Maurizio Sarri has not used many players and is not looking for any more come January. Chelsea apparently have the players he needs, if he chooses to use them.
Despite using such a tight group of players Maurizio Sarri has no intention of adding winter transfers to his squad. At his pre-match press conference he said Chelsea “can stay with these players and be competitive.”
On the one hand, this may just be the savvy thing to say to avoid probing follow-up questions and obnoxious headlines. Had Sarri said he wanted to add this or that position, then immediately people would read (and write) that as a slight against the players currently in those positions. The starters would be labelled place-holders, and the depth players would be tossed into the rumour mill as “not good enough to make it.”
But Chelsea do have needs, and earlier in his short tenure Sarri was not shy about saying so. The centre-back situation is looking as shaky as Andreas Christensen. If Christensen can recover his form and confidence, the Blues have sufficient depth. Sarri confirmed Gary Cahill as the club captain, implying he will stay through the season. Ethan Ampadu should be returning from injury soon. Five centre-backs is a solid complement. But if Sarri cannot rely on Christensen or the Dane leaves in January, the Blues will need another.
The squad also still need help at winger. If Sarri will not play Victor Moses or Callum Hudson-Odoi, they will (and should) leave. He cannot wait until Eden Hazard, Willian and Pedro are all injured before bringing Moses and Hudson-Odoi into the rotation. If he will not include those two in his plans he should shop for someone he can trust from day one.
These are the two sides of the first coin. Chelsea have a sufficient roster to satisfy most any first-year coach. The only position where they have a definite numerical short-fall is striker. A team in European competition should carry three strikers, with the third being a very young player. Alas, Tammy Abraham is having moments like this at Aston Villa.
Sarri should not need any new players, especially since he publicly prides himself on developing the players he has. But the Blues have noticeable gaps in quality in their depth chart. When fighting for a top-four spot, having the right numbers of players is not enough. The club needs the right players. Perhaps Sarri thinks he can develop these players into the right players. If so, he has an odd way of going about it: most coaches use competitive minutes as a way of developing their squad.
Third, most of the players who have been linked with Chelsea since Maurizio Sarri’s arrival are not particularly attractive. For starters, they are almost all former players of Sarri at Empoli and Napoli. As such, many are in positions the Blues do not need.
The Blues should not be talking about Elseid Hysaj when they have Cesar Azpilicueta. As much as Sarri did great things with Allan or Marek Hamsik, Chelsea have N’Golo Kante, Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Alessio Romagnoli or Daniele Rugani? Well, let’s give Andreas Christensen a bit more time, and definitely not bring in either Italian centre-back at the expense of Ethan Ampadu.
Finally, many of those experienced Sarrismites (that is, students of Sarrismo) are not available because they are still at Napoli. Most people thought it was impossible for Aurelio de Laurentiis to be a more hostile business partner after the last few years. But de Laurentiis’ unseemly assaults against Maurizio Sarri in the press early in the season mean any attempts to buy a Napoli player are beyond futile.
Maurizio Sarri said the right thing in terms of shutting down the clickbait factory. As an aside, he should be careful about this. The media turned on Antonio Conte for never giving them juicy Mourinho-esque quips. But if he truly meant what he said, he is saying what many around the club have been wanting to hear. Develop the players you have, promote from within and only go into the transfer market for true long-term needs.
“It is too easy to go into the market for every problem,” Sarri said. True, but it has been an effective way of doing things at Stamford Bridge for 15 years. The pressure is on Sarri to prove there is another way.