Maurizio Sarri’s greatest accomplishment thus far is the improved atmosphere at Chelsea. It is still early of course but that is a fantastic sign.
Chelsea, for the most part, flirts with happiness without committing to it fully. The squad was happy in 2014/2015 when Jose Mourinho let them play on the front foot. But a loss to Tottenham caused Mourinho to lock up shop and the happiness with it. Antonio Conte too had the squad on a high in 2016/2017. But a loss of key players caused him to shift his beloved balance towards defense first and the squad bucked at it.
Now, Maurizio Sarri has brought an attacking brand of football to the Bridge. It is far from the finished product but it is working despite that (sometimes with a helpful dose of luck). The squad feels as happy as it has in a long time.
Of course, that is easy to say after four straight wins to start the season. Whether the happiness survives the test of a few weeks of struggle remains to be seen. But so far, Sarri has kept things above water and the squad is responding well.
It is perhaps worth returning to Mourinho and Conte momentarily. In their title winning seasons, they let the squad be. It was when things started to turn south that they became more adversarial to the squad. What was once a request became a command. What was once fun and games became life or death.
One would be mistaken to say Sarri does not have similar combative tendencies in him. He showed it in Italy, but the key difference is he only really showed it to everyone outside of his team. Sarri, from what has been seen since he joined Chelsea, is simply a man of no drama with the guys on his side.
Throughout his short tenure thus far, Sarri has shrugged off nearly everything. He was not worried about key players leaving, he was not worried about the squad struggling with some concepts, and he was not worried about how they team was doing thus far. It is, of course, easy not to worry when winning match after match but Sarri seems incredibly chill about anything and everything involving his team at the moment.
The squad has responded by having a very upbeat atmosphere. That is perhaps why they have responded so well to Sarri’s tactics. There is plenty left to work on (see how Chelsea struggled against Newcastle’s and Bournemouth’s defenses). But there are also a ton of positives to look on. For instance, the first half hour against Arsenal was perhaps the most dominant Chelsea has been against Arsenal in years if not decades.
A happy squad may not yield silverware, but an unhappy one certainly will not. Whatever Sarri is doing to keep the squad upbeat is working. They have responded to him well and can only improve as time goes on. The 12 points from 12 are somewhat misleading given some of the performances and factors involved, but it is much better to be 12 from 12 while learning a new way of playing than six from 12 or zero from 12.
So long as Sarri does not challenge the squad too much when things go south, Chelsea will do well under him. Happiness is an often neglected trait that can help squads immensely. It seems that Sarri has the ability to facilitate it, and so long as he does, the Blues will excel.