
Maurizio
Sarri has told Ruben Loftus-Cheek to get used to the pressure of playing for
a club like Chelsea.
Loftus-Cheek, a Chelsea player since the age of eight, has made just two
Premier League appearances under Sarri following his World Cup campaign with
England.
Both of those came from the bench, but Gareth Southgate kept faith with
Loftus-Cheek and gave him a starting role in England's game against
Switzerland last month.
Loftus-Cheek began training with Chelsea's first team regularly during the
2014/15 season under Jose Mourinho but even for a young player widely
regarded as their best academy product since John Terry, opportunities have
remained hard to come by.
Sarri's stance has so far echoed that of his predecessors.
"The pressure is normal for a player of high level so he has to get used to
the pressure," the Chelsea boss said ahead of their Europa League tie
against FC Vidi on Thursday.
"It's normal for a high-level player to have pressure from the club, the
newspapers, TV, the manager."
Sarri reiterated that he plans to see every player in his squad between the
first international break of the season and the second, in what he described
as his "pre-season" following a summer in which many of his players were in
Russia.
"Maybe tomorrow it is time to see Loftus I think," Sarri added.
"He was unlucky in the last three weeks after the match with the national
team, he had a problem but in the last five, six days he's been better so I
think he's able to play tomorrow."
Sarri plans to make "six, seven or eight" changes to the side that drew
against Liverpool in the league last weekend.
But the Italian, yet to win a major trophy as a manager, maintains he wants
to be in the Europa League until the end, despite admitting the club's
priority is securing a place in the Champions League.
"I am here to win, I want to win something," he said. "I hope to be able to
do it."