I played under ‘superstitious’ Chelsea manager who always made us do same drill… I still don’t know what Sarriball is

A FORMER Chelsea defender has admitted he still does not know what Sarriball is after playing under “superstitious” manager Maurizio Sarri.

The Italian’s style of play earned the nickname during his single season at Stamford Bridge in 2018/19.

Reuters

Maurizio Sarri’s was known for his ‘Sarriball’ style of play during his season at Chelsea[/caption]

PA:Empics Sport

The former Blues boss has been called ‘superstitious’ by an ex-player due to his training ground drills[/caption]

It became synonymous with the Italian’s high-tempo passing approach during his time at Napoli before joining the Blues.

During his only year in England, Sarri finished third in the Premier League, reached the League Cup final and won the Europa League.

However, one of his former Chelsea players has revealed he remains unsure what Sarriball is over five years on.

Gary Cahill made the surprise admission during an appearance on John Obi Mikel’s Obi One podcast.

He told his former team-mate: “It was all just tactical. What is Sarriball? I played it and I still don’t know what it is mate! But he didn’t play me so…”

The ex-England defender made just eight appearances under Sarri during an injury-hit final season with the Blues.

Cahill went on to discuss Sarri’s approach to training, adding: “It was very stand still. He was a very superstitious manager, very different. 

“We used to do the centre (kick), set it back to one of the centre-backs, put a foot on it, and you used to just smash it diagonally, like the restart of a game.

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“But you’d work on that every Friday with full international players.

“That only needs one session, doesn’t it? If it’s me and you, and you’ve got to put your foot on the ball, and I’ve got to smash it diagonally, that’s all we need, one session.

“So that was the thing with the superstition, like every Friday or every day before a game, he’d practise it. 

“It just blew my mind – I was thinking, it’s alright the first few weeks when it’s fresh, a few months in it’s like, what’s happening here? Do we need to do this again?”

Sarri returned to Italy following his single season with Chelsea, with spells at Juventus and Lazio, who he left in March.

Meanwhile, Cahill later joined Crystal Palace and Bournemouth before retiring in 2022 aged 36.

During seven years in West London, the centre-back made 290 appearances and scored 25 goals.

He also won eight major trophies including the Champions League and two Premier League titles.

EPA

Cahill made eight appearances under Sarri during his final season at Stamford Bridge[/caption]

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The former England defender made 290 appearances during seven years with Chelsea[/caption]