5 things Maurizio Sarri needs to do at Chelsea in order to win the Premier League

After months of speculation, Chelsea fans were finally given the good news this past weekend as Maurizio Sarri was appointed as the new Blues boss. Antonio Conte is gone and with him his dogmatic style of play as well. Sarri's arrival at Stamford Bridge has brought a lot of excitement and intrigue, considering the expansive style of football he advocated in Napoli.

Having said that, the basic rule at Chelsea is to win trophies. No manager has survived without them. No matter how impressive and easy on the eye football they might produce, silverware is what they will be judged on.

And what makes Sarri's task even more challenging is the fact that Chelsea are in a state of disarray. He has to deal with the player-unhappiness situation and boardroom egos, along with the problems on the pitch. With Premier League less than three weeks away, he will have his work cut out for him.

Here's a list of five things the Italian boss needs to do in order to win the Premier League in 2018/19. Let's have a look:

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#5 Help Alvaro Morata get back to form

Alvaro Morata during a Chelsea Pre-Season Training Session

One of the many reasons for Chelsea’s dismal show last season was the form of Alvaro Morata. In what was a club record signing, Morata joined Chelsea last summer and was expected to fill the boots of Diego Costa. The Spaniard hit the ground quickly and started in great fashion. However, a run of injuries and a flurry of easy misses meant he was low in confidence by the turn of the new year. The 25-year-old cut a sorry figure by the end of the season as goals eluded him on a regular basis.

If that was not enough, he was ignored for a place in Spain’s World Cup squad for Russia. Therefore Sarri’s role is extremely important here as the new Chelsea coach needs to instill a sense of aspiration in the Spanish forward and sort of revive him to his usual goal-scoring self. The former Napoli boss must create an efficient supply line behind the no. 9 that can help him flourish like he did early on last season.

#4 Make Jorginho central to his plans like his days in Napoli

Sarri (extreme left) and Jorginho (second from left) during the Chelsea Training Session

Jorginho to Manchester City looked a done deal a month ago; however, in what can be termed as a massive last minute coup, Chelsea hijacked the deal from under the noses of the Premier League champions to sign the midfielder for a reported fee of ₤57 million. This clearly suggests he was persuaded to make the move to London by Sarri, who has managed him at Napoli for the last three years.

He is an excellent passer of the ball, and completed more number of passes in Europe’s top five leagues this past season than anyone. Jorginho was key to the aggressive possession football Napoli played under Sarri last season which almost propelled them to a title win.

However, whether the 22-year-old can put up with the rigours and physicality of the Premier League is a question the new Chelsea boss needs to address. If Sarri can extract the same level of performance out of the Italy international, then there is every possibility Chelsea would give their rivals a run for their money in the upcoming season.

#3 Give young guns enough opportunity

Chelsea players during their training

One positive that came out of a disappointing season last term was the emergence of young center-backs, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger. Both revelled in patches last season as Christensen made a permanent place in Conte’s back-three and Rudiger put in some impressive performances when given the chance. Christensen, in particular, looked at ease with his role and played out from the back quite effectively.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is another exciting young prospect Sarri will have at his disposal.

A loan move to Crystal Palace last season worked wonders for him as he thrived under Roy Hodgson and earned a spot in the England’s World Cup squad. Many Chelsea fans are of the opinion that the midfielder should be brought back to the Blues squad and be given the opportunity he deserves.

All the aforementioned players are young and possess the athleticism required for Sarri’s attacking system and given enough opportunity, they can contribute to their combined cause of winning trophies.

#2 Convince Hazard to stay

Can Sarri convince Hazard (in blue) to stay at Stamford Bridge?

To say Eden Hazard is an important player for Chelsea would be an understatement. He is in fact up there as one of the very best players in world football at the moment. The Belgian's impressive run in the recently concluded World Cup has only seen his stocks rise to a new high.

Reports linking Hazard to the most successful European club Real Madrid, have been doing the rounds for last couple of years. However, Cristiano Ronaldo's stunning move to Juventus has suddenly added substance to all the speculations about him joining the Spanish club.

So the single biggest challenge before Sarri is to convince the forward to stay at Stamford Bridge.

The upside of Antonio Conte's departure is that he can finally play in a more progressive system under Sarri with a lot of freedom up front to showcase his world class ability. However, the prospect of a season without Champions League football might not go down well with him.

It's thus fair to say that keeping Hazard at the Bridge will pretty much define the upcoming season for the Blues.

#1 Quickly imbue his footballing philosophy into the squad

It remains to be seen how quickly the Chelsea boss adapts to the Premier League

Sarri has earned a reputation as a football maestro while working in Italy. He has his own style and philosophy that's been widely appreciated. But it's a different league now and a different set of players who are used to a more defensive and direct kind of football completely in contrast to his. It's one thing to play free-flowing football in the less competitive Serie A; it's quite another to replicate the same in arguably the most difficult league in the world.

This is not to say he doesn't have the expertise for such a challenge but the prospect of overhauling a mindset and a team drilled by Conte's methods in a limited timescale of few weeks, looks daunting.

It's not even a week since Sarri's appointment and people are already talking about a possible title challenge. Patience is in short supply here and everything the new boss does, has to be quick and productive as they can't afford to lose too much ground early on in the tournament.