Chelsea’s Maurizio Sarri has a vision for Chelsea that is different than the old Blues. But he can tap into old Chelsea (again) to beat Manchester City.
Sam Allardyce may not be a manager bound for a top six club anytime soon, but there is a reason why he has been hired so often in the Premier League. Allardyce looks to return teams to the basics, ugly and scrappy as they may be, before trying to add any flair or style on top. And while he has rarely gotten far enough into a tenure to prove that was his plan all along, it is an interesting point.
Many managers living in the era of Pep Guardiola come into a club with a set philosophy and vision. Given enough time, they say, they can make the team play “beautiful football”. But very often these managers fail to account for the players they have or what the team is good at. They are so stuck in making things happen “their way” that they ignore what is already in place.
Chelsea has, since Jose Mourinho’s first tenure, had a culture of defense and counters. Sarri is not a defense and counter type of manager. Yet, his greatest victory at Chelsea thus far, over Manchester City, showed a blend of old and new. And perhaps that is the way forward for the Blues.
What made the win over City special was that it was still in line with Sarri’s philosophy. The passing was short, quick, and vertical. But unlike a normal Sarri Chelsea match, all of those factors came from a deeper defensive block.
Normally, the Blues press and counter press high up the pitch. And while this allows the Blues to win the ball back quickly and restart an attack, it also shortens the field for them. This makes the vertical of Sarrismo harder to use because there is simply less space for the attackers.
But that was not the case against Manchester City last time. By defending deeper and allowing City to press up, the Blues suddenly gained acres of space to utilize behind City. It not only caught City by surprise but it suited the players Chelsea had.
In fact, such a system would not have been out of place under Antonio Conte or Mourinho, the only difference under Sarri being the lower usage of high long balls and switches of play.
The small tweak of defending deeper allowed Chelsea to use skills honed over a decade and actually allowed Sarrismo to work better overall at the expense of one part of it. Mind, such a technique will not work against every opponent (good luck trying to get Burnley to press up high) but it can be used on the right occasions with devastating effect.
It is fine that Sarri has a vision of how Chelsea should play. But if he can both use the tools from the past and his own tools at the same time, overall it will help Chelsea play better. There is a need for a transition when swinging between two wildly different playing styles. If Sarri can better tap into the old Chelsea, the transition to his playing style will see less 4-0 losses to Bournemouth. And, more relevant to the current situation, Sarri can once again overcome City by blending his way with the Chelsea way.