The Sarri Thread

[Unionjack 7,531]

Chelsea players are all getting on... and it's down to THIS Maurizio Sarri addition

CHELSEA players are all getting on so well for one reason, according to former Blues defender Frank Sinclair.

“I would have thought, it would have taken a lot longer for the team to settle and play the way that he wanted them to play.

“I watched a lot of the Napoli side play last season in Serie A and [Chelsea] are not far off of it and I believe with better players as well.”

"A big thing for me about being contenders over a championship season is the spirit between the players,”

“It’s all well and good having great players in your side but they have to have the chemistry and the spirit about them that makes them become a winning group of players.

“I also think a clever move was bringing Gianfranco Zola back to the club because I think it got a lot of people on his side straight away because he’s a favourite of the club.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1025388/Chelsea-players-getting-on-down-THIS-Maurizio-Sarri-addition

 

[Blue Armour 4,439]

14 hours ago, petre.ispirescu said:

Indeed mate, also David Luiz's comments after the match are encouraging. Said Sarri wants them to be happy when they are on the pitch because football is fun and they are privileged to have one of the best jobs in this world. This is a manager that works hard through enjoyable drills and pleasant football, gone are the days when Hazard had to play left back and take care of fucking Robert Snodgrass or God knows who other bang average winger just because the manager could not go out of his comfort zone and in the modern era of football still played/plays dinosaur tactics. 

Look at this team of ours now - a midfield of Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante, Barkley, Fabregas. No tall, rigid midfielders, just ballers because this is what modern football is about. Compare this to Matic, Fellaini, Herrera, Fred. My God we were fooled into thinking football is all about having enforcers all over the pitch and every match is like WW2. Hell fucking no mate and I am glad we have a manager that not only gives us an identity now, but will surely change the 'rigid, park the bus' image Chelsea have as a club and makes sure we never go back to Mourinho type of managers. 

Haha, agree with your post in general, but a team full of enforcers can also be equally dangerous.

I'm just glad there are no quality enforcers of the likes of Essien, Vidal, Makalele or Ballack in any of the other teams. The only one that's close is Kante and he's with us.

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

 

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Its amazing how he's changed our play completely in just a short period

 

[kellzfresh 7,229]

 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Jase 43,479]

https://www.football-italia.net/129263/sarri-hazard-and-chelsea-can-grow

“The whole Sarriball thing amuses me. I don’t go on social media, but I did see the fans post these videos with the most passes. If I have to be honest, the Chelsea fans aren’t even sure what Sarriball means. They invented this term, pronounce it all in one word and carry on. It’s very funny.

“It’s a dream to be here. I walked into Stamford Bridge and hear this shout: ‘Mauriziooooooo!’ Then the chants, it makes you want to pinch yourself. They usually do that for those who have won, but what have I won? I couldn’t believe it.”

Sarri is known for being a workaholic who focuses on every tiny detail in his match preparation.

“My working day usually lasts from 9am to 7pm, then two hours of viewing time for myself. It’s like a religion. I got a house 10 minutes from here, in Effingham, so they lock me up in my hermitic seal and if they knock, I don’t answer the door. I am immersed in my world.

“I achieved this almost at the age of 60. I don’t need to thank anyone other than those who cared for me, supported me and understood me, but not those who tried to exploit me.

“I spent my time in Serie C, that’s a league that grinds you down and spits you out.”

How has Sarri adapted to the change in cuisine coming to England?

“The meat is very good here, it is becoming a pleasing habit to change from fish. They cook chicken wonderfully. The priority was always getting the language right.”

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Such a honest and humble man.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Full Sarri Interview 

Quote

“I’d say this Chelsea side is only at 60-70 per cent capacity right now, but how much we are missing and how much we need is not the same thing. It’s double that.”

“The whole Sarriball thing amuses me. I don’t go on social media, but I did see the fans post these videos with the most passes. If I have to be honest, the Chelsea fans aren’t even sure what Sarriball means. They invented this term, pronounce it all in one word and carry on. It’s very funny".

“It’s a dream to be here. I walked into Stamford Bridge and hear this shout: ‘Mauriziooooooo!’ Then the chants, it makes you want to pinch yourself. They usually do that for those who have won, but what have I won? I couldn’t believe it.”

“My working day usually lasts from 9am to 7pm, then two hours of viewing time for myself. It’s like a religion. I got a house 10 minutes from here, in Effingham, so they lock me up in my hermitic seal and if they knock, I don’t answer the door. I am immersed in my world".

“I achieved this almost at the age of 60. I don’t need to thank anyone other than those who cared for me, supported me and understood me, but not those who tried to exploit me. I spent my time in Serie C, that’s a league that grinds you down and spits you out.”

“The meat is very good here, it is becoming a pleasing habit to change from fish. They cook chicken wonderfully. The priority was always getting the language right.”

“Hazard is immense and I don’t think even he knows how much he can still improve. I said he could end up in the tight circle of the best three or four players in the world.

“The problem is he plays to enjoy himself and at times doesn’t realise the importance of moving from fun to reaping the rewards. At the end of the day, you’ve got to get the fruits of your labour.

“Hazard’s approach is a positive, but it can become a potential limitation too. He needs to lift his head up, look around and realise there’s a whole world in front of him that he can dictate with his feet for the good of the collective and not just the individual.

“He said such kind words about me, I wasn’t expecting that. His contract expires in 2020, but he’s staying here. I was tempted to use Hazard as a centre-forward and I might consider it again in future, but it’s not the right time now. We need to believe in Olivier Giroud and Alvaro Morata".

“David Luiz is a really sweet guy, exemplary and professional. Cesc Fabregas has immense quality, he returned from injury and I am proud to have him with me, as he’ll give us a big hand.”

“Jorginho knows what I am asking for and understands me straight away. I arrived at Napoli with him in the balance, but now he’s a treasure and playing for the Italy squad.

“It’s all about balance. Jorginho helps and guides the others, keeping them all involved.”

“I’ve been here for three months and at the start it was difficult. I arrived in mid-July, those players coming off the World Cup in August and we immediately had a tour in Australia, so there wasn’t much time. I had planned for a longer apprenticeship.

“I was helped by the Spanish players at Chelsea, those who already speak our football language. Now we’re having some fun. We needed a few more weeks at Napoli, but Serie A is different. Here I said to myself: ‘Watch out Maurizio, you dreamed for a lifetime to make this step, so now try to be yourself.’ “I saw the tactical mechanisms worked straight away, the results then pushed us on further.”

“I see Aurellio De Laurentis continues to say all sorts of things about me… Do me a favour: let’s just finish it with this whole argument. I will love Napoli and its fans for the rest of my life. I know what they think of me, how they think and when they think it. Always.

“Ours is a love that is unshakeable, eternal. The other night, I got so excited during Napoli 1-0 Liverpool. Excellent performance, to the last gasp. I declared, as a fan, that I was pleased to have tired Liverpool out a few days beforehand when they came to Stamford Bridge. The performance from Napoli was excellent.

“However, in Serie A there are no rivals for Juventus. When I used to say that, people thought I was just covering myself, yet they are already breaking away.

“This season, there are two candidates to win the Champions League: Juve and Manchester City. I always thought Pep Guardiola’s side was mature enough for the final step on the European stage, but then we’ll have to see how the Spanish clubs are doing in March. Things change quickly in the Champions League.”

“Insigne is the best Italian player right now. His turning point was quite simply believing in himself, more and more. He shook off the uncertainty and the pressure of someone who is forced to be a protagonist of his hometown club.

“If you think about it, this was just a matter of time. I don’t think it was an issue with his position: of course, if he plays closer to the goal as a striker, he’ll get more shots on target, because he has the quality.

“He can do everything. Initially, I had thought of him as a trequartista behind the strikers, then I moved him to the wing. Tactics and technique are bread and butter, I am always here to teach, but ultimately the player has to add his own ingredients, that final pass and the DNA that shakes you up and tells you to go conquer the world.

“That is what’s great about Lorenzo. Now he must keep pushing, as he identified the problem and took control, not just at Napoli either.

“After Lorenzo, I’d put Federico Bernardeschi, who is on his way to soon becoming world class. I’ll add Federico Chiesa in third, as he is a pure talent, generous, dynamic: he has the capabilities of someone born to succeed, he just needs to work on refining.”

on liverpool match

“There are moments when the grand spectacle of it all convinces you to put aside any regrets. Even if you concede at the last minute or five minutes into stoppages.

“That was an extraordinary show. Just 10 minutes earlier, I saw Klopp looking at me with the game going on. I asked: ‘Why are you smiling?’ He replied: ‘Aren’t you having fun?’

“I said: ‘So much’ and he added ‘Me too.’ He was losing at the time. Even after the equaliser, remembering that moment, we hugged like two old friends.

“I’m sure he would’ve done the same even if Liverpool hadn’t equalised. The Premier League has this joy of football.”

on higuain

“I miss Higuain a great deal. I miss him because he’ll keep scoring goals until the day he dies. He is a goal machine, a systematic and automatic jackpot.”

“Whatever response I give will be considered wrong and put words into my mouth. All I can say is that I feel Gonzalo left Napoli too soon. If he had stayed for another season, I think… we could’ve been in a condition to win.

“Higuain was a part of the fantastic mechanism we created, we understood each other so well. It was perfect synchronicity and the regrets will probably stick with us.”

on transfer business

“My thoughts on the months dedicated to transfer negotiations are well known. I hate it all: summits, meetings, confrontations, a pain in the …. You reporters fill pages and hours of air time on the problems in Italian football, those unresolved and unresolvable issues.

“It’s possible this is a limitation of mine, but it’s what I’m like. I will train whoever I am given to work with, out of respect for those who must balance the books.

“That’s the way you like it, but I can’t wait for the ball to get rolling on the turf, the joy of a training session.”

 

[Vesper 30,177]

2 hours ago, kellzfresh said:

Full Sarri Interview 

 

Superb football talk, just brilliant at every level, he is, without a doubt, a genius. We SOOOOOOOOO need to fucking back this man with players who fit his system.

[11Drogba 2,000]

 

[the wes 7,212]

Chelsea will allow Maurizio Sarri to handle any internal disciplinary action against assistant coach Marco Ianni, Sky Sports News understands.

[Fulham Broadway 17,314]

Sarri appraisal-

Defence is a bit iffy at times, but Rudiger is the dogs bollocks. Jorginho is so creative going forward but gets roughed up when defending. We have the worlds best defensive midfielder playing a vital role more forward, so that exposes the defence. Good centre forward and CFC are serious league contenders this time round. If no one bought in January then the last thing needed will be injuries

Couple of months in its all seems to be a work in progress but it has hit the ground running.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

21 hours ago, Mana said:

The United game is a reminder of Arsenal 2011. Pretty tippy tappy, several of our players bullied, all smoke - no fire, most possession, no win. 

If it wasn't for that last second equaliser, we would be sitting 5th by now. We failed to beat the weakest of the top 6 at our home turf.

And I can't stop thinking of, what if CHO/Pedro played instead of bloody Willian? What if Giroud started instead of the donkey?

Sarri made some errors before the kick off with that line up. Big time. Although we can continue to point fingers at Morata, Alonso and Willian, you have to also for this game point a finger at Sarri.

Playing the same rubbish players and not giving some of the youth a try out. We could have surprised Mourinho and he wouldn't know what to do.

Tbf we completely outplayed United in the first half with those "rubbish players on". Second half they were a lot better tactically and got to grips with our midfielders and started getting beyond Jorginho more and more, which I think will be a issue at times still as the team adapts (the gaps between the defence and midfield is still too big at time).

Theres plenty of positive signs but there was a stat that we've conceded a lot of clear cut chances this season so far, think it's the most out of the top 6 teams. The defence is still an issue for me, David Luiz in particular, for everything he offers on the ball cannot defend in a 2 man pairing. Rudiger is really coming into his own I feel and will continue to thrive under Sarri, the guys got everything. 

This giving youth a chance thing is the same every year. Regardless of manager, always comes up, people complain about why they don't play young player x or y.... seriously every year, does anybody genuinely expect any different? Who was the last guy who actually gave several young players a lot of minutes? Ancelotti? Ffs that was almost 10 years ago. Hudson Odoi had a better chance of playing last season when Hazard Willian and Pedro were out of form at the start of 2018, now Hazard is in top form and Pedro was playing well when he was in the team so its not easy to justify playing him over those 2 or even Willian who's a senior player who's been tried and tested. The culture of the club and its history doesn't help the manager or the young players.

We are still unbeaten and still adapting to Sarri's style. Plenty of positives and more to come yet.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

17 hours ago, Mana said:

Exactly. Like Arsenal 2011. Only that Arsenal "dominate" most of the game instead of just the first half. Did those "rubbish players" win us the game? No! That's what I care about. Maybe we are using "outplayed" and "dominate" too strongly. Because we didn't. Dominate/outplay them via possession - I agree, but overall we were ONLY 1-0 up. Not good enough, and that doesn't show we "outplayed" them.

...which is bad. How many times, especially last season - have we dominate first half only to wither on the second? 

We are in big trouble then. Do you really want another De Bruyne moment here? CHO knows he has great potential, and he would want to play first team football. And fecking Willian is STILL out of form. He's almost as useless as Morata as far I'm concerned. No new contract, ship him out!

Arsenal lost twice and on level with points with us. I don't care if we are unbeaten. It's a useless stat right now, and is only significant if we won the title along with it.

We have fully adapted IMO to Sarri's style. It's just that some of the players are completely out of their depth on it. We won't improve, until we get in better players.

Jesus I suppose some people will never be happy.  Sarri needs time and the chance to build his team, anyone expecting a quick change and winning everything instantly are in for a big shock.

We played United off the park first half.... 

KDB didn't come through academy, I get it he's some player now but shit happens and he couldn't displace Willian Oscar or Schurrle st the time who were competing for 2 positions and a space on the bench. CHO is 17 years old, he's got huge potential but Jody Morris was right when he said in sky he's not ready for first team football every week.

Fully adapted? Don't be daft why do you think Sarri kept saying we need time and it could take a year to fully get used to his style.

[Vesper 30,177]

42 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

Jesus I suppose some people will never be happy.  Sarri needs time and the chance to build his team, anyone expecting a quick change and winning everything instantly are in for a big shock.

We played United off the park first half.... 

KDB didn't come through academy, I get it he's some player now but shit happens and he couldn't displace Willian Oscar or Schurrle st the time who were competing for 2 positions and a space on the bench. CHO is 17 years old, he's got huge potential but Jody Morris was right when he said in sky he's not ready for first team football every week.

Fully adapted? Don't be daft why do you think Sarri kept saying we need time and it could take a year to fully get used to his style.

CHO is getting NO football (I refuse to count youth league shite)

NOBODY said win everything right away

I detest normalcy bias and ostrich-like head-in-the-sand denialist, status-quo thinking and rationalisation

NOT saying you are doing this, but fuck knows I see it all over the goddamn web.

It is the same rot (starting with the board and cascading on down) that DESTROYED us each season after the last two titles

I and others look ahead to future-forward events and projections and at potential (on every level) and innate abilities and also at financial and contractual matters and at resale values,  and furthermore at externalities like the geo-political situation of Roman, etc etc etc etc etc.

Its part of a basic critical thinking approach to life and it applies to sports the same as it does to real world business strategy plus academic pursuits. It is called a..............

SWOT ANALYSIS

[coolhead23 1,147]

4 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

Jesus I suppose some people will never be happy.  Sarri needs time and the chance to build his team, anyone expecting a quick change and winning everything instantly are in for a big shock.

We played United off the park first half.... 

KDB didn't come through academy, I get it he's some player now but shit happens and he couldn't displace Willian Oscar or Schurrle st the time who were competing for 2 positions and a space on the bench. CHO is 17 years old, he's got huge potential but Jody Morris was right when he said in sky he's not ready for first team football every week.

Fully adapted? Don't be daft why do you think Sarri kept saying we need time and it could take a year to fully get used to his style.

I agree on the fact that Sarri needs time and chance to build his side. He's already improved our style and good part is how well the players have responded to it. 

However there are few things that I'm not exactly liking about the transition process. 

- Lack of rotation. I understand that Sarri is one of those managers who like to work it with a small group of players and has his favorites however with the amount of matches we play, rotation will be a key. It will help the team to be fresh and not be over-burdened. The realistic target this season should be top 4, anything else will be a bonus. 

- Integrating Young players. While he's building his team why are we not giving chances to the young players to adapt to his system and have some game time. Why are we not looking beyond the Luiz's, Pedro's, Willian's, Alonso's ... What is the use to playing the older players specially during the transition phase, it is better to play the young guys, do mistakes now and rectify them while we can. Imagine next season, we will need the team to be perfect after a year of transition and then trying new players will be a big risk.    

- Alternate strategies. After this season, every one would be well versed with our style and there will be ways to counter it ... so Sarri will need to evolve on that part, I dont think he had a plan B while he managed Napoli (Please correct me if I'm wrong) 

- And lastly No more of Morata plz ... 

[Jase 43,479]

6 hours ago, Vesper said:

Its part of a basic critical thinking approach to life and it applies to sports the same as it does to real world business strategy plus academic pursuits. It is called a..............

SWOT ANALYSIS

OH GOD! Never thought I would see SWOT Analysis again, certainly not in a football forum!  

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

 

11 hours ago, coolhead23 said:

I agree on the fact that Sarri needs time and chance to build his side. He's already improved our style and good part is how well the players have responded to it. 

However there are few things that I'm not exactly liking about the transition process. 

- Lack of rotation. I understand that Sarri is one of those managers who like to work it with a small group of players and has his favorites however with the amount of matches we play, rotation will be a key. It will help the team to be fresh and not be over-burdened. The realistic target this season should be top 4, anything else will be a bonus. 

- Integrating Young players. While he's building his team why are we not giving chances to the young players to adapt to his system and have some game time. Why are we not looking beyond the Luiz's, Pedro's, Willian's, Alonso's ... What is the use to playing the older players specially during the transition phase, it is better to play the young guys, do mistakes now and rectify them while we can. Imagine next season, we will need the team to be perfect after a year of transition and then trying new players will be a big risk.    

- Alternate strategies. After this season, every one would be well versed with our style and there will be ways to counter it ... so Sarri will need to evolve on that part, I dont think he had a plan B while he managed Napoli (Please correct me if I'm wrong) 

- And lastly No more of Morata plz ... 

A lack of rotation and lack of intergrating youngsters isn't just a Sarri problem (although he's known for not rotating his players a lot). These things were problems under Conte and Mourinho too.

I agree Luiz, Willian, Pedro, Alonso aren't the best players but they are tried and trusted or have won the managers trust. For a new manager in a high pressure environment where we've sacked people for finishing second like Ancelotti, who was introducting youngsters into the squad at the time, it's easy to see why he's doing this and it's stupid to automatically assume other wise. Even Guardiola would do the same here (he's never brought through any young players from the academy since his days at Barca who've gone on to become regulars).

Plan B is Giroud I think but considering Morata has been poor, it's difficult. 

16 hours ago, Vesper said:

CHO is getting NO football (I refuse to count youth league shite)

NOBODY said win everything right away

I detest normalcy bias and ostrich-like head-in-the-sand denialist, status-quo thinking and rationalisation

NOT saying you are doing this, but fuck knows I see it all over the goddamn web.

It is the same rot (starting with the board and cascading on down) that DESTROYED us each season after the last two titles

I and others look ahead to future-forward events and projections and at potential (on every level) and innate abilities and also at financial and contractual matters and at resale values,  and furthermore at externalities like the geo-political situation of Roman, etc etc etc etc etc.

Its part of a basic critical thinking approach to life and it applies to sports the same as it does to real world business strategy plus academic pursuits. It is called a..............

SWOT ANALYSIS

Regarding CHO, do you change a unbeaten team? Who other than Morata look more than decent enough? Regarding CHO and his potential I would like to see him play but realistically people have to understand he has a lot to do to get ahead of Pedro and Willian in the pecking order. 

There will be pressure on Sarri to be competitive this season and win something if he can. This is Chelsea Football Club and that pressure always exists here. Talking about the rot wirh the board and transfers, we've got a manager who says he doesn't care about the market as much, so don't expect any huge changes. Its the same people except we dont have Mourinho or Conte in charge who wanted more of a say. Also players and motivation levels one year after winning the title under Jose and Conte too was a big part of our downfall.

The last two paragraphs, your obviously well educated but it's not always that complicated. Also things regarding finances, projections, Romans political situation you cannot predict that and it would be daft to do so or even claim to consider it in the long run, this is the first time I've ever seen someone mention SWOT when discussing football.... some of those things really are completely irrelevant to what goes on on the pitch. Maybe some could have effects but I think your seriously overcomplicating things.

Regarding a lot from the last few pages, Sarri said we were behind City and Liverpool, I mean we all knew that so its a bit early to start panicking or questioning things like a lack of Rotation/youth players playing 4 or 5 months into a coaches career when we are unbeaten in the league too and changing our style massively. Fans can be fickle, we won trophies under Conte and Mourinho but people wanted them out for various reasons. 

Sarri has done a good job so far. We've conceded a lot of big chances which concerns me but so far so good.

 

[!Hazard! 3,394]

We would have scored another 10 or so goals this season in PL if we had Icardi, Diego Costa, Higuain or even Samuel Eto'o instead of Morata and Giroud up there.

Look at Morata's chances against United! Proper striker would have scored a brace in that game