THE SARRI'S NAPOLI AND SARRI'S CHELSEA
Maurizio Sarri was hired by Chelsea last summer to replace Antonio Conte. What led the Chelsea board to acquire Sarri’s service should be clear to a regular football lover – the Italian managed one of the most exciting teams in Europe throughout the 2017/18 season. Napoli was definitely the most organized team in the Serie A last season, in fact Juventus was no match for them in that aspect – this was evident when they defeated Juve away from home during the season.
Sarri started brightly in the premier league but after Chelsea’s home game against Everton in the league [which ended in a goaless draw], the Chelsea fan base and pundits all around The UK started casting doubts on Sarri ball! All teams started using the “stop-Jorginho-you-stop-Chelsea approach”. This is because Jorginho plays the pivot role in Sarri ball, up till now he has the highest number of passes in the Premier league (2,077). A lot of fans blame Jorginho for his lack of defensive ability, but personally, I am not surprised the player is like that because Sarri himself made it known Jorginho is not a physical but technical player. The question is: has Sarri ball been fully implemented at Chelsea by the manager? It is necessary to take a deep look at the Napoli team of the 2017/18 season to get an answer to that question.
SARRI’S NAPOLI
During his time at Napoli, an average football lover would not want to switch off the TV or change the channel when Napoli plays. Sarri adopted the 4:3:3 formation and made Napoli the most exciting team in Italy. Saddled with the responsibility of making short passes to take opponent off positions and open up spaces for the two midfielders who flanked him left and right, Jorginho was the dictator of play in the team just like Sergio Busquets is in Barcelona. There is the saying, “watch the game and you would not see Busquets but watch Busquets and you will see the game”, same is also applicable to Jorginho. There are more tactical than physical players in the set up: in the defense, Koulibaly provided pace and physicality while Albiol provided the tactical balance, the two sidebacks (Ghoulam and Hysaj) loves overlapping a lot; Allan always stayed close to Jorginho (and played as a box-to-box midfielder) to provide the defensive balance, Hamsik is aggressive, attacks a lot and sometimes interchange position with Dries Mertens; the frontline had Insigne, Mertens and Callejon, Mertens did switch position with Insigne often times and Callejon is kind of static in the right wing.
Despite this wonderful arrangement and the team’s unpredictability, there was still more to the 4:3:3 formation used by Sarri! During buildup play, that is when Pepe Reina has the ball, what I did see was a 3:4:3 setup: the two center backs move wide and Jorginho comes between them to play as the third center back (this was common in The Serie A last season), this make the pressing opponent attempt to take the ball off Jorginho (but often fail because the other two center backs are good passers), the midfield then open up and Jorginho pass to either Allan or Hamsik, if Koulibaly or Albiol has the ball, passes go to Ghoulam or Hysaj who are now wingbacks and the rest is full attacking play. During the attack, formation changes to 4:2:3:1 with Allan flanking Jorginho in the midfield and Insigne playing the number ten role, in this case, Insigne may switch position with Hamsik and Callejon is static in the right wing, Mertens sits in front as the false nine. When the team lose possession, a 4:4:2-like arrangement is made to ensure compactness resulting to high pressing to strip the ball off the opponent; here, the default four defenders lineup, Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik and Insigne form the midfield four while Callejon and Mertens act as the last two but are always still close to other players of the team. When possession is gained again, buildup starts and 3:4:3 lineup is restored with Reina playing as the sweeper. When the opponent pressing is about to lead to success, Jorginho passes to the defenders and buildup starts again. What one could deduce here is that only Callejon is static in the team because he is a natural winger, Hysaj does not have to attack much and then support the two default center backs, this is a typical example of fluidity!
SARRI’S CHELSEA
Now, has Sarriball been fully implemented at Chelsea? The correct answer is of course NO! It is true Jorginho dictates play but Barkley/Kovacic and Kante have not been playing like Allan and Hamsik did for Sarri. Kovacic seems not to be creative enough and Kante does not really stay close to Jorginho at when due. Shutting down Jorginho is not really the antidote to Sarriball, if there are two good box to box midfielders to flank him left and right, the effort to shut him down cannot work. In the defense setup, Arrizabalaga is an upgrade to Pepe Reina to be factual, Rudiger is around to provide physicality and good passes but is incomparable to Koulibaly when it comes to pace, David Luiz should receive applauds for his passes but has been playing like an outlaw to me, Alonso is not living up to expectation and Azpilicueta is neither bad nor very good. Willian has been very wasteful upfront and there is no striker to complement Hazard’s good play, Gonzalo Higuain is expected to fill this lacuna but I believe something must be done about Willian.
CONCLUSION
If Sarri had not left Napoli, Juventus might not be in the same level with the team even if they sign Messi and Ronaldo this season. When Sarri gets the players that suit his style, Chelsea will surely become one of the most exciting teams in the world, that is if the club exercise patience. The question is, since premier league teams are man-marking Jorginho to shut him down, is it not necessary to stop being stubborn and then implement the style fully when the perfect players are signed?
CREDITS:
Tribal Football
The FalseNine
Kolade Chris
Member, Whistle Sports Group (WSG) and a Chelsea fan.
Sarri started brightly in the premier league but after Chelsea’s home game against Everton in the league [which ended in a goaless draw], the Chelsea fan base and pundits all around The UK started casting doubts on Sarri ball! All teams started using the “stop-Jorginho-you-stop-Chelsea approach”. This is because Jorginho plays the pivot role in Sarri ball, up till now he has the highest number of passes in the Premier league (2,077). A lot of fans blame Jorginho for his lack of defensive ability, but personally, I am not surprised the player is like that because Sarri himself made it known Jorginho is not a physical but technical player. The question is: has Sarri ball been fully implemented at Chelsea by the manager? It is necessary to take a deep look at the Napoli team of the 2017/18 season to get an answer to that question.
SARRI’S NAPOLI
During his time at Napoli, an average football lover would not want to switch off the TV or change the channel when Napoli plays. Sarri adopted the 4:3:3 formation and made Napoli the most exciting team in Italy. Saddled with the responsibility of making short passes to take opponent off positions and open up spaces for the two midfielders who flanked him left and right, Jorginho was the dictator of play in the team just like Sergio Busquets is in Barcelona. There is the saying, “watch the game and you would not see Busquets but watch Busquets and you will see the game”, same is also applicable to Jorginho. There are more tactical than physical players in the set up: in the defense, Koulibaly provided pace and physicality while Albiol provided the tactical balance, the two sidebacks (Ghoulam and Hysaj) loves overlapping a lot; Allan always stayed close to Jorginho (and played as a box-to-box midfielder) to provide the defensive balance, Hamsik is aggressive, attacks a lot and sometimes interchange position with Dries Mertens; the frontline had Insigne, Mertens and Callejon, Mertens did switch position with Insigne often times and Callejon is kind of static in the right wing.
Despite this wonderful arrangement and the team’s unpredictability, there was still more to the 4:3:3 formation used by Sarri! During buildup play, that is when Pepe Reina has the ball, what I did see was a 3:4:3 setup: the two center backs move wide and Jorginho comes between them to play as the third center back (this was common in The Serie A last season), this make the pressing opponent attempt to take the ball off Jorginho (but often fail because the other two center backs are good passers), the midfield then open up and Jorginho pass to either Allan or Hamsik, if Koulibaly or Albiol has the ball, passes go to Ghoulam or Hysaj who are now wingbacks and the rest is full attacking play. During the attack, formation changes to 4:2:3:1 with Allan flanking Jorginho in the midfield and Insigne playing the number ten role, in this case, Insigne may switch position with Hamsik and Callejon is static in the right wing, Mertens sits in front as the false nine. When the team lose possession, a 4:4:2-like arrangement is made to ensure compactness resulting to high pressing to strip the ball off the opponent; here, the default four defenders lineup, Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik and Insigne form the midfield four while Callejon and Mertens act as the last two but are always still close to other players of the team. When possession is gained again, buildup starts and 3:4:3 lineup is restored with Reina playing as the sweeper. When the opponent pressing is about to lead to success, Jorginho passes to the defenders and buildup starts again. What one could deduce here is that only Callejon is static in the team because he is a natural winger, Hysaj does not have to attack much and then support the two default center backs, this is a typical example of fluidity!
SARRI’S CHELSEA
Now, has Sarriball been fully implemented at Chelsea? The correct answer is of course NO! It is true Jorginho dictates play but Barkley/Kovacic and Kante have not been playing like Allan and Hamsik did for Sarri. Kovacic seems not to be creative enough and Kante does not really stay close to Jorginho at when due. Shutting down Jorginho is not really the antidote to Sarriball, if there are two good box to box midfielders to flank him left and right, the effort to shut him down cannot work. In the defense setup, Arrizabalaga is an upgrade to Pepe Reina to be factual, Rudiger is around to provide physicality and good passes but is incomparable to Koulibaly when it comes to pace, David Luiz should receive applauds for his passes but has been playing like an outlaw to me, Alonso is not living up to expectation and Azpilicueta is neither bad nor very good. Willian has been very wasteful upfront and there is no striker to complement Hazard’s good play, Gonzalo Higuain is expected to fill this lacuna but I believe something must be done about Willian.
CONCLUSION
If Sarri had not left Napoli, Juventus might not be in the same level with the team even if they sign Messi and Ronaldo this season. When Sarri gets the players that suit his style, Chelsea will surely become one of the most exciting teams in the world, that is if the club exercise patience. The question is, since premier league teams are man-marking Jorginho to shut him down, is it not necessary to stop being stubborn and then implement the style fully when the perfect players are signed?
CREDITS:
Tribal Football
The FalseNine
Kolade Chris
Member, Whistle Sports Group (WSG) and a Chelsea fan.
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