Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta has said that he and his team-mates are already enjoying working and learning from new boss Maurizio Sarri.
Sarri was appointed as the latest man to take the managerial hotseat at Chelsea, replacing fellow Italian Antonio Conte, who was finally sacked last month after several months of speculation.
The contrast in styles between Conte’s defensive football and Sarri’s progressive possession based football could hardly be more pronounced, but with Chelsea stars trying to get a grip of their new style of play ahead of their Premier League opener against Huddersfield, Cesar Azpilicueta has said they are enjoying it so far:
“It is a different style. We have been enjoying it from the first day, learning and improving on what he wants,” Azpilicueta told reporters following their pre-season defeat to Arsenal on penalties.
“I think we have played against a good team in Arsenal and we could see the way we want to play. Now we face Manchester City in the Community Shield.
“We know that they are a very good team, but we will try to play our game. For example, two years ago when we switched to three at the back then from the first day we were very good. Hopefully we can switch again to a back four.
“It is true that you never know how long it can take, it is true that we still have a few players who are not with us, but with the squad we have, we have to try and go with everything we have on Sunday and try to lift the trophy.
“The way we play is we attack forward, we defend high, we try to get the ball from them and then play our football. I think today we could see very good combinations, playing from the back, pressing high, so that’s the way we want to play against them and that’s the way we can win the game.”
