Monday 21 January 2019 12:13, UK
Maurizio Sarri's public criticism of his Chelsea players after the defeat against Arsenal was a "last resort" and "not far from desperate", according to Danny Mills.
Sarri accused his team of being "difficult to motivate" following the 2-0 loss at the Emirates Stadium, their fifth defeat in the last 12 games.
The Chelsea head coach was furious at his post-match news conference and spoke in Italian to question the mentality of his players.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Mills said it was an almost desperate strategy.
"It's a last resort to come out and criticise your players publicly," said Mills. "You've tried in training, you've tried to sort things out, you've told them time and time again and they haven't responded.
"So as a last resort you go 'okay, maybe if I say to the world they're not putting a shift in, they may start thinking it's their attitude or whatever it is, and it might just give them that little bit of extra impetus to go and perform'.
"It's not quite desperation stakes but it's not far from it to try and get some sort of reaction.
"It can go one of two ways. Some players react incredibly well. (Didier) Drogba thrived on pressure, every time he was criticised that made him step up.
"Jose Mourinho said when he was at Manchester United that some players asked not to be criticised because they couldn't handle it in front of the group.
"So you've got be aware in this day and age of different mentalities from individual players.
"Gone are the days when you can just blanket cover everybody and treat everybody the same.
"It doesn't happen and maybe Sarri is trying to learn a little bit about his players, what makes them work and how he can get the best out of them."
Chelsea remain in fourth place but Arsenal and Manchester United and now just three points behind and Mills says Sarri has a right to expect more from his players.
"As a player, even if you don't quite believe in what the manager is doing, you've got to go out there and you've got to put the effort in," he added.
"You've got to put the effort in at training and you've got to give one hundred per cent every single time.
"It's a tough accusation to say they weren't motivated. That probably comes out of frustration as much as anything. You can tell when he spoke in Italian. He didn't want to speak in English because he wanted to get how frustrated and annoyed he was across to the media and the players."
