A full performance is still missing from Chelsea’s Sarrismo

Maurizio Sarri’s implementation of his tactics may be ahead of schedule, but fans have yet to see a perfect Chelsea performance. What is missing still?

Sarri likes to move the bar. He said he would name the captain weeks ago now, but every week the answer as to when is “next week”. He seemed to say Ethan Ampadu and Callum Hudson-Odoi would be used in the cups but neither has been seen. And he said Sarrismo would take a few months to enter the squad.

On the latter, Sarri may be wrong. His original projection on when the team would be playing up to speed was near November. Chelsea more or less had it down at the end of August. It helped that some results fell the right way for the Blues, but a happy camp helped to create an easier pathway for Sarrismo. But it is still not all the way there, though it is much closer.

Sarrismo is a very particular style. It sits somewhere between Pep Guardiola’s positional play and Jurgen Klopp’s heavy metal football. Neither Guardiola nor Klopp managed to fully integrate their tactics until well into their first seasons. Sarrismo is already closer that either were at this point, but how much still needs to be done?

It is best to start with what has worked. The defense is much improved even from match day two. The high line was rarely the issue, but the more zonal based approach mixed with an offside trap was causing headaches. Neither has been an issue for weeks.

The possession play is solid as the Blues are able to funnel not only through Jorginho, but the fullbacks to maintain control of the ball. Furthermore, the counterpress the midfield starts has also been working very well recently.

But the issues primarily come from attacking in between the lines and verticality/speed of play. Those two issues, both on attack, have kept Chelsea from putting in a full 90 minute performance. And until that full 90 minute performance happens, Sarrismo will remain in the realms of “Sarriball” and gushing over parts of it that does not matter.

The first problem stems from the set up in part and the players in part. Ross Barkley played the role in preseason and Mateo Kovacic was brought in to do the same. One of Sarri’s midfielders must move in to the space between the opposition defense and midfield when in possession. This serves one of two functions. The first is it gives Chelsea an option to break in between the lines and cause chaos. The second is it sucks defenders in which leaves the flanks more open.

Interestingly enough, Sarri’s solution to Kovacic being a bit run shy has been to use Eden Hazard in the role. The reason Hazard has been seemingly moving so central is because he is filling the void Kovacic or Barkley should be filling. It has given the formation a 4-3-1-2 shape when it happens. That is good for maintaining possession, but it is incredibly narrow and has little penetration capacity. And Sarri does not really care about possession, he cares about penetration. That plays into the other issue.

Chelsea’s lack of verticality and speed are the biggest missing links between where they are and where Sarri wants them to be. Sarrismo is built on advancing the ball quickly with vertical passes to create easier chances on goal. But Chelsea, in part due to the 4-3-1-2 work around, do not have the runners or the speed to truly hurt the opponent.

An ideal Sarrismo side wins the ball back, uses quick one-two’s to draw the opponent into a press, and then a vertical ball is played to an attacker running into space. Usually, that puts them through on goal or at least in a one on one situation with a defender. The whole process should take less than five seconds from winning the ball back to taking the shot.

Of course, that is not sustainable for a full match and that is when Sarrismo usually becomes more possession based to take a breather. Chelsea has taken a lot of breathers. Possession is but a part of, but not the main point of, Sarri’s style. Possession is a means to an end, not the end.

Chelsea has had several moments of quick vertical play. But they happen, at most, once or twice a match. Sarri likely wants that number to be closer to 10 or more. If Chelsea only scores on two of those occasions, that is likely enough to see them win any match.

Sarrismo is a work in progress. It is much closer than it was even a few weeks ago. But now is not the time to rest on laurels or act as if Chelsea has arrived. Without the trademark vertical runs and speed (something Sarri has been particularly interested in mentioning after a few games), Sarrismo is at best incomplete. And until it is complete, Chelsea will be unable to put in a full 90 minute performance.