Maurizio Sarri arrived at Chelsea without lots of fanfare last summer but after a dozen games in the Premier League, his stock has risen and people began taking notice of the tactician creating a legacy at Stamford Bridge with a brand new style of football that his predecessors could only dream of.
Up until the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea were high flying in all competitions this season. But Mauricio Pochettino’s side revealed the cracks in Sarri’s system with their 3-1 masterclass win and Wolves’ 2-1 win a week after confirmed any doubts about Sarri’s one-way approach.
The criticism at the doorstep of the Italian coach was that he was not flexible enough, but against the table toppers and champions of England, Manchester City, Chelsea looked a different class. The Blues were unpredictable and totally looked to have corrected their mistakes of the past weeks.
The usual style to possess the ball and build attacks through Jorginho at the base of the three-man midfield was shunned. Chelsea on the pitch had five midfielders, with Pedro and Willian dropping deep to help Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic in tidying up if Chelsea lost possession. The tweaked shape meant Chelsea were not left without answers when Man City’s tricky forwards marched on the Blues’ full-backs.
Playing without a striker also gave Pep Guardiola a few problems. His back four failed to deal with the movement of Sarri’s mobile front three and Chelsea looked favorites to win the game the moment the had the first goal in.
It is only one game, but Chelsea now face a difficult task of repeating this tactical flexibility in order to rise again in the standings. But for now, kudos to our pragmatic coach!
