Chelsea Sarrismo part two: Does the midfield get it?

Several months in and there is still some confusion as to whether Chelsea understands Sarrismo. Does the midfield know their roles in it?

A half season in and some players seem to truly understand their role in Sarrismo while others are playing a totally different setup. Of the players with 500 or more minutes (plus some special mentions), who understands their role in Sarrismo? Who is ideal for their role? And what is the way forward for them?

Part one (keepers and defense) can be found here).

Deep lying playmaker’s role in Sarrismo

It would be easy to say “set the tempo” and leave it at that. But there is some more to it. The player at the base of midfield has to always be an option for the back pass because so many Sarrismo moves involve a back pass followed by a quick forward pass. So the player in the role needs to be able to see space and judge the exact pass that works best.

Defensively, they need to be more of a road block than anything. This is traditionally the “holding midfield” role and seen as the most defensive of the middle three. Not so with Maurizio Sarri. Mainly, the regista will be tasked with cutting lanes and funneling the player with the ball into a defensive trap.

Jorginho

Does he understand?: This one is a give me because Sarri built his whole set up around Jorginho. Sarrismo in its current, recognizable form has never existed without Jorginho. That is because it is very much built with a player like him in mind.

Is he ideal?: Had Chelsea not gotten Jorginho, who would Sarri have used in the role? Most likely Fabregas but he has shown less than perfect (more on that soon). No other player jumps out as capable of doing the minutiae of the role to Sarri’s standard. So yes Jorginho is pretty ideal because this is his exact role.

What is the way forward?: Given how it is all built around Jorginho’s skill set, there really is no way forward for him personally. Rather, the way forward is to rely less on him in the build up. Chelsea’s back up option when Jorginho is marked out cannot be hoof it to the front three every time. At some point the players closer to Jorginho need to be trusted to alleviate some of the pressure on him.

Cesc Fabregas

Does he understand?: Fabregas knows midfield roles. He has played all over and he knows enough to listen to the manager and play a role he cares less for because it is not his call. Fabregas understands how he fits into this machine.

Is he ideal?: In some ways, more so than Jorginho. Whereas Jorginho is always thinking in terms of the space around him, Fabregas is thinking in terms of space ahead of him. So Fabregas is far more prone to drop a perfect long ball than to pass it to the guy five feet from him. But sometimes Fabregas wanders too far up field and collapses the depth of the attack. That would work in a possession based system, but in Sarrismo it creates an endless cycle.

What is the way forward?: Given that Fabregas appears to imminently be looking for a way out; there is no way forward. More important will be who fills in when Jorginho cannot press on. Kovacic could potentially do the role passably and Ethan Ampadu could be groomed into it. But other than that, Chelsea will need to dip into the market.