It was a Sarri show for boss Maurizio who saw his new side’s plan go up in smoke
Aguero 13, 58
THERE is no smoke without fire, but Maurizio Sarri discovered the reverse was not necessarily true on his baptism in English football.
A chain-smoker, he was greeted by flame-throwers as Chelsea unveiled the sequel to Antonio Conte’s Italian Job.
And Sarri’s first sip from the poisoned chalice was pure cyanide.
On the pitch, there was nowhere for his outclassed team to hide – and at cigarette-free Wembley, there was nowhere for Sarri to light up and let off steam behind the scenes.
The former Napoli coach took charge last month with a mission statement to restore the “fun” at the club after Conte’s reign ended in recrimination and sourness.
On this evidence, however, Sarri’s Ministry of Fun will have all the enjoyment of a wet weekend in Bognor Regis.
Yes, Eden Hazard will add a sprinkle of stardust when he returns – assuming Sarri can keep him out of Real Madrid’s clutches.
And, yes, World Cup winner N’golo Kante will offer more resistance than sandcastles against the tide.
But Sarri’s first hand was a dud. Chelsea were ponderous, static and uninspired.
Too often their first instinct was to move the ball sideways. Or backwards.
Or to give it away.
First impressions can be misleading. Conte’s regime was heading for the rocks until he abandoned a flat back four when trailing 3-0 at Arsenal, and his switch to 3-4-3 proved a stroke of genius.
How Sarri fixes this carbuncle of a performance is less obvious than a fundamental change of shape, though.
As Manchester City flexed their muscles, strutted their stuff and made an early statement of intent ahead of the new campaign, the former banker probably realised it was more fun sending in the receivers to wind up an insolvent company.
By the time Sarri climbed the 104 steps to the Royal Box to collect his runners-up medal, only a few hundred of Chelsea’s sell-out allocation had stayed in their