EPL: What I told Chelsea players about Cardiff before international break – Sarri

Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri, has warned his players about the dangers of international breaks ahead of Saturday’s clash against Cardiff City.

Before the FIFA international break, Chelsea had won their first four games of the new season.

The Italian manager noted that teams can suffer a downturn in results after such a break.

“Am I very relaxed? Not really, because tomorrow (today) is a very difficult game, a very difficult match,” Sarri told press conference ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League fixture with Cardiff.

“I remember in my first season in Naples, the average point per match during the season was 2.28, I think.

“But the average (at Napoli) after the international break was only 1.31 or 1.32. So I know that the matches after the break are very, very difficult.

“Fortunately, in the last season (when Napoli almost won Serie A in 2017-18), the average was the same: 2.4 in the season, 2.45 after the break.

“This was only because after the first season the players understood the difficulty of this kind of match.

“I’ve been trying to stress this number to my players (to avoid a drop-off in performance) and telling them my experience in this situation.”