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Gullit warns Sarri of publicly criticising Chelsea players

Ruud Gullit has warned Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri against publicly criticising his players, saying that doing so suggests that there is something wrong within the dressing room.

Chelsea‘s recent 2-0 defeat to Arsenal prompted a furious reaction from Sarri, who said that his squad were difficult to motivate, while also saying that star attacker Eden Hazard wasn’t a leader.

However, having spent time as a manager – including a spell as player-manager at Stamford Bridge – Ruud Gullit has said that Sarri should keep his complaints out of the media.

“Of course I have had plenty of situations as a manager where I was unhappy with a player but I never came out and spoke publicly about them – never,” Gullit told the BBC.

“There were times I was definitely right, and times I thought I was right, but either way I still knew I couldn’t say it.

“It is very hard in that situation because, even if public opinion is different and fans are against you, you cannot explain yourself or try to change their minds. You just have to keep your mouth shut.

“Instead, I tried to resolve the problems inside the dressing room, or on the training pitch, no matter how difficult it was.

“Most of the time, a one-to-one conversation is the way to sort things out – not by speaking through the newspapers or to TV cameras.

“If you start talking about your players rather than to them, then there is something wrong in your dressing room, and you obviously don’t want that.

“All managers get angry, even at the great teams, but the difference there is that these stories do not come out.

“Sarri has enough to deal with anyway, so why make things more difficult for himself?”

Chelsea have dropped eight points in their last six Premier League outings, a run which has seen sixth-placed Manchester United close the gap down to three in the race for the top four.

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