When Sarri Met Tom, Dick and Harry

Not much joviality and smiles on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge.

More a question of who was angrier, as the normally squeaky-clean England captain, Harry Kane, was accused of a headbutt as his temper got the better of him while Spurs were falling out of the title race, while on the opposition bench, Chelsea head coach, Maurizio Sarri, was still simmering after the weekend’s EFL Cup Final and the very public show of subordination against him.

Sarri probably felt the better of the two men on the night, as Chelsea took the points and he came out of his internal spat with his head held high, while Kane’s was pressed against Cesar Azpilicueta’s skull.

But longer term, it’s ‘Arry who will be ‘appier because it’s the players who hold all the aces.

Firstly to Wembley. Even earlier than that; to a Nottingham barbers where I went for a haircut a fortnight ago. On the radio, as I sat there contemplating, songs were playing. They weren’t obviously recognisable to me but when, to make conversation, the barber mentioned them and I had to embarrassingly admit I wasn’t sure of the artists (Johnny Cash and Metallica, no less) but when the next song came on – Video Killed The Radio Star – I spurted out that I did know that one. ‘Buggles’ I triumphantly cried, and it was close enough. It was only later, on reflection, that I realised that not knowing the first two was bad enough, but actually knowing the third was probably even worse.

My point is, sometimes, at the time and in the heat of the moment, you don’t appreciate how something you do or say can make you look really bad. I think that’s really what happened to Kepa the Keeper in last Sunday’s EFL Cup Final. He selfishly tried to stay on the pitch, grossly underestimating the impact his actions would have, or how they’d be perceived.

I fully agree, therefore, that he was punished with a few days on the naughty step. Whether it was a [ahem] misunderstanding over his fitness or he just wanted to face the penalty kicks, his actions were not only wrong but also shamefully disrespectful to his manager (and substitute goalie) who was already under a considerable amount of pressure (Sarri 0-1 Kepa).

Afterwards – and it’s a lot easier than when you’ve had time to think – he probably realised this. I do think that either because of his apparent cramp or because he felt Caballero was a better bet for the shoot-out, Sarri wanted him off anyway and as a player, when your numbers up, it’s up. If you don’t agree with it – and how many players like coming off? – then that is for the sanctuary of the dressing room, not in front of millions in the TV audiences around the world.

More tellingly, the other Chelsea players – especially the senior ones and captain – didn’t exactly do much to help the situation or their manager (0-2). Maybe that’s the point Kane was making a few days later. But Kepa’s actions – on such a stage – were still a shock. Even in a sporting world where it’s probably the thin end of the wedge as player influence and actions are ever growing beyond the control of those around them.

Sarri came second in this particular argument but won the battle although he will ultimately lose the war. No shame in that. It’s an unwinnable one.

The on-pitch debacle was a toughie for him. Dragging a player off the pitch in those circumstances would have looked even worse than it did already and created bigger divisions and controversy, and by seemingly letting it go, he came as the bigger person, even if he was extremely undermined at the time.

We’ll never know if the substitute keeper would have made a difference (with his penalty stopping ability or because he knew the City players penalty preferences) but Kepa’s actions might have cost Chelsea a trophy – and for that their fans might have more reason to be angry with him than his manager. In the end, he let a tame Sergio Aguero kick squirm under his body (Sarri 1-2 Kepa) and then was left to squirm the bench (2-2) while Willy Caballero kept a clean sheet in the midweek victory.

The manager was able to eventually make his point while the solid Chelsea performance in Sunday’s final (that displayed he’d not quite ‘lost the dressing room’ yet), followed up with three points against bitter rivals, Spurs, on Wednesday gave him the edge (Sarri 3-2 Kepa), for now at least.

It allowed the club to move on. Kepa regained his place rather than ‘rotting in the reserves’ as Chris Sutton said should happen, but that’s surely a step too far. But then he also thought Brendan Rogers should be hung drawn and quartered for leaving Celtic for Leicester. He’s so close to that end of the scale, you imagine he’d be pushing for a custodial sentence if anyone bumped into him at the bar.

When it comes to player power, Rogers’s new charges are an interesting case themselves. It has been mooted that it was the players who were behind the sacking of Claudio Ranieri – about five minutes after they lifted the Premier League trophy – and then quickened the exit of Craig Shakespeare and finally Claude Puel. It could be argued that the style of play and results had just as big an impact, but the accusations have never really gone away; that some senior stars down tools when they want a manager out and Rogers might need to keep an eye of them if he senses it happening on his watch.

He has to look no further than Old Trafford for an example of how players can force a managerial change. Again, Jose brought a lot of it on himself, but there was little doubt that some established players were simply not putting in a shift for him the way they now are with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in charge. Some of these players are also apparently ‘demanding’ that the caretaker manager is given the job on a permanent basis.

Whatever the rights and wrongs – and it might just be a lot of talk to fill column inches – it suggests that, individually and collectively, players have more power than ever these days in the corridors of football clubs.

When it comes to moving between clubs we know they definitely do. There was once a time when a transfer was the decision of the club alone if a player was contracted. There are many a story of old-fashioned managers who have put paid to a player’s ambitions of moving up the career ladder. Now, if a player wants to go, they’ll go; if not in the next transfer window then the one after that at the latest.

That’s what would happen with Kane. If he is losing faith, as his teammates are allegedly worried, then the club has no option but to cash in or risk a multi-million-pound asset walking away for nothing, as keeps happening at their North London neighbours, Arsenal.

But it’s not just managers and transfers where players have the upper hand. Neil Warnock has commented on his frustration over midfielder, Victor Camarasa, who played just seven minutes in a five-week spell because of a calf problem. He missed games even when the club’s physio has passed him fit because the players ‘own medical team’ have deemed him otherwise.

“He obviously listens to his physios, his medical people and Tom, Dick and Harry from abroad,” Warnock said. “There’s nothing we can do about that. I imagine a lot of Premier League players are like that at the minute. I’ve never come across the situation I’ve got at the moment.”

And that’s the mild-mannered Neil Warnock talking. How the landscape has changed so quickly. Can you imagine an independent medical expert going to Sir Alex Ferguson -or Brian Clough – to say that the player wasn’t available for selection?

But player power isn’t new. Far from it.

France might be the current world champions, but several previous major tournaments have been dogged with players trying to call the shots. The Netherlands too have seen squads – because of a collective or individual issue – implode on a regular basis and the legend Johan Cruyff practically invented player-power; once wearing a slightly different kit to his team mates at the World Cup because of a commercial deal, so also going head-to-head with FIFA and winning that one as well.

Other sports have it too. In the last fortnight, World Rugby have been forced to make an about turn on a plan to introduce a Nations League style set of tests into the annual calendar because the players said no (albeit correctly) because they hold all the aces, especially when they speak as one (or threaten to strike as one). Tennis players and golfers have also seen their influence over the game increase enormously in recent years.

Chris Gayle, the West Indian cricketer, plays when and where he likes. His country’s administration holds no sway if he decides to miss their games to make more money somewhere else. But he’s just scored the 424 runs in 4 innings against World #1 team, England, in what will probably be his last series in the Caribbean, sending more records tumbling along the way.

And there it is on a nutshell.

Like it or not, even though there is that ‘no player is bigger than the club’ mentality, especially amongst fans, it’s simply not true anymore. They are the superstars and we’ll move to the beat of their drum.

So, if Harry Kane eventually does want to leave Spurs, he will do just that.

If Maurizio Sarri wants club-record £71m buy, Kepa to leave Chelsea, and the owners don’t, then there will only be one winner there too, regardless of what happened at Wembley last week.

As always, don’t worry about this Saturday, or next season or even the one after that. Fast forward ten years or so and think about where this is headed. Because it’s a train that will prove hard to stop as it gathers momentum.

Transfers will be one of the casualties – with football players eventually deciding where and when they play – and managers and coaches might be obsolete before much longer too.

Harry and Sarri might both be angry right now, but only one of them is guaranteed to still be laughing in the future.

And I’m not sure it’s a laughing matter.

words Darren Young, D3D4 columnist