LONDON -- Maurizio Sarri believes Chelsea are not good enough defensively to be considered Premier League title contenders but insisted he will not ask the club to solve the problem by spending in the January transfer window.
Chelsea lie third in the Premier League after 10 matches, only two points behind defending champions Manchester City and Liverpool, and are yet to taste defeat after scoring 24 goals and conceding just seven.
Sarri is surprised at his team's lofty position in the table having predicted they would encounter "problems" in the first half of the campaign, and remains adamant that they are some way short of achieving the defensive solidity that underpins truly elite sides.
"The situation is dangerous," Sarri said. "We defended well in Burnley then three days later [against Derby in the Carabao Cup] we weren't able to defend in the same way. It is dangerous to not have continuity, we need to improve continuity.
"I think we have the same problems [I had early on in Italy] but the quality of the players is very high so they are able to win matches [without a] good defensive phase. In the future we need to become a very solid team.
"If we want to be competitive and win something, then we need to be a solid team. If you look at the top of the table. City only conceded three and second [Liverpool] four. It is important to be solid to be competitive.
"We need to improve, I think, covering the ball in the other half. We need to press in the opponents half. We need to cover immediately the lost ball. If I need to cover immediately the lost ball we need to have good positions over the line in the defensive line.
"Sometimes we are in the wrong positions like in the last matches, so it is impossible to recover the ball and not to give spaces to the opponent for the counter-attacks."
It has been suggested by some that Chelsea's defensive flaws are the inevitable result of their personnel, with Jorginho's athletic limitations at the base of midfield, Marcos Alonso's positional issues and David Luiz's decision-making all cited as contributing factors.
January offers a chance for Chelsea to bolster their defensive options but Sarri, who has previously described the transfer market as "the refuge of the weak," is determined to find solutions on the training pitch.
"I have to think I only have to help these players to improve," he said. "It is too easy to go into the market for every problem. I think we need to improve and we need to improve with these players because they can improve.
"I have to think to improve my players. It is my work, I think. The market, there is the club. I can say to the club my opinion about what I think I need but my job is to try to improve my players.
"I didn't ask anything about it to my club at the moment because I think we can stay with these players and be competitive. Maybe not for the top [of the table], but we have to try to arrive close to the top."