Chelsea scraped a very fortunate win they did not deserve against Cardiff City. Maurizio Sarri deserves the sack: his trust in Sarrismo goes beyond all reason and will cost the Blues everything this season.
Chelsea were extremely lucky to take the three points against Cardiff City. But this wasn’t the type of lucky where one can say the team created chances but the opposition defended so well it was almost impossible to break through. Cardiff did a good job containing every Chelsea player for the first half, making the Blues dreadful to watch.
Such a display is not new. Maurizio Sarri has fully reverted back to his Sarrismo. The players simply pass the ball around with no purpose, there is no penetration in the attack and the defense gets completely exposed. This inevitably caused Chelsea to concede a goal at the beginning of the second half and, if not for a mistake from the referee and Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s last ditch header, the Blues could have very well lost the match.
Chelsea have a serious problem in their attacking, but more importantly, they have a massive problem defending.
For the entire season, Maurizio Sarri has focused on the movement of the midfielders and the attacking players on and off the ball. Despite his unreasonable stubbornness, they have not flourished in these simple skills.
Now, because so much attention has been directed to that area, the defense keeps suffering. On an average game, Chelsea tend to dominate possession but do little with it because they lack penetration into the opponent’s box. Players move on and off the ball, but the ball tends to always fall back to the back line.
Since neither the midfielders nor the attacking three can find a solution to break down the opposition, the back four push high to provide support. Meanwhile, the opposition drops back into their penalty area and wait for the right moment to counter. What is “the right moment” you ask? Simply the precise time where Chelsea are so desperate to score, after having passed the ball a million times with no purpose, the full backs join the attack. That leaves the two center backsalone and exposed to the counter.
Nevertheless, and despite his job being on the line, Maurizio Sarri still trusts his failing system more than he trusts his players’ core strengths. Every Premier League team have already devised a strategy to contain and break down Chelsea. Granted, it really doesn’t take much to do so. Knowing this, Sarri still chooses to charge forward into the visible trap.
Chelsea have a good squad this season – maybe not a title winning one, but one that can achieve top four with ease. Players like Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi, because of their youth and hunger for recognition, are players who can refresh the team in the attacking sense.
Loftus-Cheek is physical and very direct to goal, and if not for him, the Blues could have lost to Cardiff City. Meanwhile, Hudson-Odoi could put the pressure on Willian and Pedro with the prospect of a young player displacing either of them.
Then, of course, there is N’Golo Kante, who has been played out of position the entire season. This has shown up in the amount of goals Chelsea have conceded in open play.
Using all of his players would require Maurizio Sarri to change his tactics, which could, in turn, provide positive results for the team. But that does not look like a possibility, even so late in the season. Sarri keeps denying Loftus-Cheek a starting role and Hudson-Odoi any possibility to play. Instead of opting to strengthen his defense, he sticks to the same game plan.
Consequently, Chelsea will continue to suffer with the ball, lose crucial games and likely miss out on top four. All the while, Sarri will continue to blame the players’ mentality and their inability to play properly under him.