Chelsea news: Pep Guardiola is an ‘inspiration’ for what Maurizio Sarri can achieve, says Gianfranco Zola

Three defeats in their last four Premier League matches – culminating in Sunday’s historic 6-0 humiliation at the hands of City – have left Chelsea’s top-four hopes in doubt and Sarri facing fresh questions

Gianfranco Zola believes Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is “a good inspiration” for what Chelsea can achieve if they stick with Maurizio Sarri.

Three defeats in their last four Premier League matches – culminating in Sunday’s historic 6-0 humiliation at the hands of City – have left Chelsea’s top-four hopes in doubt and Sarri facing fresh questions about whether his expansive, possession-focused style of football can work at Stamford Bridge.

Guardiola insisted after watching his team demolish Chelsea that Sarri requires time and patience for his methods to bear fruit and Zola, the former Napoli coach’s assistant, identified City’s steady development into one of Europe’s most dominant sides as an example to be followed in the coming years.

“You admire what Pep has done,” Zola said of Guardiola. “Certainly he’s a good inspiration. Not everything comes together straight away.

“What we’re trying to do is ambitious in a competitive league, and it’s not easy. But we believe it’s the right way and we carry on. There’s no point in making things too difficult for the players. We just need to stick to what we’re doing and try to make it better. Focus on that.

Sarri has repeatedly questioned his Chelsea players’ mentality in public after defeats this season and claimed they are not playing his football, but his complaints have not garnered him the same level of backing from supporters enjoyed by many of his predecessors.

Discontent in the stands has intensified in recent months, with much of the frustration focused on the Italian’s reluctance to shift from his favoured 4-3-3 formation and frequently predictable substitutions.

His decision to replace Gonzalo Higuain with Olivier Giroud during the second half of Chelsea’s shock 4-0 defeat to Bournemouth last month was met with loud chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ from the away section of the Vitality Stadium.

Zola, however, is adamant that Sarri is not totally inflexible in his approach. “How do you know we are not making changes?” he asked. “We are adjusting a few things. Understand that this is the Premier League. But without, you know, changing where we want to go. The direction is always the same.

“Two years ago, you were probably asking the same questions to Pep. You were asking if he’d keep playing from the back all the time. He said this was not in discussion and part of my game, even in the difficult moment. Maybe he adapted.

Chelsea have lost three of their last four league games (Getty)

“He has improved a lot in that, because he got his team defending better and pressing better, attacking better. He has adjusted something but not the way he saw football. There are questions about what we’re doing, a lot of doubts, but we are trying to adapt to the league.

“We are adapting to the league, but we don’t change what we believe is good for this club because, otherwise, we are nothing.”

February is a potentially defining month for Chelsea and Sarri. Hot on the heels of an FA Cup fifth-round tie against Manchester United on Monday is the League Cup final against Manchester City next weekend, where the Italian will hope to win the first major trophy of his career at Guardiola’s expense.

Beyond those tests, Tottenham’s visit to Stamford Bridge later this month could prove decisive for Chelsea’s hopes of finishing in the Premier League top four. “It’s [FA Cup] fifth round, Carabao Cup final... very good targets,” Zola admitted.

“But there’s also the game against Tottenham to determine the top four and the Champions League spots. That would be a big achievement for the club, of course. If you do well in these two games, that will change a lot of things.”