If Chelsea Sack Sarri Then Blues Hierarchy Will Need To Take Blame
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri must be feeling the pressure at Stamford Bridge.
The honeymoon period that saw The Blues leading the Premier League table at the beginning of the season has well an truly ended.
Sarri has watched on as his side lost 4-0 in the league to AFC Bournemouth and 6-0 to champions Manchester City. Chelsea now sit outside the vital top four positions (they currently lie in sixth position). The Blues were also knocked out of the FA Cup at home to Manchester United, after yet another insipid performance at Stamford Bridge.
The home fans turned on their boss and his ‘Sarri-Ball’ philosophy and booing their gaffer’s like for like substitutions.
As we know, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich isn’t scared to pull the trigger if a boss isn’t working out to his expectations. It’s being reported (90Min) that it will cost the London giants just £5m to sack the Italian manager.
It could happen as soon as next week, if Maurizio’s side are once again left humiliated by Pep Guardiola’s Man City side in the League Cup final. Obviously the mood might be brighter around The Bridge if Eden Hazard and Co can beat City to claim England’s first piece of silverware this season.
But if Chelsea do decide to sack Maurizio Sarri, then the club’s hierarchy including Abramovich will need to accept a lot of the blame for what’s happened.
If you listen to anyone that follows Italian football, then you’d have been aware that instant success from Sarri at Chelsea was far from guaranteed.
In July 2018, well respected Italian football writer Adam Digby wrote a thread on Twitter explaining what could happen during Sarri’s maiden season as Chelsea manager:
Thread: The most interesting factor in Sarri joining Chelsea will be how much it will surely test the patience of Roman Abramovich #CFC
— Adam Digby (@Adz77) July 14, 2018
2/7 Abramovich has famously cycled through Coaches, sacking them regardless of whether they win trophies or not, Sarri the 12th appointment in the last 11 years
— Adam Digby (@Adz77) July 14, 2018
3/7 The problem here is that the one think we know about Sarri is that his methods take time. While you might have noticed the marvelous football of #Napoli last season, he’d been at the club three years working to achieve that
— Adam Digby (@Adz77) July 14, 2018
4/7 Sarri is an incredible manager, one who despite his age has fully embraced all the advantages of the modern era. He uses a drone to track his players’ movements, works meticulously to get the minor details right, his style – once it’s in place – is fucking breath-taking BUT
— Adam Digby (@Adz77) July 14, 2018
5/7 That simply doesn’t happen overnight. Sarri won’t like every player at #CFC, he’ll take ages to assess their fit for his approach, he can’t abide players without the intelligence to grasp his ideas. He’ll completely ignore those who fall short & simply won’t play them. Ever.
— Adam Digby (@Adz77) July 14, 2018
6/7 Then, add in the fact he’s gruff, abrasive & combative. He called Roberto Mancini “a faggot” on the touchline. The end result of his style is the cliched “smooth, well-oiled machine” we often discuss, but the man himself is anything but. A tactless tactical genius if you will
— Adam Digby (@Adz77) July 14, 2018
7/7 In short, Sarri is fully capable of delivering the good-to-watch style Roman Abramovich has always wanted to see at #CFC, but the new boss is definitely a man he’ll clash with. It’s going to be very interesting to watch how it unfolds.
— Adam Digby (@Adz77) July 14, 2018
A lot of Adam’s points have come true.
Fans look at Chelsea’s team and their displays and call for a change. They want a change in tactics and personnel but as Adam states Sarri doesn’t do that.
You can call it stubborn but that’s the way it is and it’s worked in the past for the coach. He is a longterm thinker and wants to boss games with lots of possession and high pressing. He’ll pick the players within his squad that will give him the best chance of playing in that style and he’ll continue to do that.
Now that’s frustrating, especially if the team are getting beaten and decisively beaten but that’s what the Chelsea board signed up to when they hired Maurizio.
Roman Abramovich clearly wants to see sexy football much like the style Guardiola is famous for. Much like that Napoli played during Sarri’s stint there. But it takes time.
Roman also wants to win trophies and to get into the Champions League every year.
Sometimes you can’t have both, if you want the stylish football then you need wait for things to develop and have a few transfer windows to get the players at the club that can adapt to Sarri-ball.
If Chelsea sack Maurizio Sarri, then the hierarchy need to stop chasing the dream of a certain type of football and realise that they just want instant results!
Posted on February 20th, 2019 by scott
Filed under: Article
the owner and his “right hand” are solely responsible for the Sorry state of affairs.
due to poor competence and judgement, just on a whim, millions were squandered to bring together mismatched players with mismatched coaches for some years running.
second best in Italy, roughly translates as seventh best in England. nobody gave him the players or the time to implement the “attractive attacking Sarri ball football”.
they gave nothing to Conte either, still he ended up not as a “one trick pony”, but ….we all watched.
the constant chaos at the top, has encouraged some ”dressing room (guaranteed starting spot) leaders” to “prioritize” (to put it mildly) their efforts on the pitch, (lately with calamitous results). “Abrasive” Conte had already addressed that problem too.
in conclusion: no direction mediocre team that will attract mediocre staff and achieve mediocre results. any new famous coach will ask for the same: the power to pick his tools. replacing the current manager will make no difference, replacing the you know who, definitely will.
Zidane! you wish.