Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri: promise to increase the quantity of his team

Maurizio Sarri and Eden Hazard

Maurizio Sarri said Chelsea must improve the "quantity" rather than the quality of their best football if they are to emulate the level reached by his Napoli team.

Marcos Alonso's 81st-minute strike secured a 3-2 win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, but Sarri's side had earlier surrendered a 2-0 lead before half-time.

The coach described Chelsea's 15-minute collapse as "horrible" but was keen to focus on the positive aspects as he explained how close his players were to playing the kind of football he wants.

"In quality, not too much," he said. "In the first 25 minutes, we did really very well. We moved the ball very quickly, we played vertical balls. In quality we are going very well, but in quantity we have to improve.

"I think it's normal. We started to work all together two weeks ago, so my target now is to play 90 minutes like the first 25."

Sarri promised to bring "fun" to Chelsea when he was unveiled as Antonio Conte's replacement in July, having attracted acclaim for the expansive style of play he employed at Napoli.

And two games into the Premier League season only champions Manchester City have scored more goals than Chelsea, who rank first in the division for completed passes, second for key passes and third for total shots per game.

Sarri also improved Napoli defensively but warned that his Chelsea players could only achieve similar solidity if they commited totally to his style.

"We did very well for 75 minutes of the 90, but inside there were 15 minutes [that were] horrible," he said. "We lost distances, we were not able to press or defend, we were really in trouble.

"In the second half we did very well from the mental point of view, because it was very hard to answer to the last part of the first half.

"I think in this way of football, in my way of football, if you lose the distances [to press] you are in trouble."