Until recently, it appeared Maurizio Sarri had a clear plan and hierarchy for the Chelsea midfield. Now it is all very muddled.
At first, it was more or less clear that Maurizio Sarri’s midfield trio for Chelsea was going to be similar to the one he used at Napoli: Jorginho in the deep lying playmaking role flanked by one box to box midfielder and one more attacking midfielder able to break between lines.
And at first, that held true. N’Golo Kante took on the box to box role, Mateo Kovacic took on the driving attacking playmaker spot, and Jorginho slid right back into his usual location in a darker shade of blue.
But as time passed, that became less and less true. Kovacic proved to be less of a driving force and more of a second box to box midfielder. Kante had his up and downs in his new role. And then Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek complicated the equation.
Barkley and Loftus-Cheek are both more attacking than Kovacic but suffer defensively. They have improved of course but they fail to shield the center as well as Kovacic. Of course, Kovacic fails to attack the spaces or find the passes in the same way that Barkley and Loftus-Cheek frequently do.
Sarri’s comments about needing one defensive minded midfielder on the pitch appeared to hint that one of Kane or Kovacic must always play. Perhaps that is still true, but it appears Loftus-Cheek and Barkley now both have a much stronger chance of playing both in rotation and out of rotation.
But the new kicker is Loftus-Cheek as a fourth midfielder. He is not quite playing a winger as the lineup suggest, but he is not quite playing in midfield either. Sarri did use the 4-3-1-2 before switching to 4-3-3 at Napoli, but this is not the same thing. In fact, it might be closer to a 4-3-2-1 with one of the two (Loftus-Cheek) coming from out to in and the other coming from in to out.
Loftus-Cheek in that role has occurred twice now and could be the strongest hint that Sarri is adjusting the attack. Adding that additional midfielder allows Sarri to play more in form players but comes at the cost of a winger. Plus, if it becomes the go to plan, then the rotation will see some strain.
But Eden Hazard’s injury and Pedro’s continued troubles muddles things. Is this merely the plan until Sarri has his wingers back? Or is this truly a new idea for the midfield that Loftus-Cheek has mastered enough for live action?
It is clear that the current attacking plan has been lacking in many aspects. Chelsea keep winning but they are struggling to create quality chances. Most are coming simply due to the sheer amount of time on the ball. Chelsea’ most complete performance all season came against Burnley when Loftus-Cheek came on, but the showing against Derby County was extremely wanting.
Sarri is an intelligent manager who is nowhere near satisfied with the current run undefeated. The fans may be championing what is going on, but Sarri is not pleased with what he is seeing yet. He has been tinkering slowly and whatever the plan was at the start is in the past. But going forward, the plan is no less clear yet. The Blues are in flux right now and it may be a few weeks before they solidify once again.