When Manchester United picked up a perfect 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, it didn’t just signify how tactically spot-on Ole Solskjaer’s plan was. It also spoke for how Maurizio Sarri is never meant to be a Chelsea manager. Its a marriage made in the deepest trenches of hell.
While United did a very good job, it was made easier by how predictable Chelsea were. How rusty they were at the back and how they lacked a Plan B. Its different that their Plan A is easy to figure out because Sarri doesn’t have the players to play that way, it leaves the Italian very close to the sack.
Chelsea are a short-term club that won titles with managers who excel in the short-term and play pragmatic football. Be it Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Rafael Benitez, Carlo Ancelotti or Roberto di Matteo. They’ve never had a manager who’s believes in the beauty of football or has exploited how beautiful football is to be played.
Sarri is someone who is a footballing genius of his own. His approach to the game makes his side play wonderful football and lifts people off their seats. More than that, it takes time for any manager to impose that complex system at a side that has played pragmatic football and a side that won the league with playing a defensive brand football.
The United loss seemed like a combination of the aforementioned problem and how the instructions Sarri seeks to deliver either get lost in translation or they can’t be understood by the players at Chelsea. He needs better equipped players to make his style work at a club that is short-termist and pragmatic by DNA.
Sarri has sometimes questioned the intent of players publicy. And that is where he hasn’t helped himself. He made many players his enemies. And considering the fact that Sarri isn’t the best man to speak English, many of his messages run the risk of them getting lost in translation.
United seemed to have worked out where the Blues will falter. And they hit them where it hurts. That is where Sarri falls short. He hasn’t won a trophy, unlike the likes of Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp. Nothing backs the faith that he has in his style. A manager like Guardiola would have many trophies to back that faith, but Sarri doesn’t. And as much as he doesn’t have a Plan B, it is the inability to implement Plan A that is more at fault.
There seems to be only one ending to a marriage made between a straight man and a homosexual. Now that they’ve realised that they aren’t meant for each other because of their inclinations, they have to break off. In this case, Sarri is causing damage to his reputation. The short-termist club Chelsea are, they’ll be alright soon. But the genius of Sarri is getting overlooked and laughed at. At a club like Chelsea it will never work. But at a club where faith is placed on long-term building, Maurizio Sarri will definitely be as good as anyone.
