Unless you are an ardent Chelsea fan who doesn’t see fault in Chelsea new found playing style either wining or losing. You should know that a loss is imminent.
Signing Maurizio Sarri brought a new wave of confidence to the Chelsea team, fans, and board alike. Many are already frustrated with Antonio Conte regular fight with the board, players, and fans. Sarri brought in a style of football Chelsea have not seen in years.
A patient possession style that let the London club keep bulk of the possession in a bid to unlock the opposition defense. All this was centered on one man JORGINHO. The Italian was a subject of a transfer war between Manchester city and Chelsea. Chelsea won the battle to sign him and he has been ever present in the new shape midfield Sarri is trying to implement. Gone are the days of 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 common with Antonio Conte. This is Sarriball
What is Sarriball
Sarriball can also be called vertical tiki-taka. It is a kind of possession based attacking football that tends to move the ball far up the pitch into the opposition half as quick as possible. This is filled with short and quick passes often one-twos. This style requires a midfielder who can instigate the short passes and be the go-to man for anything Sarriball. This is where Jorginho comes in. The Italian not a novice in Sarriball having played under Sarri for Napoli settled quickly into the Chelsea team that defensive midfielder Ngolo Kante had to move upfront to accommodate the Italian at the base of the midfield.
A V shape or triangle midfield shape with Jorginho at the base, Kovacic as left attacking midfielder and Kante as right attacking midfielder afford the Italian time and space to dictate the tempo of the game and where the passes should go.
Jorginho influence can be seen in the match against Westham where he attempted 180 passes which is a premier league record for most attempted passes. He also had the most touches in that match with 191 touches. These records easily surpass Gundogan 174 record passes and Fernandinho 186 touches.
Guardiola city are unarguably the only epl side that plays some fine free flowing football and are almost complete in all department. Surpassing records set by their players is not an easy feat. It can be done only by the best of the best.
While Jorginho is the playmaker in the new Chelsea setup, playing from the back is also needed. You can’t play long balls and think of accomplishing success with Sarriball. Your goalkeeper and defenders need to hold the ball and give the playmaker JORGINHO who in turns kick start the short, quick, and forward passes.
How successful is Sarriball?
8wins, 4draws, and 1loss. 28 points out of a possible 39 points is not a bad result. It is a good record and one any coach can be proud of. However if you think of winning anything, you aim for perfection. Manchester city are the league leaders and they are 7 points off Chelsea. Unless something calamitous happen, they are expected to maintain that gap and even extend it further.
4 draws against Westham, Liverpool, Manchester united, Everton leaves many doubting Chelsea title challenge. The shambolic display against Tottenham did not help matters. Sarri already said Chelsea are not title challengers yet, many thought he was just being humble. I don’t think so. Judging from the blues recent performances, they are from being title favourites.
Chelsea Sarriball Flaws
Just like every other football styles, there will be flaws.
Kante
Sarri brought in a 4-3-3 formation with Hazard, Morata/Giroud, and Willian/Pedro at the front. Jorginho at the base of the midfield means Kante has to leave his main position and move to a more advanced position. Playing the Frenchman in an unfamiliar position has not produce the best of result so far. Often, the Frenchman gets into goalscoring positions but unable to convert the chances.
He’s not Hamsik or Allan, he’s a defensive midfielder tasked with the job of breaking opposition attacks and marking out opponents. Why forcing things that don’t work? Imagine Ross Barkley in that position. He would have been likened to Frank Lampard. Most times Kante comes back to help in defensive duties thereby neglecting his attacking duties which in turns leads to a slow transition of play from the midfield to attack.
No Plan B
Who doesn’t like Mourinho Plan B. Brings on Fellaini and start sending in direct balls into the opposition penalty box knowing they have the tall Fellaini, Matic, Pogba, and Lukaku that can get the headed goal. I call it the rush hour.
What about Chelsea. The Plan B is to bring on Barkley for Kovacic, Pedro for Willian, and Giroud for Morata, then continue the same Sarriball. This is the same style you have been using for the past 60 minutes. What effect will changing the players bring? I miss the Conte era. Batshuayi comes on with Diego Costa still on the pitch and the rush hour starts. Why not go direct with Giroud coming in for Kovacic. That will leave you with 2 strikers equally good in head and feet. Then start the pumps.
In the match against Everton and Tottenham, the opposition mission is simple. Man-mark Jorginho and Sarriball ends. Siggurdson man-marked Jorginho that the frustrated Italian had to commit a cynical foul which resulted in a yellow card for him. Against Tottenham, Dele Alli was the man to man-mark Jorginho and nullify his threats. Your playmaker has been nullified, as a manager bringing in another would have been an option. Bringing in Fabregas will give the game another dimension because of the presence of both short and long passes unlike the short passes common with Jorginho.
Unfortunately, this has not been the case. Either win or lose, it’s still the same 4-3-3 style with different players who can do little to change the scoreline.
Lack of Quality players
This is the major problem with the current Chelsea team. If you are to name the top players in the Chelsea squad that will walk into high flyers like Liverpool and Mancity. Hazard, Jorginho, and Kante will be the answer. That shows the lack of quality in the team. Playing Azpilicueta at right back has exposed the Spaniard on a number of occasions. He doesn’t feel comfortable playing there unlike the heart of defense where he formed a good partnership with Rudiger. Get a good right back who is not afraid to join the attack and as well perform well in his defensive duties.
Christensen horror show against Barcelona saw him being frozen out of the team. Cahill also has not been good enough to displace the erratic David Luiz. Sarriball requires a player of Koulibaly confidence that can hold the ball and play out from the back. Son breezing past the surging Luiz with ease shows how shambolic the blues defense is.
Upfront, Chelsea lack the bite that was seen with Diego Costa. Morata has evolved from a goalscorer to an offside king. Sarriball with Chelsea is now predictable. Keep Hazard shut and you can see out a draw or a shock win. Mancity have Mahrez, David Silva, Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Aguero, Bernado Silva, De Bruyne, and Raheem Sterling. The same cannot be said of the blues.
Until Sarri finds a solution to the problems highlighted above, making the top four will be hard for the blues not to talk of winning the league.
This is the EPL and a loss lead to managers researching on how to perform this same feat against you.
Against a stubborn Sarri who is unwilling to change his game plan, I can only say This is the beginning of the end for Sarriball.
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