final.