Chelsea boss Sarri thanks Newcastle coach Benitez

On Reuben Loftus-Cheek’s future Sarri said: “I made a decision to put two wingers and only one midfielder on the bench”. If they go on loan, sometimes it’s just to play, and that’s it.

“I told him that he needs to be patient now but that he is very important for us”. “The other things, I have to respect them and I have to concentrate on my job”.

“I don’t know”, he said when asked if Abraham will stay. When I arrive in a new team usually I have problems with the defensive base for two months, so it’s not a problem. He believes Conte played “more direct” which obligated the strikers to constantly be fighting for the ball in the air.

“Have we worked on defence this week?”

The Spaniard will be tasked with finding space and linking up play for Newcastle.

He said: “We finished 10th, but could have finished 15th or 17th”. When I was in Liverpool, they were talking about: ‘Oh, you have to compete.’ But I was doing the analysis, and to compete with London and Manchester was hard.

The system requires very precise and strict positional discipline from his players, but Sarri claims that if done right, it conserves energy and so allows players to press for a full 90 minutes.

“I think with the young players. sometimes it’s better if they go on loan, but sometimes it’s better if they stay with you”.

Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle United do not have the level of firepower that Arsenal had at their disposal last weekend.

Fortunately for Newcastle, DeAndre Yedlin is fit again and will face the Blues at St James’s Park today, meaning that Manquillo wouldn’t have started even if he was fit.

Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted that Newcastle United will suffer their second loss of the season in their next home fixture against Chelsea this weekend.

But Nicholas does not think Loftus-Cheek will get much of a look in, with Ross Barkley a surprise starter in the first two games of the season and Cesc Fabregas yet to start.

“We had a period before, when everything was wrong”.

Newcastle dominated that game with two goals from Perez and one from Dwight Gayle. One player can make a difference.