In recent months, it’s been used as a term of derision toward Sarri’s unwillingness to change his ways, remaining stubborn in using the same system with the same players, culminating in a 6-0 humiliation at the hands of Manchester City early in February.
Recent results and performances, though, suggest Sarri has started making vital tweaks to save Chelsea’s season, and his own job, helping them toward that much-needed victory over third-placed Spurs in midweek.
Taking back control
Following January’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, Sarri accused his squad of being ‘difficult to motivate’ and lacking ‘determination’.
“We were up against a team that was more determined than us and that is worrying because it is not the first time it has happened,” he said.
“Our team is extremely difficult to motivate and after we lose motivation, we also lose our way of playing football.”
This all came to a head during Sunday’s cup final with Kepa Arrizabalaga’s infamous refusal to be substituted; Sarri was on the verge of going nuclear on the sideline and at one point, nearly storming down the tunnel to leave his players to it.
These two decisions are symbolic of a manager who desperately wants to fight for his job and prove he can, indeed, be a success in central London.
Mixing up the subs
Kovacic for Barkley, Barkley for Kovacic; sound familiar?
As of the aforementioned defeat to Arsenal in January, Sarri had swapped Mateo Kovacic for Ross Barkley, or vice versa, 19 times. 19 times in just 34 games across all competitions.
One of the main criticisms toward the Italian’s approach has been his stagnant predictability, and nothing signifies that more than this tired, overused and largely useless substitution between two players with broadly similar skillsets.
Old dog, new tricks
Take one look at Chelsea’s defensive line in the 6-0 defeat to Man City or the 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Man Utd and you will see it was suicidally high.
A high line is understandable, compressing the space between your lines to make your team harder to play through, forcing the long ball. However, for one reason or another, it just hasn’t worked for the Blues, highlighted by them conceding 15 goals in an eight-game run from January 12th to February 14th.
According to reports, Chelsea’s players insisted they defend deeper, while Sarri himself admitted it was something he had been considering.
“The players asked to defend deeper and I think we have to play like that, I said the same thing on Sunday,” he said after the win over Tottenham. “We are more solid like this and we still express ourselves and play good football, so why not continue this way?”