Maurizio Sarri has shown over the last week that Chelsea players can earn his trust. He has also shown that it is easy to lose that trust.
It has already been discussed that Maurizio Sarri rotates by the language of rotation but not necessarily by the spirit of it. Players are coming in and out but not always in a way that would make sense for the situation.
Still, Sarri has been trying to get more and more bodies in. The last two matches showed that players can earn his trust through enough hard work. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is the clear example of that.
But Sarri’s trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. And several players likely lost it in the match against Derby County. That could have long term repercussions for their Chelsea careers.
As already mentioned, Loftus-Cheek is the clearest example that trust can be earned. At the start of the season, there were strong rumors that he was looking to leave in January due to lack of playing time. But over the last few matches he flipped the narrative and changed the equation.
Suddenly, Loftus-Cheek is able to play “on the wing”. He has built up a fair amount of momentum out of nowhere and Sarri rewards him for it. It took nearly two months to get to this point but the patience and hard work is paying off.
Ross Barkley is another player who has earned Sarri’s trust. Due to the competition in midfield, it is hard to bring everyone in. But Barkley has been used more and more recently as his form has improved. Sarri rewards the effort with more playing time.
Some players have had the trust and lost it or won it back again. Alvaro Morata likely fits into this category. He was the starter, lost the spot, and appears to be the starter again.
But that trust can very easily be lost. Pedro’s injury appears to have taken him out of Sarri’s sights. Olivier Giroud may have lost it as well. But the Derby match will claim quite a few scalps.
The Derby match was nothing short of a disaster. Yes, Chelsea won, but they only scored one goal in truth. It took a massive amount of luck to overcome Frank Lampard’s side. And quite a few players will fall out of rotation now.
Gary Cahill is sure to have fallen out again. Andreas Christensen will be lucky to see the Premier League anytime soon now. Emerson, who was already well in the fringes, will likely remain where he is. It already appeared as though Willy Caballero had little trust and he is sure to have even less now. Victor Moses looks to have joined Danny Drinkwater on the nowhere to be seen camp.
Sarri is simply not a rotational manager. He rotates, but often little and favors the players he knows he can trust. That circle can grow and shrink but it is clear that Derby just caused it to shrink. Sarri will have less trust in his bench now and less trust in his rotation.
This will likely lead to some very strong lineups in the coming weeks game in and game out. And it could force an exodus in January. Enough hard work can change the narrative but Sarri may have already stuck a few of these players in the “never again” pile. Here is hoping that some of the younger guys pick up their game and earn Sarri’s trust while the old timers lose it.