In Maurizio Sarri, Chelsea have hired a football philosopher; a coach who believes that the
game should be played a certain way, and sets up his teams both to win and entertain. “Our
team always tries to take the initiative and play our football, regardless of venue, opponent
or situation. That is our philosophy,” Sarri has said of his style, known as Sarriball.
Sarriball has a number of clearly defined features, honed during the coach’s spells
at Pescara, Empoli and Napoli.
These are: the retention of possession, especially in the defensive third; verticality of passing
in progression; and quick interchanges in the attacking third, usually on the ground
and relying on a whirl of movement between players; and, in defensive mode, a high line
and press.
These features also rely on certain tactical identities among his players: the goalkeeper
and centre-backs need to be excellent on the ball; forwards must show great awareness and
understanding; and the central, deeper-lying midfield player is the fulcrum around which
the team moves.
Sarri sets his team up in a 4-3-3, the formation he used most often and successfully at Napoli.
In this system, the full backs are expected to push up, though Marcos Alonso is more attacking
on the left than Cesar Azpilicueta is on the right.
The midfield is staggered, so that Joringho sits behind a shuttling N’Golo Kante on
the right and one of Mateo Kovacic or Ross Barkley on the left, who advance more. Ahead,
Eden Hazard occupies the left half space with licence to roam and make things happen, while
on the right, Willian or Pedro are expected to provide more width and defensive cover,
and Alvaro Morata tends to lead the line, looking for runs in behind or moving to create
space for Hazard.
Sarri’s 4-3-3 is geared to the principles of his style of play, and Joringho is the
key. Chelsea are a possession-based team, but possession is not retained for its own
sake. The purpose is to move the opposition around to create room for quick, vertical
transitions into the attacking third.
This begins at the base of the team. As Joringho drops off, he forms a series of potential
passing triangles with the ‘keeper and centre-backs, so that Chelsea can rotate the ball while
moving it forwards, compacting the space without a great risk of losing possession.
The full backs offer options out wide, in case a team is pressing aggressively high
and, at times, the centre backs can also break the press by carrying the ball out of defence.
That is one of the reasons David Luiz finds himself back in favour at Stamford Bridge,
while Antonio Rudiger is also capable of carrying or raking a long pass forwards. Neither are
as polished as Kalidou Koulibably was at Napoli, but the idea is the same.
Once gaps have appeared, Chelsea play with lots of movement between the lines. The aim
is simple – progress the ball through a player moving forwards, either by finding
a direct pass to an advanced attacker, or by a player dropping off, returning the ball,
and moving into space again, but always with a general movement up the pitch.
They also push the ball forwards towards a dropping player before switching the play
wider, especially on the left, where Alonso will overlap before feeding the ball inside
to Hazard or whipping back a low cross.
In midfield, N’Golo Kante is no longer tasked with destruction all the time, but instead
shuttles back and forth much as Allan did for Napoli, providing return passes to Jorginho
or an option free of a covering player to take the ball and then move it out wide.
Ross Barkley, who seems rejuvenated under Sarri, looks to do the same but also has room
to push further forwards and assist the Hazard/Alsono pairing on the left – it’s a feature of
Sarri’s teams that they often attack most aggressively down the left-hand side and a
quick look at the preferred line-up shows that, even in defence, Sarri’s Chelsea are
more attacking in the left half of the picth than the right.
Once Chelsea are in the attacking third, they rely on individual skill and quick interchanges
to generate opportunities. Most of this is done along the ground – crosses are generally
favoured only when they are quick, low pull-backs across the box. Again, much of the this is
generated on the left, while Morata, Willian or Pedro, and even Kante are tasked with making
diagonal runs into the danger area. These runs can also occupy defenders so that Hazard
can simply drive towards the goal himself or take a pass in space from Alonso.
These quick interchanges require great understanding of teammates’ movements. As journalist Gabriel
Marcotti has explained, “Sarri tends to [train at] a high pace, to ensure his sessions
do not run for hours and to stop players getting bored. That emphasis on chemistry and repetition
allows his players to pass the ball confidently into space, knowing a team-mate will be there
or on his way.” It’s what creates the mesmeric attacking patterns of Sarriball,
but the whole attacking system, from possessional build-up, through vertical transition, is
what allows these quick exchanges to materialise against a disjointed, tired defence.
In defence themselves, Chelsea play a high line to compact the vertical lines and deny
the opposition space.
Chelsea’s press is assisted by this – it’s not exactly a Klopp-style gegenpress, but
they try to stifle and suffocate the opposition in their own defensive third and win the ball
back before attacking again. They look to mark passing lanes while also attacking the
ball, forcing the opposition back or into an error, moving across to swarm the side
of the pitch where the opposition have possession.
The midfield and even the full backs get forwards to assist this, and this is one of the two
issues caused by Sarriball – the exploitation of space in front of Chelsea’s defenders
or behind them. Chelsea can look vulnerable to quick counters, much as Sarri’s Napoli
did. The other is fatigue: while Napoli played scintillating football, they did not win Serie
A under Sarri, coming close three times (finishing second twice and third once) but ultimately
falling away at the end having started the season strongly.
Despite never having won a trophy, Maurizio Sarri is beloved by players and fans alike
for his teams’ style and attacking emphasis. Koulibably described him as “a genius”
and “a scholar”, while Dries Mertens said, “It feels like he has already played the
game out in his head and on the field you have an extra man.” With an excellent attention
to detail, a clear style of play, and, most of all, teams that excite, Sarri has retained
his tactical philosophy and made a strong impression on the Premier League.