Since refusing to give in to injury to play in the 2012 Champions League final just four months after arriving as a £7 million signing from Bolton Wanderers, Cahill has been one of Chelsea’s most reliable players and characters. But his final season has left him dissatisfied.
He has also been one of the most successful, collecting every domestic and European winners’ medal, and taking over the captaincy from John Terry.
The 33-year-old has played just 21 minutes of Premier League football since Sarri’s arrival, with his total number of appearances in all competitions standing at only seven.
The club captain explained his anger with Sarri’s management, ‘It’s been very difficult. I have played on a regular basis over the previous six seasons and I’ve won everything with Chelsea, so to be watching from the stands is something I didn’t expect. I know how the whole club works, I’ve got a big relationship with all the players and staff, and yet none of that has been utilized.”
“If you are not playing a player, any player, for two, three, four games, then you don’t have to give a reason for that. But if it gets to eight or nine games, then you have to explain the situation. What’s going on? But the manager hasn’t done that…
“I see some of the situations with players who won the title with Chelsea, not just myself, and it just hasn’t been right. It makes it very hard for me to have respect for someone who has not respected what some of us have won with the club.”
“I’ve adapted to the different tactics, formations, and philosophies of all the managers I’ve played under and will continue to learn from my next coach. Every experience, good or bad, is a learning process.
On his level of Endurance, Cahill said “I’m quite proud with how I have dealt with it. I’ve not been disruptive and I’ve trained hard every single day.
Cahill added: “People talk as though my career is coming to an end, but it’s not like that for me at all. I 100 percent see me playing another three or four years easily in terms of the way I look after myself.
I’m ready to go and I leave this club thankful to all the players, staff and fans who have helped me so much, and I go with my head held high.”
