Sarri: Chelsea are 'extremely difficult to motivate'

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri did not pull any punches when assessing his side's performance in defeat to Arsenal.

The Blues mustered just a single effort on target, when Marcos Alonso's cross in the 65th minute was caught by Gunners shot-stopper Bernd Leno, prompting Sarri to opt for his mother tongue Italian when dressing down the squad.

"I'm extremely angry, very angry indeed. This defeat was due to our mentality," Sarri offered during the postmatch presser. "I can't accept it. We had a similar issue against Tottenham in the league. It appears this group of players are extremely difficult to motivate."

A spirited Arsenal side thrived in recovering the ball, registering 33 successful tackles to Chelsea's 13, while chipping in with 19 interceptions. Sarri clearly took note.

"From a technical point of view, both teams were on the same sort of level, but they had a higher level of determination in both penalty areas, so tactics don't come into it," he added. "I can't possibly say I am not partly responsible for the defeat. We have to share it.

"This is not a team that is going to be well known for its battling qualities, but we need to become a team that is capable of adapting, possibly suffering for 10 or 15 minutes, and then playing our own football. Today we didn't play our own football."

Incoming striker Gonzalo Higuain should provide some much-needed impetus in attack, though Sarri was quick to mitigate the immediate impact of any addition, saying, "The club knows what I want, I'm sure they are doing their best. But whoever arrives will have difficulties with the mentality of today."