Chelsea: Maurizio Sarri chose Sarriball over Gonzalo Higuain against Burnley
By George Perry
Maurizio Sarri does not give himself many options, which means, sooner or later, two elements of Sarriball will conflict. Gonzalo Higuain was on the losing end when Sarri could not see himself out of an either-or choice against Burnley.
Maurizio Sarri faced a difficult choice: his baby or his “football son.” Gonzalo Higuain was having one of his best games in a Chelsea shirt. For the first time since arriving, he even scored a goal against a team that will probably be in the Premier League next season.
But Burnley were in full Burnley mode. Eden Hazard and Pedro could not find their way into the box and the Blues hadn’t scored in an hour, leaving them with frustrated pot shots at a Claret wall as they tried to break a 2-2 deadlock. The Blues needed another big target in the box, one who could pull defenders in one direction and open space while the other made moves off the defensive line into that space. Both needed to be able to get their body in front of defenders to reach the ball first, whether the ball was a pass from a teammate or a loose ball in the box ready for a poacher’s poke.
The obvious solution would be to send on Olivier Giroud for one of the wingers, and let him and Higuain use their size and strength to pull, push and bully Burnley’s defence from the inside in ways the crafty but diminutive Hazard and Pedro cannot, nor can any other player trying to dribble in and attack from the outside.
But there are no dual-striker formations in Sarriball. Sarriball has a 4-3-3 with either a true striker / No. 9 or a winger as a centre-forward. Why are we not calling it a “false nine?” Because it’s not, and for the same reason Sarri made a like-for-like swap to bring on Olivier Giroud.
A “true” false-nine formation has the wingers come centrally when the false-nine drops deep to retrieve the ball. The 4-4-3 becomes more of a 4-diamond-2, and what the false-nine does with the ball once he turns to bring it up determines what shape the attack takes in the next phase.
Chelsea’s wingers do not make that change to come inside when Eden Hazard drops deep as the false-nine. If anyone fills the space Hazard vacates, it’s usually N’Golo Kante, whose presence in the box – equal parts ridiculous and effective – maintains the 4-3-3.
As much as Maurizio Sarri favours Gonzalo Higuain at the expense of Alvaro Morata, Olivier Giroud and – most days – an effective offence, Sarri chose his Sarriball 4-3-3 over his “football son.” Just as how Chelsea do not transition into the 4-D-2 when playing Hazard as the false-nine, Sarri refused to shift Chelsea to a dual-striker 4-D-2 or 4-4-2 when the Blues most needed two strikers like the two they have.
Chelsea would have lost very little by changing to a two-striker formation. Burnley were playing for the draw by the 70′, having taken only one shot in the second half. The Blues would not have lost much in the way of defence or tracking back to cover a counter by bringing off Pedro or even a midfielder for Giroud. However, with N’Golo Kante already off at halftime, Pedro would have been the smart choice.
The dual-striker set-up would obviously be no guarantee, but it would have presented Chelsea with a different organization for attack and would have forced Burnley to adjust at the most mentally and physically demanding portion of the game. Tottenham, among other teams, have used the central attack of a 4-D-2 to break through teams like Burnley. Eden Hazard would still have had all the freedom he needs, but with two strikers to create space and serve as targets for him.
Gonzalo Higuain was visibly angry as he came off the pitch. Sarri’s decision to sub him off despite his performance throughout the game and the decision to replace him like-for-like with Olivier Giroud was enough to push another segment of the fan base into the anti-Sarri camp. Sarri once again entered the realm of self-parody, becoming such an outlandish caricature that even some of his defenders could no longer evade what others have seen for so long.
Maurizio Sarri has stood by his system despite its faltering results in England this entire season. If anything could potentially sway him to make the system a secondary feature of his gameplan, it would be one of his favourite players.
Gonzalo Higuain now knows he takes a backseat to the purity of the Sarriball 4-3-3.