An evaluation of Sarri’s first six months at Chelsea

The final game of the 2017-18 campaign ended as a disaster for Chelsea who lost 3-0 to Newcastle and as a consequence, finished fifth to settle for a spot in the Europa League. There was an air of disenchantment all around Stamford Bridge especially with the previous manager Antonio Conte’s style of football.

When the 3-4-3 had worked wonders during the 2016-17 season, Chelsea looked in total control, clinical in the attacking front and defensively robust, ending the season with 93 points, a record 16 clean sheets, 85 goals scored, the league’s second best.

However, with the loss of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United and the manager’s decision to fire Diego Costa, the club’s top scorer in the previous title-winning season proved to be decisive in shaping the course of their yet another woeful title defense.

The frustrating season reached its culmination in the performance against League leaders Manchester City in a game where Chelsea did not attempt a single shot on target. The summer of 2018 was marked with further uncertainty with Conte taking over the first training session amidst reports of Chelsea wanting to fire him and negotiating with Maurizio Sarri and Napoli.

The appointment of Maurizio Sarri

The former banker turned football manager had drawn the attention of pundits and coaches with his attacking style of play termed as the ‘Sarriball’, a footballing ideology that emphasizes on high pressing, quick passing while retaining possession. With hardly a month left before the FA Community Shield game against Manchester City, Sarri took over pre-season training in Australia despite the absence of some of the senior players of the squad following the world cup. The summer also saw the arrival of Jorginho for £57m from Napoli who was Sarri’s key central midfielder in his 4-3-3 formation, of Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid for a season-long loan deal and the signing of Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao for a record £71.6 million, the highest ever for a goalkeeper.

A record-breaking start in the Premier League

In what was a reality check for Sarri and his team, Chelsea had lost 2-0 to Manchester City in the Community Shield game. With senior players like Hazard, Willian and Kante out of the squad owing to their late arrival, the game was a quick reminder of the road ahead for Sarri and Chelsea who looked unpositioned, especially defensively.

Despite the thumping at the hands of Man City, ‘Sarriball’ was unleashed from the word ‘go’ in the league with Chelsea setting a record of going unbeaten in 11 games. Starting with a 3-0 away victory at Huddersfield and avoiding defeat at the hands of three of the ‘big six’ – Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool, Chelsea also ensured progress to the last 16 of the Europa league and to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup. The real impasse, however, the game that proved that Chelsea is still a team in the making under the new system came in the debilitating 3-1 defeat to Tottenham.

Here are some of the tactical, positional changes and key moments that defined Sarri’s stint at Chelsea in his first six months :

Bringing the best out of David Luiz – The footballing fraternity would hardly disagree with the fact that David Luiz has been one of Chelsea’s most erratic players, losing concentration in key moments of the game, yet a genius, who could turn games around with one accurate long pass.

He has consistently started in 21 league games out of 22 and seems to have repaid Sarri’s faith in him after losing his position in the previous regime. Luiz and Rudiger have for most parts of the season so far, kept the defensive line intact by keeping 10 clean sheets.

More than his defensive discipline, his ability to spot forward players in a jampacked defense has proved to be invaluable for Chelsea this season, be it the pass to Pedro in the build-up to the first goal against City in a 2-0 victory or picking apart Palace’s defence with a lofted through ball to Kante, genius!

The Jorginho/Kante conundrum – Arguably the current best defensive midfielder in the world, almost a no-brainer for any manager in the world to place Kante ahead of the defensive line to break up counter-attacking play, yet Sarri preferred to play him in an attacking midfield position in his 4-3-3.

Jorginho or Kante as defensive a mid-fielder?

This decision of his was highly criticized, especially after the 3-1 defeat against Tottenham which saw Jorginho and Chelsea’s defensive line ripped apart by Heung-Min Song and Tottenham’s creative front three.

Sarri’s tactics raised serious questions about Chelsea’s frailty at the back to stop counter-attacks, which was essentially N’Golo Kante’s forte. Nevertheless, Kante has adapted to his new role in an attacking position and so far netted three goals, his highest in a season along with two assists.

The speculation about Kante’s future and his role in the Chelsea squad came to a halt with a five-year new deal which saw him becoming Chelsea’s highest paid player. The player has openly embraced his new attacking role by praising the manager and his tactics. But, whether or not, Sarri can get the best out of Kante is a question for the future and it is too early to provide an affirmative response.

Hazard proves his worth as a ‘false nine’, for the first time in his Chelsea career –

Thanks to an attacking possession-based style of football, Hazard has been Chelsea’s best player of the season so far, has provided 10 goals and 10 assists in the league. This performance by Chelsea’s number 10 is in stark contrast to those of Chelsea’s strikers Morata and Giroud.

Ever since his big-money move from Real Madrid for £58 million, Morata has been short of confidence and has since never looked like a player who can lead from the front. Giroud, a panic buy in last season’s winter transfer after Chelsea had failed to convince Edin Dzeko to join the west London club has largely been immobile up front despite linking up with his teammates better than Morata.

Lack of potent strike force has made Sarri resort to an alternative which his predecessors have relied upon too – playing Hazard as a ‘false nine’. Though Conte’s attempt to play Hazard as a striker was largely unsuccessful, it has been a gamechanger in Sarri’s case.

The two assists in the game against Manchester City followed by a goal and an assist in the game against Brighton has eased Chelsea’s forwards crises slightly. Not just for his ability to retain possession by shrugging off defenders, there is also a feeling that Chelsea is better positioned defensively when Hazard is playing as a ‘false nine’.

However, this situation might not last longer especially, with Chelsea looking in the January transfer market for a new striker.

Hazard playing as a striker against Newcastle

Conclusion

Indeed, Sarri’s honeymoon period is well and truly over. The team has found it hard to score goals and kill games off despite enjoying the majority of the possession.

Chelsea’s sideways passing with no real target man to aim for has deeply frustrated the fans. The upcoming six months are going to be quite a challenge for Sarri and Chelsea in their hopes of securing a top-4 spot and a cup glory which would be Sarri’s first trophy in his managerial career.

Anything short of the above expectations will not quite settle in with the fans and the owner of the club.