Maurizio Sarri hopes Chelsea have overcome their motivational issues after advancing to the Carabao Cup final at the expense of Tottenham.
Sarri criticised his playersā poor performance at Arsenal and singled out Eden Hazard as ānot a leaderā on the eve of the semi-final second leg with Spurs at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea overturned a first-leg deficit as NāGolo Kante and Hazard struck in the first half, but Fernando Llorenteās header forced penalties, with the tie ending 2-2 on aggregate.
Eric Dier fired over and Lucas Mouraās effort was saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga, before David Luiz kept his composure in a 4-2 shootout success as the Chelsea players answered Sarriās public rebuke with a fine performance to set up a February 24 final with Manchester City.
āI think the last three, four matches we had a problem,ā Sarri said.
David Luiz scores the winning penalty.
āThe problem was the motivation. The other problem was the players stopped to have fun on the pitch.
āNow, with the performance, with the result, we can find again enthusiasm. So itās very important. The reaction was really very good, but I think we need to have motivation with continuity now.ā
Hazard shrugged off Sarriās pre-match critique, which saw his team ethic questioned.
Hazard told Sky Sports: āTo be fair I donāt care ā I just play my football and it doesnāt matter what the manager says. Iām always focused on this team and I just want to do my best for this team.ā
Sarri enjoyed the āfunā performance of Hazard, who relished being freed from the āfalse nineā role he had occupied of late.
Sarri downplayed the impact of Hazardās positional switch, saying: āWe played with another mind, with another motivation, with another determination and so I think these qualities are more important than the position.ā
Sarri has the chance of a first trophy of his managerial career, but Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettinoās wait for silverware goes on.
Pochettino took pride in a performance which came in the absence of injured duo Harry Kane and Dele Alli, and Son Heung-min, who is on international duty with South Korea at the Asian Cup in the UAE.
āIām proud of my players. I told the players that the way we came back after the first half, it was one of the best games we played,ā Pochettino said.
Dier scored the decisive penalty for England in the World Cup last-16 shootout with Colombia.
Pochettino said: āAnyone can miss who takes the responsibility to shoot. For me, itās not a problem.ā
Left-back Ben Davies went off with a minor groin problem, Pochettino added.