Maurizio Sarri has been a manager under pressure, even with Chelsea in pole position for fourth place and on the verge of a European final. Reuters
Maurizio Sarri has been a manager under pressure, even with Chelsea in pole position for fourth place and on the verge of a European final. Reuters
Maurizio Sarri has been a manager under pressure, even with Chelsea in pole position for fourth place and on the verge of a European final. Reuters
Maurizio Sarri has been a manager under pressure, even with Chelsea in pole position for fourth place and on the verge of a European final. Reuters

Chelsea struggle to mask deficiencies of Maurzio Sarri's debut season even if top four and Europa League title are achieved


Richard Jolly
  • English
  • Arabic

Almost there. Chelsea could achieve one of their objectives for the season on Sunday. Victory against Watford, coupled with results elsewhere, could book them a Premier League top-four finish. At another club, under different circumstances, it would be a cause for celebration

Perhaps not at Chelsea. There is the sense they are limping over the line. Had they achieved their results in reverse, there would be more momentum and excitement.

Instead, a stellar start to the season has been followed by six months of unconvincing floundering and flatlining, interrupted by Eden Hazard's brilliance. The dynamics of the top-four race are such that two clubs may seem to secure Uefa Champions League football by default.

Chelsea's season has contained their worst defeat for 28 years, a hideous run of away form, open dissent from the supporters against the manager, a mutiny from a goalkeeper – "it's not something I'm proud of," Kepa Arrizabalaga said this week – that brought embarrassment in the League Cup final and a blend of indignities.

There are, of course, plenty of clubs who would happily trade places with them, but Chelsea’s combination of ambition, budget and recent history can lend an unsatisfactory feel to a season that may yet deliver a sort of success on two fronts, yet which seemed to promise more.

Even a week that could bring vindication still offered confusion. Sarri underlined his status as the most misunderstood man in English football by benching Hazard for Thursday’s first leg of the Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt, a decision that reportedly bemused his employers.

Sarri's explanation was both logical and illogical: Hazard may have to play 70 games a season for club and country. The Belgian's cameo in Germany took him to 56, but it all prompted the question of why Sarri had not reduced his workload earlier by resting him for lesser fixtures. That Chelsea emerged from Frankfurt with a draw owed much to Ruben Loftus-Cheek, one of the success stories of Sarri's coaching.

And yet there may be too few. Hazard has never contributed to more goals in a Chelsea shirt, and yet he feels impervious to surroundings, performing neither because nor in spite of Sarri.

The Italian’s allies represent altogether more controversial figures. Jorginho was excellent in Frankfurt but has been booed this season, a cipher for supporters’ dislike of Sarriball. Gonzalo Higuain has been a shadow of his former self, albeit not physically. A man who delivered 36 league goals for Sarri in a Serie A season has contributed four in as many months for Chelsea. There are no grounds to turn his loan into a permanent transfer.

It highlights the way the striking issue remains unresolved. Uncertainties abound, not all Sarri’s fault. His inflexible belief in 4-3-3 has compounded problems and failed to bring the best from too many of his players, but Chelsea’s future contains more questions than answers.

Hazard’s Stamford Bridge career is nearing an end, Chelsea are facing a transfer ban and an ageing team has scarcely been given a jolt of youth; Sarri was too slow to select the now injured Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The spine of his side consists of his supporters, in David Luiz, Jorginho and Higuain; each could be less pivotal under another manager. There is a comparison to be drawn between Sarri and the manager he may pip to fourth place and face in the Europa League final.

Succeed on both fronts and there is a case to say he has done a better job than Unai Emery. Yet Chelsea’s squad, while flawed, was superior, their transfer spend greater, their ceiling higher. A failure to qualify for the Champions League would be underachievement. Sarri’s feat, such as it is, may be to prevent that.

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Multitasking pays off for money goals

Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.

That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.

"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.

Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."

People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.

"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."

Roger Federer's 2018 record

Australian Open Champion

Rotterdam Champion

Indian Wells Runner-up

Miami Second round

Stuttgart Champion

Halle Runner-up

Wimbledon Quarter-finals

Cincinnati Runner-up

US Open Fourth round

Shanghai Semi-finals

Basel Champion

Paris Masters Semi-finals

 

 

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Company%20profile
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Persuasion
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The Bio

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Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”

Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”

Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”

65
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4.15pm: Italy v Spain (Group A)
5.30pm: Egypt v Mexico (Group B)
6.45pm: UAE v Japan (Group A)
8pm: Iran v Russia (Group B)

Basquiat in Abu Dhabi

One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier. 

It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.  

“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October

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