The Italian coach adapted to the favorite without changing himself.

Italian philologists have added the neologism Sarrism to the national encyclopedia. The term refers to the style of team football with constant pressure, a keen game of fullbacks, an overwhelming possession of the ball and a fast repacking with a large number of passes. Sarrism is not a revolution, but an evolutionary step. The merger of entertainment and rationalism. Now Maurizio in the Premier League, like Billy Beane from the film “Moneyball”, is fighting in a dishonest game against teams with incommensurable budgets and opportunities. And wins.

In the match against Man City, Sarri, on the one hand, adjusted to his opponent, and on the other, won at the expense of his usual game. Maurizio had to abandon the oppressive possession of the ball and the fast number of passes - it was foolish to compete with the City in what Pep made a name for himself. In addition, Sarri abandoned the familiar 4-3-3 set-up with the striker forward: Giroud was overwhelmed by almost the entire match on the bench, Morata did not make the bid, and the extra space went in favor of Kovacic. As a result, "the blue" turned out to be a mercurial attack of three interchangeable traps - Hazard, Willian and Pedro, who not only swapped places and violently put pressure on them, but also went deep to their own penalty area during defense.

It seemed that Guardiola had about the same thing: a saturated midfield, active fullbacks and Sterling as a false nine. True, for the Spaniard, this measure is forced: Kun is injured, and Jesus is far from decent conditions. But for the City the absence of a forward was fatal. Instead of shots on goal, three wingers of Pep shoved the ball at each other - as a result, Sane, Sterling and Mahrez had one accurate shot for three, and even the sour Jesus had hit twice after the replacement. The dominance of Manchesters resulted in endless corner (13) and crazy blows (14 total and only 4 on the target).

Chelsea's winning goal was scored first for the team per game in the 45th minute. The second came from the first corner. This can be called luck and spontaneity. But Mark Twain said: "It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." The fact that the first goal was scored by N’Golo Kante is not an accident at all.

“Kante won't be able to play box-to-box! He is the defensive midfielder! Jorginho will not be able to take the balls, - ”the conservatives puffed when Sarri moved the world champion out of the support zone. It turned out that it was a matter of habit - in the match against Man City, Kante knew 100% how to play from the penalty area to the penalty area. Yes, for most of the match, he simply chased after “citizens”, like all Chelsea players. But in the 45th minute, when Hazard gave the scoring pass, no one kept Kante. Well, because he is Kante. He can't play box-to-box. Sarry - 1, critics - 0.

The second Chelsea hero is David Luiz. You can laugh at him endlessly - substantial reasons for banter. But without a Brazilian, Chelsea blew Wolverhampton, and with Luiz he furnished Manchester City. And this is no coincidence: David not only ideally won the fight and clearance the balls (7 times in a match, most of all), but also began the rare attacks of Londoners with fierce long passes. Of the nine Brazilian long-balls, six hit the target — the most among the field players. For comparison, in the match with Wolves, the attack began with Rüdiger - only four accurate moves ahead. Perhaps two accurate passes are not a big difference, but it was with David David's pass that the Chelsea goal attack began.

Another important thing to remember is César Azpilicueta. He was constantly tormented by Sane, and after the departure of Jesus - Sterling. One of the most explosive guys in the world. But Azpilicueta strangled with a dozen nascent moments: he took the ball 13 times, intercepted 7 times and blocked strikes from the penalty area twice.

Maurizio Sarri is a bit like a coach from the first half of the twentieth century, when football was just a hobby. A gloomy man with glasses, a former bank clerk, a furious smoker, austere. Surry is a living retro, but at the same time stuffed with high-tech stuffing. No wonder he says that Jurgen Klopp, another man with roots from the 80s, is close to him in spirit. But in the match against Manchester City, the Italian showed what it means to be relevant - to adapt to today, without changing yourself.