Chelsea: Hudson-Odoi, Ross Barkley and Sarri-ball define the preseason

Chelsea have played three friendlies this pre-season, defeating Perth Glory and Inter Milan before losing to Arsenal. Although the players who reached the latter stages of the World Cup have not returned yet, the Blues have given us plenty to consider.

Maurizio Sarri’s mentality and style of play is slowly seeping into the squad, their effects are showing on the pitch. Sarri has given everyone a fair chance so far to show him why they deserve to be in his plans.

1. Revelation: Callum Hudson-Odoi’s emergence

The emergence of Callum Hudson-Odoi has been the biggest positive of this pre-season. He broke into the senior squad at the end of last season, making a couple of appearences from the bench under Antonio Conte. Now he has started all three of the pre-season matches and has been equally scintillating in each. He provided the assist for Pedro’s goal against Perth, and showed some amazing wing-play against Inter.

But he was perhaps the best on the pitch against Arsenal. Hector Bellerin had a very tough time defending against the young, fast winger. He even earned a penalty after he raced ahead of Bellerin to latch onto a ball from Marcos Alonso. Alvaro Morata unfortunately could not finish the job, as he sent the penalty kick easily to Petr Cech.

Hudson-Odoi also showed good creativity as he picked out men with his crossing from the touchline. Sarri has said Hudson-Odoi is in his plans for the season and although he is just 17 he appears ready and up to the task.

Willian and Pedro are not getting any younger and Chelsea should be in the market for a quality winger. But Hudson-Odoi could be set to save Chelsea a lot of money. He just needs some polishing on his end product and he could be Stamford Bridge’s new star.

2. Ross Barkley looking sharp

Ross Barkley was almost a forgotten man after his £15 million switch to Chelsea in January. He was coming back from injury and was nowhere near top class in his few outings, but his hardwork in the off-season has definitely shown through.

The role of the third midfielder (the most offensive of the three) in Maurizio Sarri’s 3-4-3 suits Barkley perfectly. He, too, has started all three pre-season games and has looked very sharp. He is definitely worth keeping as a Blue.

Jorginho and N’Golo Kante are confirmed mainstays in the centre of the park, but Barkley can make this position into his own. Cesc Fabregas and Ruben Loftus Cheek both have the skill set to operate in this position. They will give Barkley some competition from them, but that sort of intra-squad challenge is never a bad thing.

3. The System: Sarri-ball setting in at Chelsea

Maurizio Sarri did not have a full training period with the squad before the friendlies started. He has to see his plans implemented directly in the game before perfecting it on the training pitch. The gameplay has improved at each turn as the squad adapts to Sarri’s ideologies.

Chelsea’s forward line and two of the midfielders hold a man-oriented press when Chelsea do not have the ball. Meanwhile, the other midfielder (Jorginho) monitors things from the back and makes sure the gap between midfield and defence is not broken if the press goes wrong.

This system could unleash the best of N’Golo Kante as he can press his man to win back possession. There is no better man to do that in world football. Kante will play on the right of the midfield three, but will (as usual) cover the pitch.

Jorginho plays the Sergio Busquets role, where he becomes the defensive midfielder out of possession and forms a triangle with the centre backs when in possession. Chelsea have been pretty solid at the back, and have only conceded from individual defensive mistakes.

Alvaro Morata still looks a bit low on confidence. His link-up play and positioning is still good, but he had many chances he should have put away had he been at his best. He definitely will improve, but Chelsea need him to do that fast.

Sarri has blocked any move for Michy Batshuayi, signalling he is in his first team plans. Batshuayi is a very good finisher, but his gameplay and awareness could certainly improve. Sarri’s tactics involves a lot of vertical play and penetrative passing. This could give a lot of one-on-one opportunities to the forwards. Morata missed a lot of them last season and again in pre-season, which could bring Batshuayi closer to the starting XI.

Chelsea have one more week until the Premier League begins, but the Community Shield is this Sunday. While it straddles the line between pre-season friendly and competitive opener, the fans do care about it. It will be one more chance for the Blues to rehearse Maurizio Sarri’s tactics while starting his domestic campaign getting one over last season’s Premier League champions.