Can Chelsea win with Jorginho and N’Golo Kante playing every match?

Maurizio Sarri needs Jorginho and Chelsea needs N’Golo Kante. But Sarri cannot play them together in every match, and needs a back-up plan for rotation and a tactical change.

Sunday’s stalemate at the London Stadium was a result waiting to happen. There were many reason behind Chelsea’s performance. Eden Hazard had an off day. The Blues were poor going forward. They did not try any long balls for Olivier Giroud to bring down and hold-up for his teammates or take a shot on goal.

But some other less obvious facts need to be evaluated. N’Golo Kante has been one of the best players in the world for last few years, and has been crucial for Chelsea in the past two years. Likewise, Jorginho is one of the if not the most important players in Maurizio Sarri’s system. So when Sarri came to Chelsea he had a tough decision to make. Kante, who was irreplaceable from a central role, had to make way for Jorginho. As a result Sarri moved Kante a little forward to a right central midfield role.

Despite the results before Sunday, it was very much evident Kante is not the perfect player to be a right central midfielder. He could improve as time goes on. But Kante’s shortcomings were exposed to a telling effect against West Ham. Sometimes he looked confused, other times he lacks the quick pass, movements or the link-up play that is required from someone in his new position.

N’Golo Kante’s strength lies in his defensive role. Nobody in the world is better than him as a defensive central midfielder. As he is positioned forward now, he has to make more runs to contribute on defence or support the back four. If the play is developing on the left side of Chelsea’s defense, even more effort is required from him considering that side consists of David Luiz and Marcos Alonso.

Chelsea have better players suited for attacking in their team than N’Golo Kante. Even then, no matter if their opponent is a big team or a small team, they could be vulnerable to a counter-attack. In this regard there is no one in the world more capable than Kante to protect Sarri’s side from danger.

Meanwhile, Joringho’s performances in earlier victories were significant. On Sunday he made a Premier League record 180 passes. Against a team that had nine players around the box, it’s not hard to achieve such a number in Sarri’s sytem. In such a match, this stat is nothing that should be admired for very long. It’s the same way City had over 1000 passes against Chelsea last season when there was zero pressure from Antonio Conte’s side.

Even so, Jorginho’s performance is not all about passing. Among his 191 touches were some tackles and interceptions that were crucial in keeping West Ham pinned back.

Jorginho is the gear that moves the Sarrismo system. But if an opponent man-marks him like few teams did in Serie A, it will affect Chelsea’s performance. In such case Sarri ought to have a backup plan.

Against teams that employ such tactics, it’s crucial to have a player like Cesc Fabregas. His vision and ability to find players could have had a much more positive impact in Sarri’s system. Fabregas can unlock the tightly packed teams who have frustrated Sarri’s men this season in the games where the Blues made hundreds more passes but only won by one goal. In those games, Fabregas can play forward and play the ball through the opponent’s defence while N’Golo Kante plays in his best defensive role to protect against the counter.

Sarri does not always need both Kante and Jorginho. Sometimes having the two of them together keeps the Blues from breaking through the defence.

It’s only the early stage of the season. But English football is a different beast. Luis Felipe Scolari had a good start to his stint, but before the end of the season, he was gone. Maurizio Sarri will need to find answers to English football’s questions soon.