By Fabrizio Ferrari For The Daily Mail
Published: 22:43 GMT, 25 January 2019 | Updated: 22:53 GMT, 25 January 2019
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Gonzalo Higuain did not always have a reputation as the best trainer at Napoli, but his team-mates noticed a change as soon as Maurizio Sarri arrived at the club in 2015.
It was as if the Argentine striker had struck an understanding with the new coach and realised he could help him grow as a player. He followed his advice to the letter, knuckled down during training and soon agreed to become a leader in the dressing room.
Sarri would often play small games across half the pitch at the end of training — two halves of 12 or 20 minutes — and the teams would always change, with those players on the winning team receiving three points each towards a personal total. Those on the losing side would get nothing.
Maurizio Sarri got the best out of Gonzalo Higuain at Napoli, they are now together at Chelsea
Players absent for any reason, be it through injury or international duty, could