Maurizio Sarri insists Chelsea aren’t good enough to win the Premier League

The Italian believes his side are not mentally strong enough to compete with Manchester City for the title

Maurizio Sarri believes Chelsea are not good enough to win the Premier League as they have been suffering with a mental block.

The Italian was critical of the way his side have started their last three games and even though they are just four points behind Manchester City he has written off their chances of success this term.

“At the moment, no we cannot catch them,” he said ahead of Saturday’s trip to rivals Tottenham Hotspur. “For me, they are stronger than us at the moment. We have to work, we have to work very hard just to try to recover the gap. But, at the moment, the gap is still there.

“I think it’s a mental problem. In the last three matches, we had problems with the approach to the match.

“Not only that, because we had some problems also in the beginning of the second half. So we have to be careful. We have to be focused on this problem.

“For sure, it’s not a physical problem because, in the last part of the match, we ran a lot, I think. It’s not a physical problem. It’s a mental problem. We have some difficulties to enter into the match.

“It’s not a tactical problem. Because in the first 15 minutes in the last three matches, the problem was the opponents were more aggressive, more determined than us. So it’s not a tactical or physical problem. We have to approach the match in a different way, for application and determination.”

On Friday, Chelsea awarded N’Golo Kante a new five-year contract and Sarri was glowing in his praise for the midfielder.

“N’Golo, for us, is not just an important player. He’s a ‘determinate’ player for us. So I’m really happy with the new contract. Clearly very pleased for him. And it’s a very important news, I think.

“I know that David Luiz told something about him, that he doesn’t want to pay the bill in the restaurant. So he has a flaw like everybody. But I think he is a really professional player, very professional on the pitch and off the pitch.

“He’s very important for us in the defensive phase, but he is improving in the offensive movements. Now he has to improve in the last 25m. He can score more.”

Sarri’s next task is to persuade key man Eden Hazard to put pen to paper too. “With Eden I don’t know the evolution of the deal, for the new contract, but he’s very well,” he said. “Fortunately, he played the last match with the national team on Sunday, so he was here on Tuesday. For us, that’s very important. I don’t know the evolution of the new contract, but I think we can do (it). I hope so, I hope so.”

Eden Hazard’s Chelsea future remains unclear (Getty Images)

Chelsea have a strong squad available for the Tottenham match with Mateo Kovacic available after an ankle problem. But Sarri is bracing himself for a tough couple of months with plenty of rotation.

“I think it was difficult from September until now,” he said. “Because we played every three days, and then 10 days with 14, 15, 16 players with the national teams. So it wasn’t easy.

“December and January will be a very difficult period because we have to play every three days. I don’t know. Maybe the rotation of the players will be different, of course.”