ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK!
Forget Conte’s meek surrender, Chelsea are sold on Sarri-ball...
THE hangover from the last time Chelsea met Manchester City not only left supporters with splitting headaches but the players too — Eden Hazard in particular. Used up front on his own and shorn of support, Hazard was a passenger as the then reigning Premier League champions surrendered, securing zero shots on target. The Belgian later said: ‘I would not have got a touch even if we had played for three hours.’
It was supposed to be a coming together of two heavyweights — the champions-elect against champions. Instead, it was champs versus chumps.
Eventually, the only remedy was to get rid of the root of the problem — Antonio Conte. That defensive 1-0 defeat was the beginning of the end for the Italian. Now under the tutelage of Maurizio Sarri, there will be none of that from Chelsea today.
No shutting up shop for 90 minutes, no hiding, no thinking you’re second best. Such thoughts are not tolerated under this superstitious chain-smoking former banker who, as if an antidote to Conte, insists there will be no compromising of attacking tactics.
He may have a depleted squad after the World Cup but Sarri is desperate to prove a point against Pep Guardiola’s City in the Community Shield.
Sarri, a friend of Guardiola who accompanied the Catalan on a visit to see the great tactician Arrigo Sacchi on the Italian coast earlier this summer, had his own experience of facing City when his Napoli team were drawn against the English side in last season’s Champions League.
Napoli lost 2-1 away and 4-2 at home, yet Guardiola described Sarri’s outfit as ‘probably the best’ team he had faced in his career. However, in the match at the Etihad, Napoli’s bold approach saw them 2-0 down within 13 minutes, although they did halve the deficit.
Sarri recalled: ‘It’s difficult for everybody to play against City. I played them in November, in the best moment of City’s season. The first 20 minutes was a nightmare, it was horrible.’
Yet Sarri insists his Chelsea team will be bold and attempt to go toe-to-toe with City rather than focusing on restricting the opposition.
At last, perhaps, Roman Abramovich may have his long-desired free-wheeling football with Sarri’s approach.
‘I’d like for my players to have personality, to think that we are at the same level,’ said the Italian. ‘Maybe at the moment it’s not true, but they have to think they can play against everybody in every stadium. I’d like to defend if it’s possible in the other team’s half. Sometimes it’s not possible.’
Sarri, 59, is his own man. His history tells us that, and so has Chelsea’s preseason. He wears tracksuits on the touchline and apparently prefers his players to wear plain black boots, detesting signs of ostentatiousness.
He forces his squad to repeat drills to the extent they risk suffering recurring dreams of the manoeuvres he teaches them. With more than 30 routines for set-pieces, you can see why.
While standing on the Aviva Stadium touchline in Dublin during Chelsea’s midweek friendly against Arsenal, Sarri appeared to pull an e-cigarette out of his pocket for the odd puff. Such behaviour is banned in England, of course, though Sarri is not one to shy from controversy, either.
He once flipped a middle finger towards Juventus fans while Napoli coach. He has also been accused of sexism and homophobia, though he insisted at his internal interviews with director Marina Granovskaia and subsequent Chelsea unveiling that is not the case.
While away on tour, Sarri continued to learn English daily. To his credit, not once in Australia, France or Dublin did he answer a question in his native Italian.
On the pitch, there are signs his ‘Sarri-ball’ style of play is being taken on board. The focus on passing, possession and a high press has been easy on the eye, particularly with £57million Jorginho spreading play like he has been wearing royal blue for months. Today, Guardiola’s City get their first taste.
‘We need Jorginho more than City,’ Sarri joked, ‘so it’s right that he is here. Pep has great central midfielders. I will try to explain the situation to him on Sunday. Fernandinho is a wonderful player. Jorginho is one of the steps to try to reduce the gap. He’s only the first. But the rest is to work hard and not look too much at the market.
‘The table of the last Premier League told me City 100, Chelsea 70 points. We have to try to reduce 30 points.’
The new boss has said exactly what Chelsea fans have wanted to hear so far. Unlike Conte against City in March, he will not hold back from trying to win a match through fear of a mauling.
Slightly stubborn? Maybe, but brave too. Sarri’s reign is about to begin and there may be the odd bump in the road ahead. Whatever happens, with someone so brilliantly — and yet alarmingly — unconventional in charge, it promises to be an entertaining ride.