Chelsea: Sarri won’t do it, but we can at least dream of a 5-3-2 or 3-1-3-3

Chelsea have to finish this season with the squad they have. Maurizio Sarri may not want to hear it, but a new formation could be the only way the Blues survive this season.

Chelsea’s solid start under Sarri had been disappearing slowly in the rear-view mirror, but the capitulation against Man City eradicated it and anything Sarri has built. Whereas previous losses brought “Sarriball” into and the players’ mettle into question, the manner of the Blues’ loss to City was staggering.

The home win against City gave a false hope the team was further along that it truly was. Now, though, there are calls to overhaul the team, rid the clubhouse of every under-performing player and start fresh in the summer with a healthy mix of academy and young players alike. Unfortunately, Chelsea has never been a club with that sort of mindset.

Clearing house is easy to say and almost impossible to do unless the club is willing to find a manager who they stick with long-term – something Chelsea haven’t done previously and have seemingly have no interest in doing now.

Even without a long-term manager to keep a consistent ideology, a technical director can absorb that role. Yet Chelsea still have not replaced Michael Emenalo. This limits Chelsea’s ability to put in place any lasting vision as it changes from manager to manager.

Chelsea need to overhaul their situation without a large turnover of players. They have only one area they do not need to change: goalkeeper. The Blues have long had a string of elite goalkeepers between the posts. While Kepa Arrizabalaga has yet to show he is of the calibre of Thibaut Courtois or Petr Cech, he has shown flashes of brilliance and is still young. Chelsea could do far worse than Arrizabalaga, and certainly Willy Caballero is not a better option.

The first change they can make is in the formation. Chelsea’s calling card for years has been defensive solidity but that has disappeared this season. Sarri’s 4-3-3 is not working as it pushes N’Golo Kante further and further forward, fully exposing the defence.

Two choices for a new formation are the tried and tested 5-3-2, or more of a FIFA-inspired 3-1-3-3. Now, do not instantly shake your head at the 3-1-3-3. Chelsea obviously need a drastic change, and a completely unheralded formation may be just drastic enough.

Starting with defence, the 5-3-2 would draw Andreas Christensen into the back-three, David Luiz would move to the central sweeper role and Cesar Azpilicueta and Emerson would become the two wingbacks. Emerson might be a surprising choice, but Marcos Alonso needs a fire under him to convince him his position might actually be at stake.

The midfield would finally allow Kante to return to his best position as defensive midfielder. Jorginho will drop out, as well. He either has played too much and is tired, or he just is not up to scratch for the Premier League (it’s looking increasingly like the latter).

In Gonzalo Higuain, Chelsea have a striker with more pedigree and better runs than Lukaku. The only way this Barkley experiment can be a success is if he is given the freedom to make those passes.

How Ruben Loftus-Cheek has not been a consistent starter this season is unbelievable. He seems to be the only Chelsea midfielder willing to run forward with the ball. He drives the ball upfield and asks questions of both the opposition midfield and the defenders.

Up front, only two names could ever make the team sheet: Eden Hazard and Gonzalo Higuain. Pedro is not a contender, Willian is a maybe at best, but neither are within reach of this starting XI. Hazard and Higuain could prove just as successful as England have been with Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling atop the line.

For the 3-1-3-3, the choice among defenders is using Cesar Azpilicueta as centre-back or moving David Luiz there instead, with Christensen again back into the team. Luiz has the ability to spray those “defence-unlocking” passes that seemingly no one else in the team can, so for now, he keeps his place.

Azpilicueta is one of the most loved and consistent Chelsea performers for the past few seasons, but his move back to right-back has led to some uncharacteristically bad performances. He either needs to move back to central defence or come out of the best XI, because his time at right-back is not panning out.

Kante would revert to a defensive midfield destroyer. Just like in the 5-3-2, it puts the best in the world back in his best position.

This formation would also require a healthy amount of tracking back from the midfielders to assist Kante and the defence. The back three would have to spread wide to cover the width while Kante does his thing, motoring around after the ball, and the midfielders track back to complete more of a five-man line across the defence.

The midfield trio would Barkley, Mateo Kovacic and Loftus-Cheek. Loftus-Cheek and Barkley make the team for the reasons above, while Kovacic is better defensively than Jorginho. Perhaps putting him in the middle of the park might help resurrect some of his Read Madrid midfield displays.

The front three would, of course, have Hazard and Higuain with Willian just barely holding onto a place in front of Callum Hudson-Odoi. Hudson-Odoi is certainly (fingers-crossed) the future winger for Chelsea, but for now Willian gets the start with Hudson-Odoi being first off the bench. Willian keeps his spot over Hudson-Odoi solely because the Brazilian’s finished article is better than the Englishman’s… for now.

These formations would allow Chelsea to do something different on the pitch without selling or buying players, something they obviously cannot do now and may not be inclined (or allowed) to do in the summer.

Whatever they choose, they have to choose something. Stagnation in the current form will make even a Europa League spot a harder fight than they can handle.