Gary
Neville would not be surprised if Maurizio Sarri was sacked after Chelsea's
6-0 thrashing at Manchester City, but thinks that would be "madness".
Chelsea were blown away at the Etihad Stadium as they suffered their
heaviest defeat in any competition since 1991.
Sarri, who was appointed last summer, said he is worried about his team and
their performance, rather than his job.
However, former Manchester United and England defender Neville said on Sky
Sports: "It's the type of club where you wouldn't be surprised if you wake
up tomorrow to the news that Chelsea have changed their manager.
"It's not something we want, six months into the job it would be madness in
some ways, but there's where we are at with football.
"If the ownership at the club really want to see a better level of football
they need to live through the pain. Now is not the time to go weak on that.
In the next 24-48 hours we will see whether Chelsea have the belief that
they want to follow through with it.
"In the past they have changed. Are they going to stick with Sarri? How
intent are they on changing the style of football?
"If you said at the start of the season that Chelsea would be challenging
for the top four, would be in the FA Cup, still in Europe and in the Carabao
Cup final, you wouldn't think for one second that the manager would be
losing his job.
"But it's the noises that have been coming out from Chelsea in the last six
or seven weeks and the interviews that Sarri has done. You can multiply that
by 10 because we only hear a small part of it, so you can imagine on the
inside it isn't great.
"That would be a big concern, and Chelsea don't hang around."
Chelsea slipped down to sixth in the Premier League after the defeat, but
turn their attentions to cup competitions as they play Malmo in the last 32
of the Europa League, Manchester United in the fifth round of the FA Cup and
City in the Carabao Cup final.
Neville thinks Chelsea could face a more difficult decision regarding
Sarri's future depending how results go over the next few weeks.
"There's a predicament because if Chelsea were to beat Manchester United or
beat Malmo or beat City then it would be very difficult [to sack Sarri],"
Neville said.
"These Chelsea players are capable of doing that and performing, but it
looks like a sorry situation."
Jamie Redknapp was critical of Sarri during the loss to City for repeating
the same actions every game, such as bringing Ross Barkley on for Mateo
Kovacic.
However, Neville does not think Sarri will change his principles, just as
Pep Guardiola did not when he came under pressure during his first season
with City.
Neville said: "Managers work on a set of principles in the week. Gone are
the days when we see managers adapting and playing different styles every
week. We see a style of a team and players are programmed to play that way.
"Once you have made that bed it's actually quite dangerous to change it
because players then see a weakness in the manager's philosophy and see that
he is jumping around.
"You need to win trophies or create some real control in a club to be able
to change your message.
"Sarri has made his bed, you have to give him credit as he believes in what
he is doing. Remember Pep Guardiola in his first season at Manchester City?
It was a struggle and he didn't achieve what he wanted to achieve, but he
didn't change his principles. He just did it a lot better and worked with
his players."
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