Maurizio Sarri continues to give mixed messages about his future at Chelsea, highlighting the uncertainty surrounding the manager.
The pressure may have been eased by wins over Tottenham and Fulham but doubts remain over whether he will still be at the helm long term.
Ahead of the first leg of their last-16 Europa League tie against Dynamo Kiev, Sarri told Standard Sport he has held talks with the hierarchy about the club’s plans for pre-season.
However, at no point did the Italian confirm he has been told his position as coach is safe and will be in charge for the start of next season.
But there are reasons to be positive right now. With 10 matches remaining, the race for the top four in the Premier League is in Chelsea’s hands, while they would qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League.
And yet things still feel like they are on a knife edge as far as Sarri is concerned and it will only take one defeat for the 60-year-old to come under negative scrutiny again.
At the weekend, the former Napoli boss told Sky Sport Italia he was feeling “relaxed” about his job prospects at Chelsea after speaking to the board, yet when quizzed in his pre-match press conference, Sarri downplayed the significance of those statements.
He said: “It’s not important if I’m here next season. At this moment, only the results are important. In this moment, only the Europa League is important. In this moment, Dynamo Kiev is everything. I am confident otherwise I won’t be able to do my work. I have to think this [that I will be here next season] if I want to do my job in the next way.”
He also contradicted himself when pressed on the significance of stating he felt relaxed after holding conversations with the powers-that-be.
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Sarri replied: “I don’t want to be relaxed. I want to be nervous. I have to think about a very important match [Dynamo Kiev] and then another after 62 or 63 hours in the Premier League [Wolves]. So I don’t want to be relaxed.”
Lack of stress is not something Chelsea employees are familiar with under owner Roman Abramovich. And yet defender David Luiz claims Sarri’s general demeanour has not altered since taking the job last July.
He said: “You don’t change your character because of the situation, you change the situation. He’s a great human, someone with the love and passion with football, trying to help everyone, giving the best advice.
“When you lose a game, like we did [against] Manchester City [6-0 last month], no one is going to be happy and coming here joking around. He’s a real person and real people have feelings good and bad.”
A convincing win over Dynamo Kiev is exactly what Chelsea need to keep spirits high but Sarri warns it won’t be straightforward.
“The two matches will be very difficult,” he said. “They are a good team, a physical team and a young team, very dangerous on the counter-attacks with two very fast wingers. So we need two very good performances.”