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Chelsea: Five pivotal moments in Maurizio Sarri’s first Premier League season

By The Pride of London Staff

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Kepa Arrizabalaga of Chelsea reacts as he refuses to be substituted during the Carabao Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on February 24, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Kepa Arrizabalaga of Chelsea reacts as he refuses to be substituted during the Carabao Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on February 24, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /
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BURNLEY, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 28: Ruben Loftus-Cheek of Chelsea holds off Charlie Taylor of Burnley during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Chelsea FC at Turf Moor on October 28, 2018 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) /

3. Burnley starting the down turn (Travis Tyler)

Chelsea was flying high early in the season and playing fantastic football. But the cracks started to show against Burnley in late October. Prior to Pedro coming off injured, Burnley were by far in the ascendancy and had Chelsea rocked. Derby County followed and Frank Lampard’s men pushed Maurizio Sarri’s the entire way.

The results kept coming though the quality continued to drop. Everton was the first side to finally crack the code and steal a point from the Blues. Tottenham Hotspur perfected that the very next match by absolutely playing Chelsea off the pitch. Between the Burnley match and the win against Newcastle in January, the only game where Chelsea truly looked comfortable was the victory against Manchester City.

This period was successful on paper, but that paper was going over the cracks that were beginning to show. The early season form saw teams unsure of how to cope with Sarri. But as his tactics remained static, the rest of the league caught on. Burnley was the first to truly ask questions of Chelsea this season and the more games that occurred with little change, the more questions were asked.

The historic 4-0 loss to Bournemouth and the even more historic loss to Manchester City the week after did not happen in a vacuum. They were the pinnacle of a trend that started all the way back in October when Sean Dyche and Frank Lampard made the first chinks in the Sarrismo armor.

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