Smiling Maurizio Sarri does not need trophies to win over fans
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Updated 18/07/2018 at 21:14 GMT
Chelsea’s constant state of flux has left fans fatigued but Maurizio Sarri doesn’t need to secure trophies immediately like his predecessors to win over fans, writes Pete Sharland.
Chelsea Unveil New Head Coach Maurizio Sarri at Stamford Bridge on July 18, 2018 in London, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
There’s a sense of inevitability surrounding every press conference Chelsea hold to announce a new manager.
You know it’s coming, it’s almost a formality that needs to be done just so everyone can breathe and move on, but eventually during Maurizio Sarri’s first press conference as a Chelsea manager the words ‘Special One’ were mentioned.
Since Jose Mourinho first announced himself in South West London back in 2004 it has become a ritual new managers have to go through, a weird post-Mou hazing of sorts with journalists gleefully queuing up to hand out a new tag.
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Chelsea Unveil New Head Coach Maurizio Sarri at Stamford Bridge on July 18, 2018 in London, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
Trying to deviate into your own version of a ‘Special One’ isn’t advisable and Sarri dealt with the question excellently, asking only to be referred to as "Maurizio."
That he did so with a good degree of goodwill is admirable given the furore over his release from Napoli and subsequent appointment at Stamford Bridge, a long and very much drawn out process.
If Naples is the turbulent and tumultuous part of Italy then rocking up at Chelsea is a case of jumping out of the fire headfirst into a volcano for Sarri. He arrives at a club that over the last five seasons has finished third, first, tenth, first and then fifth in the Premier League.
Diego Costa arrived and left in the space of three seasons, leaving a path of destruction in his wake that the Tasmanian Devil would have been proud of, club legends have said their emotional goodbyes and the internal power struggles have escalated beyond belief.
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Diego Costa and Antonio Conte
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To top it off, the owner has had his UK visa withdrawn and subsequently the club’s new stadium plans were shelved. Although the club would probably stress correlation does equal causation.
For most clubs this wouldn’t be a bad off-season, it would be an outright crisis of epic proportions. For Chelsea it’s merely another summer and fans have seen it all before, although perhaps not quite to this scale.
However perhaps this chain-smoking city banker turned tactics obsessive coach will turn out to be exactly what Chelsea need in this moment. At his press conference, Sarri spoke of how he is “bored with the transfer market” and his desire to be a “pitch manager" which reflects the changing modus operandi at SW6.
Of course there will be additions, Daniele Rugani, Aleksandr Golovin and Gonzalo Higuain are just some of the names mentioned in the papers, but there is talent throughout the club.
Arguably the biggest complaint from fans over the past few seasons under Mourinho and Antonio Conte was not the at times dire football on display, rather the personnel who were playing it.
Too often fans felt that big names and senior players were being given free passes, while the hungry and talented young core were being overlooked.
When Mourinho returned for a second spell, Izzy Brown, Lewis Baker and Dominic Solanke were the three names he mentioned in that famous press conference when he protested under fire about his commitment to youth development. Brown and Baker have stalled out due to injury or poor loans whilst Solanke became so disenchanted he left the club entirely.
Sarri’s track record with younger players isn’t exactly stellar but his apparent willingness to coach the options at his disposal rather than overhaul the squad should be encouraging for fans.
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Maurizio Sarri has replaced Conte in charge at Stamford Bridge
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Chelsea have the best youth team in the country, one of the best in the world, yet the pathway to the first team is still non-existent. The culture of the club means no manager ever feels comfortable enough to allow the young players to find their feet in the senior set-up.
Sarri needs to be aware that while fans will always crave trophies the club needs something more, it needs a future, some direction.
Players like Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham need to be rewarded for the fine work they’ve done on loan. Then there’s the likes of Ethan Ampadu and Callum Hudson-Odoi, huge talents who could prove valuable assets in a long and demanding season.
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England's midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek (L) and Panama's midfielder Armando Cooper compete for the ball during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group G football match between England and Panama at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.
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There are plenty of players who have come or are coming through the club’s system and they’ve done it playing exceptional football, regularly blowing opponents away.
And that’s the second crux, part of the reason for Sarri’s appointment was the scintillating football that his Napoli team performed. Pep Guardiola called them “one of the best teams I’ve faced in my career” following a Champions League match. During Sarri’s three seasons in Naples his side scored over 250 Serie A goals. For reference, Chelsea scored just over 200 in the same period.
If any fans had any doubts over Sarri's intentions for this team then this quote from his first press conference, conducted in Italian despite his impressive English, would have stood out for all the right reasons.
Ours is not a sport, but a game. Anybody who plays a game started doing it as a child for fun, and the child in us must be nurtured because this often makes us the best. So to create play that is fun is the first thing to obtain a style for a high-level squad.
Chelsea used to be the one of the most entertaining sides in England, especially when Gianfranco Zola, now a member of Sarri’s backroom staff, was in his pomp.
Joe Cole, Juan Mata and Eden Hazard have all thrilled the Stamford Bridge faithful over the years, but there were always restraints in place from those in the dugout, bar of course Carlo Ancelotti’s mesmerising double-winning side in 2010.
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Belgium's captain Eden Hazard celebrates at the Grand Place/Grote Markt in Brussels city center, as Belgian national football team Red Devils arrive to celebrate with supporters at the balcony of the city hall after reaching the semi-finals and winning th
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Sarri has a chance to be remembered by fans in the same vein as the man who replaced him in Naples. Every Chelsea supporter has fond memories of Ancelotti and his team, memories often accompanied with a wishful sigh born out of frustration from what has come since.
Under Roman Abramovich Chelsea fans have been spoilt for success, if not football and it would be no bad thing were the club to even things out a little. A top-four place and a good run in Europe would suffice, so long as the football is the sort that gets you purring. The type of play that gets you off your seat for the entire team, not just one little Belgian genius.
That would suffice for fans, and it may be enough to persuade the iconic Hazard to stay on. He need only look at the sort of football Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens have been playing, it’s hard to argue against Hazard being a level about those two. Suddenly the prospect of Hazard and Sarri working together is extremely enticing.
Watching this Chelsea side over the past few years has been like watching your crotchety uncle driving his sports car at 20mph because he’s afraid of getting a nick or a scratch. Hopefully Sarri will release the hand break, put the roof down and hit the accelerator.
Pete Sharland
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