Maurizio Sarri has defiantly insisted he will not bend from his principles despite Chelsea’s stuttering league form having seen them drop outside the Premier League’s top four.

The Italian knows defeat by Huddersfield Town on Saturday could have serious implications for his future having watched his team capitulate after half-time at Bournemouth in midweek to suffer their worst league defeat since 1996. The travelling support chanted “You don’t know what you’re doing” and Sarri, whose side have lost five of their past 12 league matches, was confronted by disgruntled fans outside the ground.

There have been calls for the head coach to tweak his tactical approach, ensuring Chelsea are less reliant upon Jorginho as the midfielder struggles to make an impression following his arrival from Napoli. But Sarri, who insisted he was and would remain “a dreamer” in his philosophical outlook on the game, is not willing to shake up tactical plans.

“I don’t think I can change at the moment,” he said. “I could change my mind in the future, I don’t know. I changed in the past. But, at the moment, no. If I can change the mentality of these players they are really very suitable for my football.”

Asked whether he had received assurances over his future from a club not known for patience, Sarri said: “I don’t mind, because I am a dreamer. I want to play my football. But if I arrived here after starting in a non-professional team it’s because I am a dreamer.

“[The board’s attitude] is not my problem. I want to remain the same man. If I am a dreamer, I am a dreamer. If I have fun with my football, I want to play my football. If I believe that the organisation in a team is everything, I cannot change my mind. I think that my job is always at risk and I love my job for this reason.

“I thrive on pressure. There was more at Napoli because Naples is the only big city in Italy with only one team. So, there, the pressure from the fans is really big. So I love my job for everything but I know very well the rules. My job is always at risk. You can win against City but after three days you are at risk.”

Sarri travelled home from Bournemouth with one of his coaching staff rather than on the team bus, and used that time to analyse the defeat. He admitted he had struggled to sleep over subsequent nights – “I’ve had six or seven hours over the last two days so, yes, I’m tired, but this is my job” – and accepted the fierce criticism to which he and his players had been subjected by Chelsea’s support.

That has centred upon the predictability of the team’s tactical approach but he cited the example of Barcelona in their prime as a reason to stick to his methods. “Everybody, 10 years ago, knew very well Barcelona and Barcelona won everything because they played their football very well,” he added. “Barça were predictable but they won. They were organised, with fantastic players, of course, otherwise it would have been impossible to win everything. But they were really very organised.

“The situation in England is very clear. There are three teams above the others. In one [Tottenham Hotspur], the coach arrived five years ago, in another [Liverpool] four years ago, and in the other [Manchester City] three years ago. English football is in the hands of these teams. They had a plan and were really patient. So we need to change mentality and go on.”