Not much is known about Maurizio Sarri, at least, to the average football fan. His rise from heading unknown clubs to managing Chelsea FC is nothing short of spectacular. The 59-year-old has handled 19 clubs so far in his career, Chelsea included. The only clubs you would recognize are the latter three: Chelsea, Napoli and Empoli. You might also recognize Hellas Verona, where he managed in 2008.
He made the news when he took Empoli to the Serie A and beat relegation by some distance the next season. His work with Napoli (selling a top-form Higuain to Juventus for €90 million, spending carefully, playing attacking fluid soccer, and constructing a side capable of almost winning the league) opened him to the world and captured the interest of Stamford Bridge executives.
Since Sarri’s hire on 14 July 2018, the excitement from Blues fans all over the world has been heightened. Antonio Conte was successful with his defensive tactics, but fans of the club have been itching to bring beautiful attacking football back. With every match under Sarri, they can expect that fluid play that has been termed Sarri-ball. So far, Chelsea have four wins in four games, they have the second highest number of goals, and have conceded less than a goal a game on average. Add this to the fan-frenzy, and you can say yes, Chelsea under Maurizio Sarri is working.
Eden Hazard’s career has stalled. Before you bite my head off, you should realize that even Blues fans would understand my viewpoint. Hazard is still a world class footballer. Hazard is still a two-time Premier League champion, and he has won Player of the Year before. Yet, he has stagnated. He hasn’t reached his full potential, not yet. He could only go so far under Jose Mourinho’s antics, and under Conte, he didn’t play football that suited his abilities in full.
Maurizio Sarri’s style of play may just be what Hazard needs to reach maximum impact, output, and potential. Last season, he had a total of just four assists in the Premier League. In four games this season, he has scored two goals and has already gotten half of his assists from last season. This could be Hazard’s best season (hypothetically) if all things go according to plan.
Sarri’s ability to create fluid frontlines that have been impossible to keep at bay would be beneficial to Chelsea’s vision for the season. It would also be beneficial to Hazard. With Napoli, Sarri sold off Higuain and ended up replacing the empty front position with Dries Mertens, who has been a winger for nearly all of his career. Mertens ended up scoring 28 goals that season. In the same vein, Sarri could transform Hazard into the goal-scoring machine that Chelsea originally bought him to become.
I can’t say how many goals Hazard will score this season under Sarri’s command, but I wouldn’t be shocked if we find him vying for first place on the top goalscorers list.
Hazard could get to the zenith of the game within a season, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll wait and see what happens.