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Sarri-ball has become a phenomenon among football fans and pundits in recent years. It refers to the style of football implemented by Italian tactician, Maurizio Sarri which involves total domination and control of the ball.
Maurizio Sarri implemented this style in Napoli and brought the same ideology to Chelsea. It earned rave reviews in the early weeks of the season as it was in stark contrast to the Conte's system.
However, a run of inconsistent results has seen questions raised about the viability and sustainability of such philosophy in the Premier League. Here's a look at three problems with Chelsea's Sarri-ball.
#1 Poor Goal Return
The biggest crisis that has faced Sarri's Chelsea revolution is their poor return in front of goal. Finishing has been a major problem for the Stamford Bridge outfit and has cost them vital points already this season.
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They have managed just 38 goals in 21 league games this season. No other team in the big-six has scored less. In fact, Chelsea has failed to score in a league game this season on four occasions. Arsenal, their top-four rival, has only failed to find the back of the net once and that was on their opening day defeat to Manchester City.
Chelsea has missed 35 big chances this season which is the third highest in the entire league. Alvaro Morata has been culpable for those misses. The Spaniard has been presented with 13 big chances this season. He has missed 10 of them.
Hazard has recently been deployed as a false nine as a result of the profligacy of the strikers. Although he has scored 10 goals, in the long run, this tactic is not ideal as the quality of Hazard is best expressed when he drives inward from the wings and creates chances or score goals.
#2 No plan B
Maurizio Sarri is famous for his unwavering belief in his style and in the players that best execute that style. When his team is winning, it is all good but his reluctance to change things up when he is losing or going through a poor run of form became a sticking point in his Napoli days and has reared its ugly head again at Chelsea.
The Italian tactician has blatantly refused to change his 4-3-3 tactics and has adopted this same formation in all Chelsea games this season. Even when losing, he refuses to make any sort of tactical alteration to the team. His substitutions are always 'like for like' and never alter team shape or tactic.
Olivier Giroud became a super sub in Arsenal because of the goals he scored as a result of his aerial prowess after coming off the bench. He is the second highest scoring substitute in the PL history. However, Sarri refuses to utilize such prowess and Chelsea keep playing tiki-taka even when Giroud is on the pitch. It remains plan A or nothing for Sarri's Chelsea.
Kante's role in the team has also been questioned after several defeats in which Kante in his usual defensive midfield role may have helped prevent. Kante, arguably the best defensive midfielder in Europe is playing higher up the pitch than usual.
These questions have seen Sarri uphold his resolve not to play Kante as the deepest lying midfielder and refuse to alter his formation to fit both Jorginho and Kante in the defensive midfield position as a 4-2-3-1 would do.
This has brought a considerable drop off in Kante's stats for interceptions, recoveries, and tackles for which he was top of the table in previous seasons. This season, Kante is on course to post his lowest stats for recoveries, interceptions, and tackles since he came to England.
Sarri seems too stubborn to change the formation or even alter the tactics. It seems to be either the 4-3-3 plan A or nothing for Sarri.
#3 Over-reliance on Hazard
Eden Hazard is one of the best attacking players in the world and he has proven it once again this season. The Belgian International carried over his phenomenal form from the World Cup to the Premier League.
In 20 PL appearances this season, Hazard has scored 10 goals, assisted 9 and has created 12 big chances for his teammates. He is top of the charts in all these categories for Chelsea this season.
Chelsea have scored 38 PL goals in 21 games this season. With his 10 goals and 9 assists, Hazard has contributed to 50% of Chelsea's goals this season. For a club with the quality and aspirations that Chelsea have, it is a very alarming statistic.
Injury to the Belgian captain may spell doom to Chelsea's hunt for a top-four spot and cup success. A dip in form for the number ten would also see a downturn in results for the Stamford Bridge outfit. This has already happened this season as Chelsea dropped 10 of 21 available points between matchday eight and 15 when Hazard scored no goal and recorded only one assist.
Sarri's Chelsea revolution will need time to mature before it bears any fruit. However, modifications must be made to Sarri-ball in order for him to achieve the objectives for this season and gain the trust of the fan base.
