2 Chelsea stars and Sarri involved in fierce argument after defeat at Arsenal

2 Chelsea stars and Sarri involved in fierce argument after defeat at Arsenal

Maurizio Sarri and Cesar Azpilicueta were involved in a heated exchange following Chelsea's 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates last weekend.

The Blues were convincingly beaten by the Gunners and both manager and captain had a few exchanges which led to a meeting between players and members of staff.

According to The Sun, the Spain international aired out his mind concerning the Italian of being critical about the team.

The 59-year-old boss publicly criticized his team's attitude in the painful 2-0 defeat at the hands of their London rivals.

Alexander Lacazette and Laurent Kocielny scored a goal each in the first half to hand Unai Emery's side a famous victory.

Though Sarri's side are three points clear off Arsenal and Manchester United on the Premier League table but the Italian gaffer is still not satisfied with his team's performance.

"I'm extremely angry, very angry indeed," he said after full-time, speaking in Italian and using his interpreter to ensure his message got across.

"This defeat was due to our mentality. 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.

"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. 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."

It is understood Willian backed Azilipueta during the row with Sarri at their training base in Cobham.

But the Spanish wing-back played all 90 minutes in Chelsea's semi final League Cup victory over Tottenham in mid-week.

The Italain tactician also used the Spaniard as an example of one of the few natural leaders within the Chelsea team earlier this week so their relationship does not appear to be strained.

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