Sarri But Not Sarri Thread

[Jase 43,479]

For all the talk of Sarri playing attacking football, the one thing I am curious is whether he is flexible or adaptable enough to change his tactics when things are not working. Has a lot more options here than at Napoli to try different approaches if Plan A isn't working.

[Starman60 1,343]

1 hour ago, Unionjack said:

In his first season too didn't he lose his 1st 5 games ?

Its 1 hellova change we have going on. We are Evolving!

"We are Evolving!"

Hopefully in the right direction. I just hope that he is given the time for to mould the squad into his brand of football, and not sacked if we win nothing in the first year. Look at Pep at City, won nothing in his first season, but quietly went about building for season 2 and what a season he had. 

  In my humble opinion we have been building our squad on sand for the past few years, propping it up with average signings. Some have worked, and some haven't (Barkley, Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Zappacosta). Sarri likes to train up the players he has, so maybe, just maybe, some of our youth can now make the breakthrough and the potential of the likes of Bakayoko can be brought out. I'm wandering here (it's my age!!) really what i'm saying is that I dont expect us to sweep the board this season, but let him build slowly, and set the proper foundations in place for years to come.

Now that's not much to ask for.......or is it ???

[kellzfresh 7,226]

 

 

 

[the wes 7,212]

1 hour ago, Mana said:

Now we need a striker. Someone who actually buries chances. If Costa wants to come back (wishful thinking), I’ll take him back.

where u not one of Costa haters now u want him back? 

[kellzfresh 7,226]

A detailed guide by a Napoli fan on how Maurizio Sarri might operate as Chelsea manager

 

There's been a lot of talk about "Sarriball" recently and how Chelsea will operate under Maurizio Sarri. Now that Sarri has officially been appointed, I wanted to give some insight into Sarri himself and how Sarri may operate while in charge at Stamford Bridge.

I started following Napoli the season before Sarri took over. I have watched almost all of Napoli's matches for the past 3 seasons under Sarri. I do follow Chelsea and the rest of the Premier League, but I may make some errors regarding Chelsea's players — please feel free to correct me if I've made any mistakes or misjudgments.

---

Sarri: The Man

He was born in Napoli, which is one of the reasons he was so beloved while Napoli manager. He actually began his professional life as a banker, a vocation he practiced for 10 to 15 years. He worked in London for some of this time, but I do not know how fluent he is in English. He started coaching for fun after work, and gradually transitioned to becoming a full-time manager in his 40s. He's a really cool customer and can often be seen smoking and drinking coffee during training sessions. Although he may look cold and aloof, many of the players who worked under him have described him as a fatherly figure. He is a bit of a sore loser and does his fair share of complaining after losses. As a native napulitano, he of course hated Juventus and even showed Juventini the middle finger on Napoli's bus journey into Turin. Like most old Italian men, he is casually profane, and is known for swearing in press conferences (probably won't do this in England though, unfortunately).

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Sarri: The Manager

Managerial History

Empoli

He first came to attention in Italy when he became manager of Empoli in 2012. After 2 seasons in Serie B, he took Empoli to Serie A for the 2014-15 season. Despite being expected to go straight back down, the Tuscan side defied expectations to finish† in 15th. Napoli's owner Aurelio de Laurentiis was impressed by him during Empoli's 2-2 draw with Napoli during that season, and approached him to manage his hometown club after Rafa Benitez's departure in summer 2015.

Here are 2 videos by the official Serie A YouTube channel that discuss Sarri while he was Empoli manager: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPXhXPhN1CQ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNAg1brmgJw

Napoli

It took a few matches for Sarri and the Napoli squad to settle into a rhythm and set formation, but eventually Sarri settled on the 4-3-3 in this formation. This lineup and formation was essentially the same throughout his three seasons in Naples, with the exception that Gonzalo Higuaín was the main striker in Sarri's first season rather than Mertens or Milik (who wasn't at the club).

This lineup was very successful, and put up a strong but ultimately futile fight against Juventus last season.

Managerial Style

Disclaimer: I'm not very good at tactical analysis so this might not be the best summary. Feel free to pick this apart.

---

How Sarri might operate as Chelsea manager

I see a lot of similarities between Napoli's and Chelsea's squads, which is one of the reasons I think Sarri will be successful for Chelsea.

My expectation for the formation he will play (X# are unknowns):

       Hazard - X1 - X2
        X3 - Jorginho - Kanté
X4 - Christensen - X5 - Azpilicueta
                X6

X1: For Napoli, Sarri really only had 2 options for the striker role: the more mobile, creative Mertens and the target man Milik (when he wasn't injured). Who he started mainly depended on the circumstances (i.e., strength of opponent, European competition or not, etc.) From what I've seen, Milik is kinda similar to Giroud, but I can't say for sure who he will prefer.

X2: With Barcelona's reported interest in Willian, it's hard to say who this might be. I see a lot of people writing off Victor Moses as a benchwarmer, but I could actually see him being the starting right-winger considering his defensive ability. If Sarri intends to mirror his tactics from Napoli, Moses would be a great fit for a winger willing to run his legs off in attack and defense. Pedro seems to have regressed so probably won't be him.

X3: I have no idea who this will be — Loftus-Cheek, Barkley, even Golovin (have only seen each of them play once or twice) and Fàbregas could all make this spot their own, it's a tossup.

X4: Apparently Marcos Alonso is a terrible defender so idk if he can play this role. From what I've seen of Emerson when he played for Roma, he is a pretty good defender so it will probably be him.

X5: Will probably be Rüdiger. I've read that Cahill has regressed a lot, but I don't know enough to say if he will be a starter or not. And who knows if David Luiz is going to stay or leave.

X6: If Courtois stays, it'll be him, otherwise it'll be whoever Chelsea sign as his replacement.

---

Note on Rugani

Juventus' Daniele Rugani has been linked to Chelsea. Despite falling down the pecking order for Juventus, Rugani played his best when he was on loan at Empoli under Sarri, so there is a strong chance he can improve a lot under him again.

---

Note on Jorginho

He is such a humble and nice guy. I strongly recommend you watch this interview he did with the official Serie A YouTube channel, he is really genuine and comes across strongly about his values. Also follow him on snapchat/Instagram because his laugh is contagious!

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

All hail 433 formation

[Johnnyeye 7,415]

Welcome to Chelsea Football Club, Sarri, i wish him all the best here at the club and may he helps us move forward with his exciting new ideas and playing style. Now that the manager situation is sorted  out we can focus on getting back on track, getting all affairs in order, get the players we need, parting ways with those we dont, sorting out contracts, etc and then try to challenge City in the new season. Cheers

[xPetrCechx 13,548]

[Strike 6,966]

3 hours ago, Jason said:

For all the talk of Sarri playing attacking football, the one thing I am curious is whether he is flexible or adaptable enough to change his tactics when things are not working. Has a lot more options here than at Napoli to try different approaches if Plan A isn't working.

and whether we will have more options in attack than just the starting 11. 

With Jorginho Kante RLC Barkley Fabregas, there are several midfielders to choose from

and with Hazard Willian Pedro Morata Giroud Bats + new signings to come. We could create a really good squad with 17-18 good players to choose from rather than 12-13 a couple of years ago

[Polo7 3,496]

22 minutes ago, xPetrCechx said:

That’s the look of a player who was forced by Napoli to join Chelsea. Poor bloke!

[milka 3,308]

 

[DDA 9,570]

SaRRiBaLL

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Jase 43,479]

 

 

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

I highly recommend this site:  https://footballia.net/

You have to register, but it's free.  Tons of videos of full matches of every club.  It's one thing to see the highlights of the Sarri-ball goals, but the full matches show when it's not coming off, which happens.

 

 

[Unionjack 7,531]

2 hours ago, xPetrCechx said:

They both look very happy and relaxed. I hope they both settle in well and get to know all the lads very quick.

I cant get this daft grin off my face every time I come back on site. Makes such a nice change.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

With Hazard declaring his intention to leave, his job just got much harder. Hopefully Madrid disappoint Hazard and dont bid for him.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

All training ground pictures with Sarri and Jorginho here

https://www.gettyimages.nl/fotos/darren-walsh?mediatype=photography&phrase=darren walsh&sort=mostpopular