Chelsea: Maurizio Sarri still depending on speed, not surprise, to win games

Maurizio Sarri is still in the mindset of wanting his players to do things faster rather than do things differently. Chelsea need more than pace of play to overcome their opponents.

From the 6v0 training videos that lit up basements across ChelsTwit last summer to Maurizio Sarri’s exhortations to his side against Malmo on Thursday, pace of play is a key element in the aesthetic pleasure of Sarriball and Sarri’s success at Napoli. However, Chelsea’s players and their execution are not as unusual in the Premier League as Napoli were in Serie A.

Sarri did not do much fresh or innovative at Napoli from a tactical or organizational perspective. He mainly did things better, which includes crisper and faster.

Sarri’s loyal legions on social media and even some respectable pundits are not feigning ignorance when they ask “Are we supposed to believe no one in Serie A ever figured out how to mark Jorginho out of the game?” It’s the real deal. Napoli’s players moved the ball and themselves much quicker than Serie A teams would, certainly much faster than the average Serie A defences. When you combine the difference in pace of play and individual players between Napoli and their average Serie A opponent with Italian clubs’ willingness to come out of a low block and employ zonal marking in midfield, you start to see why Sarriball produced so many highlights and looked so fresh in their league.

But then you also see why it went stale by the festive period in the Premier League. The physicality of the Premier League is not just about muscular brawn, crunching tackles and aerial collisions with players like John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic. Physicality extends to the purer aspects of human performance, such as player speed.

Chelsea are a more talented team than most in the Premier League. They also have some above-average athletes. But overall, Chelsea’s physical qualities are not much different than that of the other teams’.

As a result, Chelsea’s opponents are able to act upon their knowledge of what Sarri’s men are about to do in ways Serie A teams could not. Serie A teams knew what they needed to do to counter Napoli’s style of play under Maurizio Sarri, just as Premier League teams do now.

But unlike the English clubs, the Serie A teams were not accustomed to the speed at which those circuits were being executed. They did not have the on-pitch organization and structure to keep pace with Napoli’s movement, let alone get one or two steps ahead to retake the run of play. In many cases their players were not able to keep up with what Napoli were doing. ‘

This may be part of the reason why Sarri’s teams usually scored more late goals than early: their pace of play preyed upon opponent fatigue.

Maurizio Sarri no longer has the advantage of speed. Chelsea’s opponents know what they are going to do next, and are more than capable of reacting.

The two halves of Chelsea’s Europa League tie against Malmo illustrate the interplay between Chelsea’s pace of play and their opponent’s capability.

Chelsea groggily stepped through their marks in the first half. They had little movement on or off the ball, they passed the ball languidly around and – with the exception of Callum Hudson-Odoi – made very few moments that jolted the rhythm of the game. This allowed Malmo to keep pace with them, tactically as well as physically. Chelsea did when Malmo expected them to do at a rhythm they could handle, which is why Malmo were able to press high against the Blues, nick a few chances and contain what little threat Chelsea offered.

The Blues came out of their stupor for the second half. They did much the same work, but they did it with the movement and rhythm appropriate to their talent. Malmo knew what was happening, but were far less capable to counter it. The Blues scored three goals and put on a much more entertaining half because of the “how,” not the “what.”

When Maurizio Sarri and his Sarritologists talk about Chelsea needing new players – the “right” players – pace of play is often cited as a quality lacking in the current group. Whether it’s Marcos Alonso’s speed over ground or Mateo Kovacic’s time on the ball, “faster” is always the answer. Alonso’s positioning and Kovacic’s range of options on the ball – in contrast to, say, Jorginho – are irrelevant or superfluous. Even if those attributes would contribute to Chelsea delivering the rare surprise to an opponent, the church of Sarri would rather they do something Anything NOW than do the right thing at the moment of their choosing.

Moreover, this is an arms race Chelsea may not be able to win. It would be a short-lived, superficial win if at all. Buying players who can do the same things faster traps the conversation. It neglects the differences between the Premier League and Serie A, and reduces the game to a single dimension.

That approach ignores how successful teams – from Juventus in Italy to a host of teams in England – integrate organization, tactics and physicality to create a winning system, rather than trying to just overwhelm on one of those dimensions. Premier League teams would find ways to fight speed without speed, and that would be the end of the advantage.

Chelsea need to adapt on all fronts in their hopes to compete on all fronts. No one aspect of the game – like no one system, structure or player – can carry a team through to winning titles and cups.