Chelsea: Maurizio Sarri refreshed fans’ faith by putting results over theory

Pep Guardiola studied Chelsea’s recent losses, and so did Maurizio Sarri. The Blues’ coach changed just enough to get the edge over Manchester City.

Saturday’s win over Manchester City was significant for a variety of reasons. Chelsea bested the “best team in Europe” whilst keeping a clean sheet, and somewhat retaining their footballing philosophy. The Blues also showed City to be vulnerable, reigniting the Premier League title race in the process of defeating the leaders.

However, the biggest takeaway and the reason this result is more than just three points for Chelsea is Maurizio Sarri’s clear display of tactical flexibility against tougher opponents, such as Pep Guardiola’s City.

Having previously chosen to stick to his guns regardless of his opponents, Sarri’s Chelsea were running the risk of becoming very predictable. The recent defeats against Tottenham and then Wolves exposed the Blues’ lack of tactical flexibility. They did not adjusting to their opponents’ tactics nor did they have a Plan B in face of adversity.

Spurs employed a five-man midfield to counter the effect Jorginho has on a game. Chelsea found themselves lost and the result was clear: the Blues were 2-0 down just 20 minutes into the game.

The subsequent match against Wolves highlighted yet another problem with Sarri’s overdependency on his number 5. Without the Italian regista at the centre of the pitch, the Blues could not able to react effectively to Wolves’ counterattacks and were constantly caught out of position on the break.

Against Manchester City, however, Sarri displayed a tactical nuance he had not shown himself to be capable of previously. Realising the threat City’s front three (four?) poses to his team, Sarri deployed a midfield five of his own. Pedro and Willian dropped deep into midfield to create a compact centre, which forced City’s players out wide.

This greatly limited the effectiveness of Pep’s style of play. Coupled with impressive defensive performances out wide from Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso, the new tactics enabled Chelsea to secure an upset against the Citizens.

By employing an Antonio Conte-like style of football, Maurizio Sarri’s side essentially played an altered version of counter-attacking football. This is most evident from Chelsea’s season-low possession of 39%, as well as the amount of long diagonal balls played. These are traits hardly associated with the “Sarri-ball” we knew before. The build-up to Chelsea’s opening goal – sprung from a long outlet pass from a centre-back – could have come from any of Chelsea’s recent “counter-attacking” coaches as much as from Maurizio Sarri.

Sarri’s prioritized defensive stability over attacking mobility, and he willingly accepted his team’s shortcomings against a team like Manchester City. He strategized accordingly, and in doing so re-energized fans who were beginning to lose the “feel good” factor of Sarrismo.

Ultimately, the results matter over anything else. Despite playing a limited, slightly hamstrung version of his own philosophy of football, Sarri earned a much-needed win against invincible-wannabes City. He highlighted his immense tactical knowledge and proved he is not simply a “one trick pony.”

All in all, Sarri achieved a fantastic result against a tough opponent. Chelsea fans can certainly remain optimistic over the future with Maurizio Sarri at the helm of the club.