Maurizio Sarri does not believe it was a risky move to accuse his Chelsea players of being “extremely difficult to motivate” and lacking “ferocity” in their game after the tame defeat at Arsenal.

Sarri struggled to contain his anger after a result which means fourth-placed Chelsea’s lead over Arsenal and Manchester United has been cut to three points and the Italian made it clear he views the problem as mental rather than tactical, saying there will be no drastic changes for the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday.

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The head coach was in no mood to tread carefully after his team’s hopes of returning to the Champions League were dealt a blow by Arsenal, who won thanks to goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny. Sarri spoke in Italian rather than English “because I want my message to be very clear” and although player power has worked against previous Chelsea managers, the 60-year-old insisted that he is not worried about bruised egos.

“It is my character,” he said. “I don’t think it is risky. These guys have a sensible head on their shoulders, so I don’t think I am risking anything. I said the players are difficult to motivate but by the same token there are players who are sensible, who will listen and won’t take it the wrong way.

“There might be a slight risk, but I don’t think there is. This is my character – I am a straight talker. This is how I speak. Yes, sometimes when you speak in that way it might cause some upset or some conflict, but it doesn’t cause any lingering bitterness.”

Sarri tried to sound positive after being asked if Chelsea have leaders. “I think we probably do,” he said. “I think we might even have someone who is capable of embodying the characteristics I have talked about. Of course there is always a danger a leader emerges who is a bad leader – who doesn’t necessarily do the kind of things that I want the team to do. Nevertheless I think we need to change the mentality and I think within the group of players we have that ability and the characteristics to change.”

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Yet the former Napoli manager, who arrived at Stamford Bridge , also made references to Chelsea struggling in recent years to replace senior players such as Petr Cech, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry.

“When I came here certainly I realised the group had a huge amount of potential,” he said. “I don’t think it would be correct for me to talk about being disappointed with what I found when I arrived. When I arrived, of course, I knew the team was coming off the back of a pretty disappointing season. Over the last couple of years they have lost some really important points of reference for the club.”

While the discussion focused on Chelsea playing with the wrong attitude against Unai Emery’s side, it was hard not to think back to Antonio Conte’s reaction to a chastening defeat by Arsenal at the start of the 2016-17 season. Sarri’s predecessor made sweeping changes and went on to win the league. Yet the prospect of a similar tactical revolution seems unlikely. Sarri is too wedded to coaching his possession game. His hope is that Gonzalo Higuaín’s impending arrival on loan from Juventus will improve matters.

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“I think it is different because Conte was using a four-man defence and changed to a three-man defence,” Sarri said. “But he was used to doing that anyway, so it wasn’t quite the same, whereas this is the football I have. I am a good teacher of this football. I don’t think it would be a good idea if I try to teach my players a different type of football. There will be some changes perhaps but there will be no massive upheaval.”

David Luiz, who had a poor game in central defence for Chelsea, insisted there is belief in Sarri’s style of play. “Because of the results if you start to change and change, you don’t go anywhere,” the Brazilian said. “So this is our philosophy. I believe in it, I trust in it.

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“What Sarri has done until now is unbelievable because normally a team to understand this philosophy needs one or two years, like Man City and Liverpool, who are playing very well with the ball now. What he has done has been amazing, so we have to try to improve the details now. Everybody is with him.”