Recent years have shown that it is not possible for a manager to simply transpose the style
he implemented with one team onto another. Pep Guardiola had serious teething problems
in his first term at Manchester City, before investment in the transfer window allowed
him to build a squad capable of playing his way effectively. Presently, Maurizio Sarri
is experiencing similar issues imposing the football he became renowned for at Napoli
in the Premier League with Chelsea. Sarri’s side have been badly beaten on several
occasions, lack consistency and have yet to sparkle the way many thought they would under
the Italian’s auspices. When analysing what exactly has gone wrong
for Sarri at Chelsea, it’s difficult to pin-point one specific area. The reality is
that there are tactical issues in almost all phases that need to be addressed. Although,
considering he was brought in primarily to establish a more attractive offensive game,
it’s best to start with his team’s attacking play.
Sarri has lined Chelsea up in a 4-3-3, just as he did at Napoli. Unlike many possession-based
4-3-3 systems, the centre-backs do not split wide and his No.6, Jorginho, does not drop
between them. Rather, they form a triangle shape in build-up that is designed to create
easy passing angles to draw out and then play through pressure.
However, this approach has not been particularly successful at Chelsea. Against aggressive
defensive opposition, the centre-backs, David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger, don’t appear particularly
comfortable playing quick passes between themselves and Jorginho to out-play the pressing. Instead,
they tend to go wide to the full-backs, inviting more pressure near the touchline, or go long,
an option that has frequently failed due to a lack of height in Chelsea’s line-up.
Chelsea’s dysfunctional attacking hasn’t been limited to their struggles against a
high press. While some teams, such as Tottenham Hotspur, have looked to disrupt their build-up
as early as possible, others have sat off and surrendered the ball. It’s interesting
to note that Chelsea this season have averaged more possession (61.1 per cent) than Napoli
ever did under Sarri. This statistic underlines the fact that many opponents have seen no
need whatsoever to pressure Luiz, Rudiger and Jorginho, instead standing off them in
the knowledge that Sarri’s Chelsea struggle to break down compact low defensive blocks.
Sitting deep against Chelsea places great onus on their central defenders, who have
appeared tentative driving forward, to pick the lock with Hollywood passes that they simply
are not capable of producing. The low block also highlights issues with Chelsea’s attacking
structure. Too often there is a lack of compactness throughout their shape – this not only makes
combination play difficult, but leads to greater openness in defensive transition whenever
they give the ball away. Perhaps the greatest stylistic difference
between Sarri’s Chelsea and his Napoli side is the comparatively poor movement towards
and around the ball, with players running beyond or standing still rather than offering
support to the player in possession. As a consequence of this, several attacking pillars
of Sarriball – including rotations between players to advance down the wider areas, or
up-back-throughs to penetrate in the central channel – have not been regularly seen.
Gonzalo Higuain was brought in on loan from Juventus in January to help solve this problem.
Initially, Alvaro Morata was the player tasked with leading the line, though the Spaniard
lacked the physical strength and control to play effectively with his back to goal as
Sarri wanted him to. Higuain possesses the requisite traits to fill the role successfully,
as he did with Napoli, though he is also lacking confidence, with a scoring record that has
declined for three straight seasons. This perhaps explains why he has yet to provide
the goals expected of him upon arrival. So, Chelsea’s attacking play has been underwhelming
under Sarri, but defensively they have also been exposed on a consistent basis. The club’s
average goals conceded has increased this season. In Sarri’s first 32 Premier League
games Chelsea twice let in four goals or more – something that only happened once in the
entirety of Antonio Conte’s two-year reign. The defensive setup Sarri has brought to Stamford
Bridge is highly similar to that seen during his Napoli tenure. Initially they press high
with the lone striker and wingers, though if that doesn’t succeed they retreat into
a 4-5-1 mid-block in which the outer central midfielders often move up to close down the
opposition ball-player. Premier League sides have found a number of ways to exploit this
strategy. Manchester City continuously took advantage
of the space created between Chelsea’s defence and midfield lines by positioning players
in the inside channels. Whenever N’Golo Kante or Ross Barkley moved up to apply pressure
to the ball, Pep Guardiola’s side found the area vacated behind them and got into
positions where they could directly attack Chelsea’s back four.
Generally, Sarri wants his wingers to tuck in to ensure a compact five-man midfield line
and prevent these spaces from opening up, though this has led to other issues. In the
second league game of the season, Unai Emery’s Arsenal repeatedly played around Chelsea’s
defensive block, going wide and getting their full-backs 1v1 against Cesar Azpilicueta and
Marcos Alonso. From there a run was made in the open channel between Chelsea’s full-backs
and centre-backs, which led to good crossing and cut-back opportunities. Sarri’s men
won this match, but on another day they could have lost comfortably.
The extreme ball-orientation seen in Chelsea’s defending since Sarri took over has frequently
led to opponents simply switching to the open far side and attacking from there, while it
has also caused problems in defensive transition. Whenever Chelsea lose the ball, the tendency
to immediately rush to the opponent in possession has led to problematic gaps opening up between
the lines. Considering the issues that appear for Sarri’s
Chelsea when pressing, defending the wings or in handling defensive transitions, it is
not surprising that these are the situations in which they concede most of their goals.
But it’s also worth noting their set piece play – 10 of the league goals they have
conceded have come following a failure to defend opposition corners and free kicks.
At the heart of all of these issues lies Sarri’s failure to adapt. He persisted with the 4-3-3
throughout his time with Napoli after a brief experiment with the 4-diamond-2, and he has
yet to show any variation with Chelsea. On top of that, his unwillingness to rotate personnel
or change tactics means his team are fairly easy to prepare for, which accounts for how
ruthlessly they have been countered and opened up on occasion.
There are some positive signs, however. In the win over Brighton, Sarri gave rare starts
to three academy graduates: Andreas Christensen, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The latter’s progression from squad player to starter is a particularly exciting development.
Not only does the 18-year-old winger possess pace, skill and intelligence, but he showcases
the combinative qualities necessary to succeed within his manager’s style of play. Indeed,
in his debut start he made his first major attacking contribution, assisting for Olivier
Giroud’s opening goal. Giving chances to young players may placate
the support, but only temporarily. The truth is that, in order to build a Chelsea team
in his own image, Sarri needs two things: time and money. Unfortunately for him, an
increasingly irritated fan-base used to winning trophies and an upcoming transfer ban could
mean his needs aren’t met. Consequently, full Sarri-ball may never grace Stamford Bridge.