Maurizio Sarri gave an explanation as to why Victor Moses and Danny Drinkwater are out of favour at Chelsea as his side prepare to face Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.
Moses was an integral part of Antonio Conte’s last two seasons at Stamford Bridge, where he reinvented himself as a wing-back and helped his side to league and FA Cup titles, but has been sparsely used this campaign.
Drinkwater hasn’t featured since coming off the bench in the Community Shield against Manchester City as his struggles since a £35 million move from Leicester City under Antonio Conte have continued this season.rly stages of his tenure at the club.
“I think the situation is that Drinkwater for me is not suitable for a midfield with two other midfielders. I told him two months ago what I think,” Sarri told reporters before talking about Moses.
“Moses is more suitable for playing wing back than like a winger or a full back, I think. I don’t know [if they have a future]. They have to improve but their characteristics are a little bit different.”
Drinkwater had offers for a loan move over the summer from more than one Premier League club but they were thrown out by Chelsea as they didn’t offer enough of a loan fee, with the club hoping to sell him outright.
Goal also revealed that Moses was unhappy about his status at the club a fortnight ago and the duo could be set for January departures.
Sarri is keen to reduce the size of his squad but he threw out suggestions that he doesn’t rotate his side enough and he says that his track record of picking the same 11 at Napoli might not be repeated at Stamford Bridge.
“We used 26 players in official matches this season so the rotation at the moment is this but I don’t know in the future,” Sarri added. “I know that we used 26 players in this season. If you look only in the Premier League the situation is that, you are right [only used 19 players] but I have to look at all competitions.
“Ninety minutes are 90 minutes. You have to look at the League Cup, Europa League and the national team. I have to look also at the minutes in the national teams. So I think the rotation is good. Every moment was done only between the Europa League, League Cup and Premier League but in the future it will be different.
“No, of course if you look at December and January, you need to change also in the Premier League because we will play every three days in the Premier League. So we need to change in the Premier League. We didn’t use 26 players in Naples but I have to choose about this situation of the club. About the atmosphere.
“In Naples, everybody wanted to win Serie A. Only Serie A. So maybe this atmosphere influenced my choices. It was clear in Naples, in the last season. Everyone wanted to win Serie A, not the other competitions. When I arrived in Naples, the gap was 24 points. In the last season it was only four points.
“I think that we have worked very well. When I arrived here the gap was 30 points, so the first step is to try and cover the gap. We are trying. I don’t know how many points we can cover in the near future but first of all we try to cover the gap and then we can try to think something different. At the moment we can think only that we need to cover the gap.”
Sarri also announced that he wants to keep Ruben Loftus-Cheek , amid rumours of a January loan move, in the same press conference.
He thinks that players at Loftus-Cheek’s age are capable of fighting to be at Chelsea. However, he did send a message to his club’s loan group of 40 players that being on loan is better, if you haven’t built up enough experience.
“I don’t know but I think that if you are 19 or 20 then it is better to go on loan,” he concluded. “It is better to play and get experience. It is not possible that every player is good enough to play here when he is 19 or 20. When you are 22 after one or two loans then you have to fight to try to have minutes here.
“It is not easy but it is not easy also at the other big clubs. It is not easy to play for Manchester City, Manchester United, Juventus. It is normal, if you want to play with continuity in a team like this. You have to play well when you are on loan, but very very well.
“But then when you return you have the same problem. I think it is better to stay here and fight for minutes on the pitch [after a few loan moves].”
