Chelsea: Sarri not blameless, but the squad – not his system – is the problem

Chelsea started the new year with a toothless performance in the goalless draw with Southampton. Alvaro Morata had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, but it was a terrible performance nonetheless.

Chelsea again dominated the passing and possession stats but had little to show for it. Whenever they managed to create a good chance, they found the Southampton goalie, Angus Gunn, in inspired form. The performance against Southampton was bad in isolation, but it’s just the latest of many Chelsea have been involved in this season.

Is this the Sarriball we were promised? That was the question making the rounds on social media from Chelsea fans and some neutrals. Some even went as far as saying this Chelsea side is worse than last season’s side under Antonio Conte. They point to Chelsea having fewer points at this stage of the season compared to last.

That is true, of course, but those critics need to realize the first half of last season wasn’t the problem with that Chelsea team. The second half of the season was. Chelsea were second on the Premier League table after matchweek 21 last January, but capitulated to end the season in fifth.

Chelsea’s problem this season is one of personnel, and not of style of play. The squad is filled with players more comfortable with defensive football than Sarri’s front-foot attacking football. Expecting them to master Sarri’s style of play after just half a season is unrealistic.

Preseason had already begung when Sarri was confirmed as head coach, reducing the amount of training time he had. The long flights undertaken to play friendly matches – and meet commercial commitments – cut the training time further. The World Cup took even more time from the number of first team players available for the minimal preseason.

Any manager will find it difficult to overhaul the playing style and mentality of a squad in those circumstance.

To mitigate the effects of those factors and fast-track the adaptation of the team to his demands, Sarri wanted the arrival of four new players: Daniele Rugani, Elseid Hysaj, Jorginho and Gonzalo Higuain. Having at least one player each in defense, midfield and attack familiar with his demands would have gone a long way in helping the rest of the team adapt. However, of the quartet, only Jorginho was signed.

Mateo Kovacic was the only other outfield player Chelsea signed, and he seems a good fit for Sarriball. But apart from him, David Luiz, Eden Hazard and Pedro, the rest of the team are not used to such football and are having to play catch-up. It was inevitable there would be some teething problems as the rest of the squad try to adapt. Sarri made sure to alert the board and fans of this eventuality before the season started.

Injuries have also played their part in disturbing the team’s attacking rhythm in various matches. Pedro, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Willian are currently on the injury list while Hazard, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Alvaro Morata have been sidelined at various points this season.

Although there have been numerous factors beyond his control, Maurizio Sarri has not been entirely blameless in his contributions to the team’s poor performances. His lack of rotation and continual use of underperforming players has been a major problem for the team. Marcos Alonso has been poor in recent weeks and still keeps getting selected ahead of Emerson. Willian has been as poor (as always) – two goals in the league all season – and has somehow kept Pedro – six league goals – out of the team when both players are fit.

Sarri has also shown a complete distrust of the club’s young players. Andreas Christensen has only started one league match and Hudson-Odoi hasn’t started any. Ethan Ampadu has seen his progress stalled, having started just one match in all competitions. It took a hat-trick against BATE Borisov for Loftus-Cheek even to be considered for Premier League football.

But as the Loftus-Cheek case has also proved, Sarri has shown he’s not afraid of giving chances to young players as long as they meet his demands. How high are those demands? That’s another case entirely.

The team needs a lot of time to fully implement Sarriball, and patience is required. The fans should try to understand that Sarri is trying to change the mentality of an entire squad suited and used to the style of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Younger players can handle such changes easily, but in this case, most of the first team players are seasoned professionals and may require more time.

Manchester City, in Pep Guardiola’s first season, encountered many of the same difficulties. We all know how that later turned out. He was given time but, most importantly, he was also given money. He had to get rid of some of the old players to bring in younger, more malleable ones.

If Chelsea are to completely master Sarriball and become as good as – or better than – last season’s Manchester City was, they will have to make some very tough decisions. First, they will have to back Sarri even if he doesn’t make top four this season. Second they will have to bring in younger players and let some of the older ones go, no matter how popular they may be with the fans and/or sponsors.