Sarri will need flexibility to keep Chelsea competitive

It may seem churlish to question Maurizio Sarri. After all, the Italian has had a brilliant start to his Chelsea career. A points tally of 16 from 6 Premier League games is a fantastic return.

However, it would not be out of place to ask certain questions about his work so far. One of the more repeated complaints during his time at Napoli was his tactical inflexibility. Pundits who covered Serie A had readily admitted that Sarri is a man who has a Plan A and sticks to it religiously.

Whenever his Napoli team played, they always lined up in a 4-3-3 formation irrespective of the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. This inflexibility of tactics, formation, and players presented an intriguing prospect.

When things worked out (and they often did), Sarri’s Napoli was a joy to watch; quick passing, intricate movement and plenty of goals. On the occasions when it did not work, the team was usually well beaten.

This inflexibility on Sarri’s part is already evident in Chelsea’s play. In the 0-0 draw against West Ham, he should have switched the team’s setup when it became evident that the Hammers were intent on defending in numbers.

Morata (left) might have made a difference if he had come on earlier

Against Manuel Pellegrini’s team, there was no need for Chelsea to persist with the midfield trio of N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic. It is midfield populated by players not renowned for goalscoring. With West Ham defending deep and looking to counter, the removal of Kovacic and addition of an extra striker like Alvaro Morata might have unlocked the opposition’s defence.

Too often, the fullbacks; Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso got to the byline but chose not to cross as they had only Olivier Giroud to aim for. This forced Chelsea into wide areas as West Ham’s midfielders choked the midfield. The Hammers did not allow Eden Hazard and Willian to get the ball in areas that could hurt them. This meant that too often, Giroud had to drop into the midfield to look for the ball.

This was the same pattern against Newcastle in a game Chelsea was lucky to win. Sarri doesn’t have to look around too long for examples of how to unlock a packed defense. When Huddersfield played against Manchester City, Pep Guardiola chose to start with three centre-backs; Vincent Kompany, Aymeric Laporte, and John Stones. More importantly, he started with his most effective ballplayers and two strikers; Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus.

Sarri should borrow a leaf from Guardiola's adaptable tactics

This meant that that Huddersfield backline had to constantly deal with the movement of two strikers which opened spaces for Manchester City’s midfielders to run into. This also meant that Benjamin Mendy operated as a nominal left winger. These tweaks were key reasons behind the 6-1 thrashing handed to the Terriers.

Sarri will need to adopt a similar tactic of adapting to the opposition if Chelsea is to compete for the league title. It cannot be 4-3-3 against every opposition as such rigidity never augurs well for a league campaign.