Chelsea 2-0 Manchester City: 5 things Maurizio Sarri still needs to improve | Premier League 2018-19

A loss in midweek to Wolves might have just spurred Chelsea to a massive win against the Champions Manchester City. The scoreline might not be a massive one, but surely serves two purposes - breaking Manchester City's unbeaten run in the Premier League, and probably getting Chelsea back in the title race.

It was also a moment of triumph for Maurizio Sarri, as it was his first career win against Pep Guardiola, as rightly mentioned by him in the press conference leading to the game. After Chelsea's recent form, there was never a doubt that The Blues would prove a challenge to Guardiola's rampant Manchester City, but the hosts exceeded expectations and went on to take the glory.

Despite a win, Chelsea looked technically not up to par when compared to the champions, especially in the first half. This suggests that Maurizio Sarri still has work to do. Lets look at the top 5 things Sarri still needs to improve at Chelsea Football Club.

---

#1 Give more chances to Ross Barkley

Kovacic limped off, giving way to Barkley

Mateo Kovacic might be technically very sound, probably much more than Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but when it comes to a physical league like the English Premier League, physical traits are much better parameters than technical soundness.

Kovacic limped off, giving way to Barkley, and post the substitution, Chelsea looked very dominant. The Kovacic injury just turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

As Chelsea doesn't have a buyout clause in Mateo Kovacic's loan deal, it is apparent Real Madrid will not sell their midfield dynamo next season to the Londoners. So, it is also better to improve homegrown talents like Ross Barkley, rather than giving more opportunities to the Croatian who will depart at the end of the season.

#2 Reduce reliance on Jorginho

Maurizio Sarri might be over-relying on the Italian international

Jorginho might know Sarriball at the back of his hand, but yesterday it was clearly evident that if the playmaker is tested by the opposition coach and man-marked properly, Chelsea's game goes for a toss.

Maurizio Sarri might be over-relying on the Italian international, and this might be making it easier for opposition coaches to break down Chelsea's game.

Jorginho was touted as the signing of the season a few months ago, but the star's form has deteriorated over the past few weeks, and this might be the result of over-reliance on the ex-Napoli star.

Chelsea also has a lot of options in Jorginho's position like Fabregas, Kante, Barkley, and Kovacic, who could be used to reduce the pressure on the Italian play-maker so that his natural ability to control the game comes out strong. Fabregas might be a good option to rest Jorginho for a bit.

#3 Play Willian and Pedro together in more fixtures

Blistering pace

Usually when Chelsea plays with a striker upfront (Giroud/Morata), Hazard takes up the role on the left flank, and Sarri has to choose between Willian and Pedro for a spot on the right wing.

Yesterday, it was clear and evident that playing with Willian and Pedro both in the same starting eleven gives an altogether different pace to the Chelsea side, which can terrorise most of the defenses in England and Europe.

Willian adds the much needed blistering pace to the Chelsea attack, while Pedro also being fast, is good at falling back defensively when the team needs it the most.

If Chelsea were to play with a striker, Hazard can be given an attacking midfield role or false nine position behind the striker, and in that manner, Willian and Pedro can be accommodated to form a pacy and technically strong Chelsea XI.

#4 Force Marcos Alonso into working on his defensive aspect more

Marcos Alonso

Marcos Alonso in an attacking sense is one of the best full-backs the Premier League boasts of right now. But Chelsea has always been a defensively strong unit since the 2004-05 Mourinho era, and defense is something Alonso fails to prove his mettle at.

Yesterday against Manchester City, Alonso was weakly positioned, and lost his man often.

Chelsea has Hazard on the left flank, and also Kovacic/Barkley on the left side of the midfield to spur an attack from the left flank. So Alonso is not very much required to lose his position often in the game to attack.

There is no doubt Alonso's defensive mistakes can be targeted by upcoming teams in the Premier League and Europa League, and it could prove to be fatal as Chelsea does not have a regular starter in Alonso's position if he were to lose his form and his spot in the starting eleven.

Sarri needs to force his ideology on Alonso, and make the Spaniard work on his defensive aspect more.

#5 Either buy an explosive striker or play striker-less

Both of them don't seem to find the back of the net often with Chelsea

Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud might have tasted a good amount of success with their previous employers, but both of them don't seem to find the back of the net often with Chelsea. Clearly, they are no Diego Costa, and a striker like Costa this season could have made Chelsea clear favourites to challenge for the title alongside Liverpool and Manchester City.

It was an unfortunate turn of events last season, and Diego Costa and Antonio Conte's fallout resulted in the Spaniard's exit from England, but Antonio Conte too was sacked by Chelsea in the pre-season this year.

If Sarri's arrival was imminent, Chelsea should have held on to Diego Costa. One can only imagine how deadly Sarriball could be with Costa as the attacking spearhead.

Sarri should either look for an explosive striker in January, or should play striker-less, as it might help Chelsea in a way it did yesterday.