Chelsea: It’s Time for Maurizio Sarri to Shake Things Up a Bit

Chelsea were humiliated 4-0 by Bournemouth on Wednesday, and now, questions have to be raised over Maurizio Sarri’s tactical handling of the side.

Nobody saw it coming, but everyone knows that Bournemouth are capable of producing a shock result on their day. Their front 4 is simply too talented for that not to be a possibility. Yet, to dismantle a side like Chelsea with 4 goals in the 2nd half…I’m sure even Eddie Howe couldn’t have dreamed of something like that. Chelsea were kept out by a superb 38-year-old Artur Boruc at one end, and on the other, Luiz and the rest of the backline were not at their best whatsoever. Chelsea have been inconsistent in the last few months, losing to the likes of Spurs, Wolves, and Arsenal in the league.

It’s time for us to start questioning Maurizio Sarri, who seems to be very tactically stubborn at the moment.

First of all, he refuses to divert from the 4-3-3, which he has used extensively in the past few years. Even against Arsenal, where Jorginho was being forcefully man-marked by Ramsey and Xhaka was unmarked and allowed to dictate the game, Sarri did not make any shape changes, and the Blues eventually sputtered to a 2-0 loss.

Sarri has to find a way to get more out of N’Golo Kante, and also has to stop trying to replicate his Napoli teams.

The debate over N’Golo Kante’s position has been a hot one this season, with the brilliant Frenchman lining up on the right side of the 3-man midfield all season long, where he carries the ball forward and acts like more of a shuttler – a large contrast from his job under Conte and Ranieiri a few seasons ago. Although Kante has enjoyed a relatively good season, we have not seen the levels we know he is capable of, and perhaps this is due to him not being played in a 2-man midfield pivot, which is where he tends to thrive.

Forgiving that though, it seems that Maurizio Sarri is somewhat forcefully trying to replicate his old Napoli sides at Chelsea, and it’s not working. That is not a method that will work in football management, it’s not something you can play. Although you can of course buy players to suit the system you prefer, the basis of the system must be built from the players that are already in your possession. Jorginho, who played as the deepest midfielder at Napoli for many years, was brought in by Sarri to play in his old role. Only, he hasn’t hit anywhere near the level he did at Napoli, as the Premier League allows far less time in midfield.

Gonzalo Higuain has also been signed by the club on loan, and despite the fact that he enjoyed a fruitful season under Sarri in 2015-16, he is not the same player he once was. Why try and shoehorn him in, to try and bring out the past in him, instead of bring in someone younger that is more likely to deliver? Milan let Higuain go and signed Krzysztof Piatek from Genoa for £31 million, a player who is performing at a far higher level than Higuain at the moment.

Chelsea have some decisions to make, but Maurizio Sarri alone has to start pushing himself out of his comfort zone and find a system that works better. It may be too late though – most clubs do the tinkering of their formations early in the season in order to settle into one as early as possible. For Sarri, this could be calamitous at this stage of the season. However, there’s a real risk they won’t make top 4 with the way they’re playing, and risks must be taken now.