When first appointed manager of Chelsea, there was great anticipation among fans about the arrival of Maurizio Sarri. His free-flowing, attacking football under Napoli had made them one of the best teams to watch in Europe. After Conte and Mourinho, two managers with a more cautious approach, Sarri was to bring new ideas to Stamford Bridge and he even had his own brand of football named after himself - Sarriball - such was the style of play.
Sarri admitted it may take months for Chelsea to completely adapt to his tactics but the players seemed to take to Sarri like a duck to water. The Blues romped to an opening game 3-0 romping of Huddersfield but the main talking point was in midfield. N'Golo Kante, perhaps the best defensive midfielder in the league, had been advanced further up field into a box-to-box midfielder role to accommodate the arrival of £50 million Jorginho, signed from Sarri's former side Napoli to which the Italian was an integral part of the side.
It is Jorginho's role that has raised many questions on Sarriball, given how effective Kante is a defensive midfielder. At the base of the midfield, Sarri deploys a deep lying playmaker with a key essence on passing. To be fair to Jorginho, he is a good passer of a football but what has changed from Napoli is the amount of backwards and sideways passes Chelsea do. In Sarri's system, the ball must be played forward to intertwine with the high tempo but when teams man mark Jorginho, like Dele Alli did in Spurs' 3-1 win, they can restrict Jorginho's involvement, making it harder for Chelsea to play out from the back.
Chelsea had a great start to the season, remaining 18 games unbeaten until Tottenham destroyed them at Wembley. It has been noted that until this fixture, Chelsea had had relatively easy matches. Of the prior meetings with Top 6 sides, Chelsea had drawn at home to Liverpool and a then demoralized Manchester United (rescuing a draw in the 96th minute) but won against Arsenal in Unai Emery's second game in charge. The Tottenham defeat was the first warning sign that Chelsea could be easily exposed if Jorginho isn't given the time to pick out passes.
A consistent problem throughout this season for Sarri has been the striker position. Upon arriving, Sarri had flop Alvaro Morata, sold in January to Atletico Madrid, and Olivier Giroud. Both options were not to Sarri's liking. Sarri tried to sign Gonzalo Higuain in the summer but was thwarted by the board, who then succumbed in January and Sarri got his old striker who had performed magnificently for him at Napoli. In the meantime, Sarri was forced to play Eden Hazard up top, a position Hazard has publicly stated he does not like to play. It's obvious to see that Hazard is more effective as a winger, his natural position, but Sarri's hands were effectively tied as he did not trust Morata or Giroud, perhaps understandably.
Even after the Tottenham defeat, the next big test for Chelsea was Manchester City at home, which they won 2-0, thanks to N'Golo Kante scoring the first, a place on the outside of the box he may not have taken up if not for Sarri's formation. The result was even more surprising as in mid week, Chelsea had lost to Wolves. The rest of December brought all wins bar a loss to Leicester at home.
January was not Sarri's best month. Despite securing a place in the Carabao Cup final, the transfer window was dominated by Callum Hudson-Odoi and Bayern Munich, with the Germans offering over £30 million for the English teenager. Chelsea rejected and earlier in the window signed Christian Pulisic for £58 million. What no one was expecting was Sarri's reaction in the aftermath of the 2-0 loss to Arsenal.
It somewhat mirrored Antonio Conte's sadness after Arsenal tore his team apart in 2016. Sarri, clearly enraged by his side's woeful performance, conducted his press conference in Italian in order to give his full feelings properly. He claimed the players are "extremely difficult to motivate". Chelsea managers publicly attacking his players does not always result in a positive effect such is the player power in west London. But how would the players react? Well, they got to a cup final, secured passage to the 5th round of the FA Cup, but lost 4-0 away to Bournemouth. This defeat may have turned the fans against Sarri.
Followed by an expected 5-0 thrashing of Huddersfield, Manchester City was next. 6-0. Disastrous. Chelsea, to be fair, attacked pretty well in the first half, it's their defensive vulnerability that exposed them. Once again, Jorginho was marked out of the game. It is, perhaps, stubbornness from Sarri. He should recognise the that Chelsea are always exposed if Jorginho is ineffective, which he was. Sarri needed to play Kante alongside Jorginho to offer more protection to the back four, but Sarri refused. For ideological managers like Sarri, he has built a system that is meant to work in all situtations. The system is meant to win, he builds his team around the system so why would he change it?
The players should take some blame and Sarri is, potentially, right when he questions their mentality. There is a mentality issue within Chelsea - fact. There seems to be something in the DNA of Chelsea players that if the title is not possible, they don't care. What's the point of trying to finish 4th? Champions League, that's the reason. A club as big as Chelsea needs Champions League football.
It was hopeless from Chelsea. An utter shambles. Sarri should fear for his job, especially how ruthless Abramovich is with managers. What would be a mistake, though, would to be sack Sarri now. Whilst in 6th, Chelsea are only 1 point of Champions League qualification, in a cup final, still in the other cup competition and European football is resuming this week. When you appoint a manager as system based as Sarri, you have to back him in the transfer market. Chelsea did not. With Guardiola, Manchester City did. With Klopp, Liverpool did.
Come next season, Sarri may still be at Chelsea but Eden Hazard won't be. If Chelsea do finish outside the top 4, there is no hope of keeping Hazard. A player of his quality should be playing in the Champions League. Hazard should be suited to Sarri's style as Hazard seemed perfect for his attacking impetus. Hazard has got a decent return this season (15 goals and 10 assists) but like under Conte, the task of playing striker does not appeal to the Belgian. Madrid awaits.
Can Sarri save his job? He certainly can but he needs to alter his system. The tactics and substitutions have become too predictable. If Kovacic starts, Barkley will come on for him. If Barkley starts, Kovacic will replace him. That has happened 17 times this season. When Conte lost to Arsenal, he changed the system from 4 to 3 at the back and ended up winning the league. Sarri obviously won't the league, but he needs to take inspiration from his fellow Italian.
If Chelsea fail to finish in the top 4 this season, we could be saying ciao to the Italian.
Sarri admitted it may take months for Chelsea to completely adapt to his tactics but the players seemed to take to Sarri like a duck to water. The Blues romped to an opening game 3-0 romping of Huddersfield but the main talking point was in midfield. N'Golo Kante, perhaps the best defensive midfielder in the league, had been advanced further up field into a box-to-box midfielder role to accommodate the arrival of £50 million Jorginho, signed from Sarri's former side Napoli to which the Italian was an integral part of the side.
It is Jorginho's role that has raised many questions on Sarriball, given how effective Kante is a defensive midfielder. At the base of the midfield, Sarri deploys a deep lying playmaker with a key essence on passing. To be fair to Jorginho, he is a good passer of a football but what has changed from Napoli is the amount of backwards and sideways passes Chelsea do. In Sarri's system, the ball must be played forward to intertwine with the high tempo but when teams man mark Jorginho, like Dele Alli did in Spurs' 3-1 win, they can restrict Jorginho's involvement, making it harder for Chelsea to play out from the back.
Chelsea had a great start to the season, remaining 18 games unbeaten until Tottenham destroyed them at Wembley. It has been noted that until this fixture, Chelsea had had relatively easy matches. Of the prior meetings with Top 6 sides, Chelsea had drawn at home to Liverpool and a then demoralized Manchester United (rescuing a draw in the 96th minute) but won against Arsenal in Unai Emery's second game in charge. The Tottenham defeat was the first warning sign that Chelsea could be easily exposed if Jorginho isn't given the time to pick out passes.
A consistent problem throughout this season for Sarri has been the striker position. Upon arriving, Sarri had flop Alvaro Morata, sold in January to Atletico Madrid, and Olivier Giroud. Both options were not to Sarri's liking. Sarri tried to sign Gonzalo Higuain in the summer but was thwarted by the board, who then succumbed in January and Sarri got his old striker who had performed magnificently for him at Napoli. In the meantime, Sarri was forced to play Eden Hazard up top, a position Hazard has publicly stated he does not like to play. It's obvious to see that Hazard is more effective as a winger, his natural position, but Sarri's hands were effectively tied as he did not trust Morata or Giroud, perhaps understandably.
Even after the Tottenham defeat, the next big test for Chelsea was Manchester City at home, which they won 2-0, thanks to N'Golo Kante scoring the first, a place on the outside of the box he may not have taken up if not for Sarri's formation. The result was even more surprising as in mid week, Chelsea had lost to Wolves. The rest of December brought all wins bar a loss to Leicester at home.
January was not Sarri's best month. Despite securing a place in the Carabao Cup final, the transfer window was dominated by Callum Hudson-Odoi and Bayern Munich, with the Germans offering over £30 million for the English teenager. Chelsea rejected and earlier in the window signed Christian Pulisic for £58 million. What no one was expecting was Sarri's reaction in the aftermath of the 2-0 loss to Arsenal.
It somewhat mirrored Antonio Conte's sadness after Arsenal tore his team apart in 2016. Sarri, clearly enraged by his side's woeful performance, conducted his press conference in Italian in order to give his full feelings properly. He claimed the players are "extremely difficult to motivate". Chelsea managers publicly attacking his players does not always result in a positive effect such is the player power in west London. But how would the players react? Well, they got to a cup final, secured passage to the 5th round of the FA Cup, but lost 4-0 away to Bournemouth. This defeat may have turned the fans against Sarri.
Followed by an expected 5-0 thrashing of Huddersfield, Manchester City was next. 6-0. Disastrous. Chelsea, to be fair, attacked pretty well in the first half, it's their defensive vulnerability that exposed them. Once again, Jorginho was marked out of the game. It is, perhaps, stubbornness from Sarri. He should recognise the that Chelsea are always exposed if Jorginho is ineffective, which he was. Sarri needed to play Kante alongside Jorginho to offer more protection to the back four, but Sarri refused. For ideological managers like Sarri, he has built a system that is meant to work in all situtations. The system is meant to win, he builds his team around the system so why would he change it?
The players should take some blame and Sarri is, potentially, right when he questions their mentality. There is a mentality issue within Chelsea - fact. There seems to be something in the DNA of Chelsea players that if the title is not possible, they don't care. What's the point of trying to finish 4th? Champions League, that's the reason. A club as big as Chelsea needs Champions League football.
It was hopeless from Chelsea. An utter shambles. Sarri should fear for his job, especially how ruthless Abramovich is with managers. What would be a mistake, though, would to be sack Sarri now. Whilst in 6th, Chelsea are only 1 point of Champions League qualification, in a cup final, still in the other cup competition and European football is resuming this week. When you appoint a manager as system based as Sarri, you have to back him in the transfer market. Chelsea did not. With Guardiola, Manchester City did. With Klopp, Liverpool did.
Come next season, Sarri may still be at Chelsea but Eden Hazard won't be. If Chelsea do finish outside the top 4, there is no hope of keeping Hazard. A player of his quality should be playing in the Champions League. Hazard should be suited to Sarri's style as Hazard seemed perfect for his attacking impetus. Hazard has got a decent return this season (15 goals and 10 assists) but like under Conte, the task of playing striker does not appeal to the Belgian. Madrid awaits.
Can Sarri save his job? He certainly can but he needs to alter his system. The tactics and substitutions have become too predictable. If Kovacic starts, Barkley will come on for him. If Barkley starts, Kovacic will replace him. That has happened 17 times this season. When Conte lost to Arsenal, he changed the system from 4 to 3 at the back and ended up winning the league. Sarri obviously won't the league, but he needs to take inspiration from his fellow Italian.
If Chelsea fail to finish in the top 4 this season, we could be saying ciao to the Italian.
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