The Top Flight
Fansided

English Premier League: The Chelsea-Sarri marriage should break as soon as possible

By Kaustubh Pandey

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - JULY 23: Maurizio Sarri, coach of Chelsea looks on prior to the international friendly between Chelsea FC and Perth Glory at Optus Stadium on July 23, 2018 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
PERTH, AUSTRALIA - JULY 23: Maurizio Sarri, coach of Chelsea looks on prior to the international friendly between Chelsea FC and Perth Glory at Optus Stadium on July 23, 2018 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 10: Eden Hazard of Chelsea looks dejected during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Chelsea FC at Etihad Stadium on February 10, 2019, in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 10: Eden Hazard of Chelsea looks dejected during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Chelsea FC at Etihad Stadium on February 10, 2019, in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /

Sarri belongs to a brand of managers who believes in playing attractive football – a possession-based style and adores building for the future.

Even if he does, he needs the players to do so. He reaped success at Napoli not only because the club’s president Aurelio de Laurentiis helped him sign a key player in Allan in 2015, but because the players took time in getting used to that style. And when Sarri took over at Napoli, they were a club that had suffered ailments of a negative brand of football that Rafael Benitez had imposed.

And it’s no coincidence that Chelsea won the Europa League with Benitez a season after playing a similar way to win the Champions League under Roberto di Matteo. And that, in itself, speaks volumes about the club Chelsea is. That has become a part of the DNA and its something it thrives on. Managers who get criticised for a pragmatic brand of football can make it work at Chelsea.

Sarri’s style isn’t as complex as what Guardiola’s or Mauricio Pochettino’s is. But it is starkly different to the way this side won the title under Antonio Conte, who played a 3-4-3 formation that season to have an extra defender at the back. It has details in it that very selective few players can understand. It has some minute aspects that players like Jorginho would love to play with. And not everyone is meant for it, not Marcos Alonso, David Luiz or Alvaro Morata.

Even if they are, they’d take time to play that way on a consistent basis. Only one signing that Napoli made under Sarri became a vital cog in his system during his three-year stay, Allan. And he became just as important as Jorginho in the system, even when Gonzalo Higuain left for Juventus in 2016. Dries Mertens, who was a winger by trade earlier, took some months to play as a striker under Sarri. And Arek Milik never really settled and injuries never helped him.

Home/Chelsea