Sarri’s one of the great entertainers but how long he’ll last in Chelsea’s soap opera is anyone’s guess
IF the law of Chelsea averages is anything to go by, Maurizio Sarri will be lucky to last a couple of years.
Some of the biggest names in football management have failed to create any sort of dynasty at Stamford Bridge and there is no obvious reason to believe the 59-year-old former banker will buck the trend.
After all, the Roman Abramovich way of working is pretty much set in stone. Hire expensively, win, fire expensively. Gone in 90 matches, if you are lucky.
There is always a sub-plot at the Bridge, as Sarri has quickly discovered, describing the Willian passport farrago as “strange”. Indeed it was. Unless they relaxed the rules for footballers, anyone going to the World Cup had to have a passport that was valid for at least six months after their intended departure date from Russia.
Willian left Russia on July 6. Less than a month later, it seems he had issues with his passport, hence his late arrival for Chelsea duty.
If you believe that, you will believe anything. And then, there was a kerfuffle about what Willian insists is a fake document regarding his representation.
As he prepares to face Pep Guardiola in the Community Shield at Wembley, Sarri should brace himself for a few more days of such shenanigans.
Thanks to the bizarre Premier League decision to bring forward the transfer deadline, Chelsea face the best part of four weeks’ interest from Real Madrid in Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard while having only five days to complete their own recruitment.
For his part, Sarri will surely encourage his power-brokers to go all out for Wilfried Zaha (above).
It would be a crying shame if Zaha left a smashing club such as Crystal FOR all his bravado – and for all that Sweden did just fine without him in Russia – you have to admire Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
After a cruciate ligament injury in April 2017, doctors told him his playing career looked over.
Sixteen months on, at 36, he’s scored 15 goals in 17 MLS games and his hat-trick for LA Galaxy against Orlando City was classic Zlatan (right).
That he considers himself a one-off is unpalatable... it is also probably right. (And back into the, er, welcoming arms of Jose Mourinho…) Palace, but he would fit perfectly into Sarri’s positive idealism.
Imagine Zaha and Hazard in tandem. You bet Sarri can.
Even if you only saw snatches of his Napoli team, or maybe the Champions League games against Manchester City, you will know Chelsea supporters can anticipate a brand of football that will differ markedly from that provided by Antonio Conte.
In keeping with the thinking of today’s managerial opponent, possession is nine-tenths of the law for Sarri. The Premier League is getting another coach whose team will be pleasing on the eye. It has Guardiola, it has Jurgen Klopp, it has Mauricio Pochettino and others.
Caginess is not part of Sarri’s make-up.
If Hazard remains – and to be fair to him, there has been no hint of agitation for the move he clearly wants at some stage – he might well thrive under Sarri.
When Hazard suggested it might be time for a move, my instinct was that a switch to Real Madrid was inevitable.
The more I hear about Sarri and his methods, the more I am swayed in the opposite direction.
Hazard has two years left on his contract, and being ‘the replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo’ might not be such an attractive proposition.
Giving it a year of playing under an innovative coach, while taking a significant pay rise, might not be Hazard’s worst career decision.
The ham-fisted nature of Conte’s departure and the slow rise of Sarri to prominence means his arrival has been relatively unheralded.
How he fares will be one of the season’s fascinating plot lines, how long he lasts on Chelsea’s bucking bronco is anybody’s guess.
But his team will entertain and, for that, he is welcome.