No more Hamsik and Allan: Maurizio Sarri must define this Chelsea squad

Maurizio Sarri has enough trouble moving on from his past clubs and favourite players. Chelsea fans should encourage him to boot the Marek Hamsik and Allan roles, and define his first Chelsea squad from the players he has.

The first question of the Blues’ transfer window has been which of Maurizio Sarri’s former players would join him at Chelsea. The second question followed from a negative answer to the first. If those players were not coming to Chelsea, who would play their very specific role in Sarri’s very specific, tried and trusted system? If Marek Hamsik and Allan would not reunite with Jorginho at Stamford Bridge, who would play the Hamsik and Allan roles behind whoever was playing the Dries Mertens role?

As it stands, Jorginho will play the Jorginho role once more under Sarri. Under this view it is the Cesc Fabregas+ role: Fabregas’ passing and playmaking, but with added tracking back and speed. With Hamsik and Allan not in the transfer picture, the conversation now is how N’Golo Kante, Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will slot and shuffle into the Neapolitans’ roles.

The very idea of N’Golo Kante playing anyone else’s role is laughable on its face. For a brief period Kante appeared to be playing the Makelele role. But Kante has since proven himself the defining player at his position for the generation. Kante plays the Kante role, and the combination of physical, tactical and technical abilities he brings makes it nearly impossible for anyone to replicate. Using Kante in anything less than the Kante role sacrifices his talents.

This is true for all the other Blues, even if they are not at Kante’s level. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is not Marek Hamsik. Neither Ross Barkley nor Tiemoue Bakayoko are Allan. And no combination of Eden Hazard, Alvaro Morata, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Olivier Giroud or Victor Moses are Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon.

This is not a question of better or worse, simply difference. If anyone thinks this is a problem, they should trade in their jersey for a lighter shade of blue. And if Maurizio Sarri thinks is a problem, his tenure will quickly resemble his predecessor’s. He has already said he has no interest in dictating transfers and enjoys coaching the players he has. His lack of “role” players will put those statements to the test.

One of the biggest concerns about Maurizio Sarri’s appointment was his rigid adherence to a tactical system (4-3-3) built around very similar players – often times the same players – in each role. This drove much of Chelsea’s transfer rumours and activity this summer. Even though they only signed Jorginho, they were linked to many more of Sarri’s proteges.

Chelsea’s winningest coach by save percentage described his role as a tailor. Il Sarto said his job was to build the best suit for the club based on the players he had.

This is at once a pragmatic and a romantic statement. Pragmatic, because the coach has so little say in transfers at Chelsea and knows the composition of the squad will not mitigate any poor performance. He goes to war with the army he’s got.

It is romantic because it speaks to the unique characteristics of each player, and the team the tailor uniquely and necessarily crafts from this group. The parts shape the make-up of the whole. The tailor crafts a suit around to maximize strengths and downplay or compensate for weaknesses. He knows how conspicuous a patch or any other incongruity is.

Maurizio Sarri needs to shake any thoughts he has of Ruben Loftus-Cheek as the next Marek Hamsik or how he can re-create Allan using Bakayoko or Barkley. He needs to craft a Chelsea team where Loftus-Cheek plays the Loftus-Cheek role just as much as N’Golo Kante plays the N’Golo Kante role.

Loftus-Cheek may not set the global standard the way Kante does, but he does not need to. He only needs to set the Chelsea standard.

The second-best compliment and testament to Sarri’s time at Chelsea would be people wondering who will play the Loftus-Cheek role, the Barkley role, the Alonso role at his next club. The best compliment would be people realizing that, whatever he creates at Stamford Bridge, was perfect for its moment and cannot be replicated somewhere else.