Gary Cahill has spoken out about his “terrible” season under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea ahead of leaving the club on a free transfer this summer.
The 33-year-old has made just seven appearances in Sarri’s first season as head coach at Stamford Bridge, despite captaining the club to a seventh FA Cup triumph last term under Antonio Conte.
In an exclusive interview with the Telegraph, as cited by Sky Sports, Cahill admits he finds it hard to respect his manager when the feeling doesn’t seem to be mutual:
It’s been really terrible for me personally. If you are not playing a player, any player, for two, three, four games, then you don’t have to give a reason for that. But if it gets to eight or nine games, then you have to explain the situation. What’s going on? But the manager hasn’t done that. I see some of the situations with players who won the title with Chelsea, not just myself, and it just hasn’t been right. It makes it very hard for me to have respect for someone who has not respected what some of us have won with the club.
Sarri has been in the centre of controversy for an array of reasons since being appointed at Chelsea and still hasn’t won over the fans, though lifting the Europa League and claiming a top-four spot may change that.
With the Blues still battling for a place in the top four, it’s unlikely Cahill will be allowed a Stamford Bridge send-off, which would top off a miserable nine months.
What the former England international has achieved at the club certainly won’t be forgotten by supporters though, that’s for sure.
