Chelsea become Arsenal, woe is me!

Chelsea vs Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 

10 March 2019

Post-Match Reaction

Chelsea strike me as a team similar to Arsenal under Wenger - lovely football, excessive possession but no results. They will win most of their games (thereby competing for a top four finish), but any team that can defend well with sufficient quality in the counter-attack will succeed against them. How many times did we see Chelsea do exactly the same thing to Wenger's Arsenal? It bordered on the hilarious how obvious the gameplan was against that era's Arsenal team. That's why today's draw is so annoying - it's a sick parody of a method that clearly failed.

However, whereas this Chelsea team has disappointed in the same fashion as Wenger's Arsenal, it isn't for the same reason. Wenger had years to build a team which suited his style of play yet it was never good enough to win consistently against all types and levels of opposition. Sarri is miscarrying because his style of play does not suit this Chelsea squad. This fact was disguised by his initial undefeated streak. But where Conte employed a tactical sea-change to make a miraculous difference,  that trick with another Italian manager is not working. Conte the pragmatist won by innovating and adapting to the players available to him, Sarri the idealist needs players to adapt to him. This process takes time or money. One player who does not fit into Sarri's method is N'golo Kante.

Kante is not the only misfit in Sarri's 4-3-3, however his situation is emblematic of Chelsea's current problem. Sarri-ball requires a telepathic level of understanding between quick-thinking players who can pass the ball. This telepathy may develop over time, but turning the likes of Kante into an effective ball-player is highly unlikely. The amount of times Kante has received the ball and retarded Chelsea's momentum is sickening. He recovers and intercepts the ball like no one before him, but his imagination on the ball is non-existent. Frankly, this makes him next to useless on Sarri's teamsheet. Despite this, I suppose that his supreme defensive qualities must be included, even if out of position.

Nevertheless, this idea of square pegs and round holes is the only consistent theme in this Chelsea squad. If Kante is apparently irreplaceable on matchday, then the same is true of someone like 'David' Azpilicueta. David is another player defined by his defensive quality, but swinging in a few decent crosses does not make him suitable in Sarri's system. On the other side we have Marcos Alonso, who can be described as a wing-back who finishes. Neither of these players instinctively combine with their teammates with the requisite aplomb. In midfield, Sarri seems to think Kovacic is appropriate. He is good at retaining the ball personally, he makes runs with and without the ball, and he defends well, filling in for his comrades. But who can deny this favoured midfield trio outside of Jorginho is hopelessly unimaginative? For a team which dominates possession, it includes a lot of defensive players...

It seems then, that Sarri's first team is ultimately reliant upon defensive-minded players to play janitor whilst a talented front-four win the game. Unfortunately, Sarri-ball requires every team member to be confident on the ball. That is why he relies on Kepa - he can pass where Cabellero can't. That's why Jorginho is fundamental, he understands the system, retains the ball personally, and passes with imagination; and that's why Luiz is so important despite being well documented as a liability in a central defensive-two.

Therefore, the Chelsea heirarchy are faced with familiar circumstances: relatively poor results with a manager who clearly needs time to implement a strategy. History shows us that a Chelsea manager that fails to keep up with the Premier League's best is fired. Undisputably, this approach has reaped rewards thus far. But doesn't it feel different now? Chelsea may be able to hire the finest managers, but without expenditure comparable to the Manchester clubs, the squad will never compare and never compete. The way to overcome the odds, as demonstrated by Leicester and Conte, is to have a philosophy which gets value from every player by suiting their skills. Sarri has not had the chance to do that yet.

It is my hope then, like so many times in the past, that a manager gets the time to execute their manifesto. Because this time, it's obvious that it will take more than one man to make Chelsea great again.