Chelsea have under 48 hours to find somewhere productive for their remaining surplus players – two Englishmen, in particular. If they do not, we will have one more opportunity to examine Maurizio Sarri’s mystique in the light of reality.
Fulham’s come from behind 4-2 win over Brighton took them to within three points of safety. They are still highly likely to drop back into the Championship, but perhaps their spirit against Brighton is just enough to convince Gary Cahill that they are worth a second-half relegation scrap loan. Or perhaps he’s hoping Arsenal will open the door for him to follow Petr Cech to north London, where Cahill could contest the battle for top-four instead of simply spectating it.
However, if Chelsea and players like Cahill, Danny Drinkwater and Lucas Piazon cannot find loan moves by tomorrow, they face the prospect of an unprecedented lost season. Unless, of course, Maurizio Sarri is the pedagogue his supporters say he is.
Cahill has played less than one-fifth the minutes of Antonio Rudiger and David Luiz, and has not been in the squad since November 29. Lucas Piazon made a shocking and pointless appearance in the matchday squad against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup – his only time in uniform this season. Danny Drinkwater does not even have that. Cahill has the best chance of seeing some action in the second half, but that’s like saying Watford have a better chance of winning the Premier League this season than Huddersfield.
Maurizio Sarri’s prowess as a “teaching coach” are among the many skills and virtues his defenders proclaim. His ability to “undo” years of Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho in a matter of months is Exhibit A for how effectively he communicates and educates. Exhibit B of his professorial commitment to teaching is his 33-page playbook (or is it 42 pages? 47? 69? who really cares). Restoring David Luiz and Willian to the squad and crafting N’Golo Kante as a box-to-box midfielder are further evidence.
The only limitation we ever hear comes under the caveat “Well he’s not a miracle worker, you know!” That often happens when someone points out how he has only bothered or managed to teach 14 players his system, and several players not at all.
Sarri’s pedantry apparently hits a brick wall when it comes to Danny Drinkwater playing in a three-man midfield. Drinkwater is a Premier League champion and England international, but apparently is impervious to any tutoring that about how to play alongside both N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Maurizio Sarri may be a truer don than anyone to ever venture forth from Milton Keynes, unless the challenge at hand is teaching Gary Cahill to make 30 diagonal passes to the same-side full-back and 40 to the other centre-back each game. Cahill has won every club trophy, has returned from the verge of obscurity under every Chelsea manager and has defended the base of numerous formations in which Chelsea have 45% or less possession every game. But in Sarri’s initial estimation, reinforced by Cahill’s seven games this season (six wins, one draw), the demands of making all those passes to Emerson Palmieri or Andreas Christensen leave him catatonic in a growing puddle of his own effluvia.
If these players are still at Chelsea come February 1 we will distill another truth about Maurizio Sarri. He has few examples from Napoli of players who overcame his initial judgment and worked their way into his regular XI, particularly not mid-season. Whether this is because he did not teach them or could not teach them is irrelevant. Much like motivating a difficult-to-motivate squad, it’s what he is there to do. If he can’t do the work he shouldn’t be doing the job. If he chooses not to do the work then why is he even here?
On the other hand, his usage of Callum Hudson-Odoi throughout January and of Ethan Ampadu after all of Cesc Fabregas’ potential replacements left the transfer market shows he understands reality. He may realize that he has to play Cahill, Drinkwater and Piazon when he has the option to do so to ensure they are ready for when he has no other option.
The head coach is responsible for all the first-team players, not just the ones in his preferred matchday squads. Yet again we have a case where Sarri’s mythology outstrips what we have actually seen from him, and where we see how much he is a hostage to circumstance. Much like his tactics, the effectiveness of his teaching could be completely dependent on the players in front of him and is untransferable to anyone else.
Hopefully, Chelsea will send these three and any others we have forgotten about on loan before the window closes and we’ll never find out the answer to these questions. Nothing that happens in reality will ever change the mind of the Sarritologists who think he is a doctor of football. And this is one reality we would rather not face for players who already deserve better.