MX23RW : Sunday, June 30 11:48:44| >> :120:47662:47662:
[monks data]
Attendance: 40,537
Chelsea logo
Premier League | Gameweek 33
Apr 8, 2019 at 8pm UK
 
West Ham logo

2-0

Hazard (24', 90')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Sarri would take pay cut to end 'strange' fixture scheduling

Sarri would take pay cut to end 'strange' fixture scheduling
© Reuters
Chelsea are in Europa League action just three days after their Premier League fixture against West Ham.

Maurizio Sarri has said he would take a pay cut if it meant the Premier League helping English teams in Europe through more sympathetic fixture scheduling.

Sarri has questioned the Premier League's "very strange" decision to schedule Chelsea's West Ham clash for Monday night, just three days before the Blues' Europa League trip to Slavia Prague.

Chelsea face a pivotal week in hosting West Ham on Monday night before heading to Prague on Thursday – then making the testing league trip to title-chasing Liverpool on Sunday.

And Sarri thinks Premier League bosses ought to do more to help their teams' European endeavours.

Asked if he would take a pay cut for a more favourable fixture list, Sarri said: "Yes of course, because the salary is not so important for me.

"It is important to have fun, for me. To work without working, because for me, it's not work.

"I am not able to understand the decision of the Premier League because we have to go to Prague as an English team.

"So I'm not able to understand why we have to play on Monday. It's very strange. I think they could have done more for the English teams in Europe.

  • April 8 - West Ham (h), Premier League
  • April 11 - Slavia Prague (a), Europa League
  • April 14 - Liverpool (a), Premier League
  • April 18 - Slavia Prague (h), Europa League
  • April 22 - Burnley (h), Premier League

"In Serie A teams play on Friday. Teams involved in the Europa League away from home, they can ask to play their next Serie A match on Monday.

"But this is the situation and we need only to adapt to this situation."

Sarri conceded however there is little chance of the scheduling situation changing in future, as he praised the Premier League's prowess at generating television rights revenue.

While the former Napoli manager would happily cut his own salary to boost his side's chances in Europe, Sarri conceded he would not want any reduction in revenues to hit English clubs' transfer spending power.

Maurizio Sarri has welcomed the Premier League's financial success and how it enables clubs like Chelsea to recruit the best players in the world like Eden Hazard, pictured
Maurizio Sarri has welcomed the Premier League's financial success and how it enables clubs like Chelsea to recruit the best players in the world like Eden Hazard, pictured (Ian Walton/PA)

When asked if an easier fixture run would be worth a reduction in funds available for transfers, Sarri continued: "For the players, no, because the Premier League is the best championship in the world.

"So we need to have very strong players.

"The Premier League was able to sell in the best way possible (the television rights), so in England we are lucky.

"We can buy the best players in the world, we have the best championship in the world, and so we have to accept we have to play every three days."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Nick Purewal, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '9075cd0e-3009-44db-baf7-8ed1fedebdaf');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Sarri would take pay cut to end \u2018strange\u2019 fixture scheduling'});

ID:355614: cacheID:355614:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7724:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Eden Hazard celebrates scoring for Chelsea on April 3, 2019
Read Next:
Hazard to earn £350k per week at Madrid?
>
Read more about Maurizio Sarri Football
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Sunday, June 30
 
5pm
 
8pm
Monday, July 1
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, July 2
 
5pm
 
8pm
Friday, July 5
 
5pm
Saturday, July 6
Tuesday, July 9
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!