Stubborn Sarri must learn to be flexible with limited Chelsea squad

"I have to say, I'm extremely angry. Very angry indeed.” Those were the words of Maurizio Sarri as he watched his Chelsea side labour to a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal. 

“This defeat was due to our mentality, more than anything else. This is something I can't accept”, the Italian continued, going on to claim that his players are “extremely difficult to motivate”. 

There was certainly a lethargy to the Blues’ play at the weekend that suggests not all is well behind the scenes at the club, with Sarri no doubt looking for a positive reaction to his outburst as the team prepare for a huge game with Tottenham on Thursday. 

There is, after all, a big opportunity to reach the final of the Carabao Cup, with Spurs inundated with injuries right now. Harry Kane and Dele Alli are sidelined while Lucas Moura, Moussa Sissoko and Victor Wanyama have only recently returned to training, while Son Heung-Min is away on international duty at the Asian Cup. 

It will require a strong rearguard action from Mauricio Pochettino’s men once more then, having kept the Blues at bay at Wembley last week. However, given the form of Chelsea’s attack in particular of late, with Gonzalo Higuain still yet to seal his impending switch to Stamford Bridge, the Tottenham defence have reason to feel confident of another clean sheet. 

Simply put, Chelsea haven’t come close to replicating the free-flowing football that Sarri implemented at Napoli , or even Empoli before that, over a prolonged spell. The signs were encouraging at the start of the season, but rather than show a greater understanding of the coaches demands over time, the team is now regressing, and their style of play is becoming too predictable - which is something that Sarri is desperate to avoid. 

That’s why he has placed the blame on the players’ mentality. He’s a coach that wants his team to enjoy and express themselves on the pitch, but too many are shirking responsibility right now. As a result, his system isn’t working and the players don’t seem to fit what Sarri wants.  

The Italian’s gameplan isn’t likely to change either, and for all of the beautiful football he brought to Serie A, a lack of tactical flexibility is perhaps becoming an issue. 

It’s difficult to think of a manager more wedded to one way of playing than the Chelsea boss, who, while quelling the importance of formations in the past, has set his sides up in his preferred 4-3-3 for years now.  

In fact, you have to go back to the very start of his reign at Napoli to find the last time he used a different formation in the league. After three games without a win, with Lorenzo Insigne initially deployed behind a front two, Sarri switched to his now customary 4-3-3 and has started each of the following 134 league matches in his managerial career with that set up. 

It's true that formations generally refer to a team's shape without the ball, and that teams can play in all manner of different styles within any one, but Sarri's approach remains the same despite the players clearly struggling to follow his instructions. 

Ironically the man he brought in to ensure his philosophy transferred over to his new club, Jorginho, is among those that has been most guilty of underdelivering on what is asked of him.  

While the Italy international's primary task is to recycle possession quickly, it's also to attempt to move opponents out of their positions and find that crucial vertical pass. His vision and weight of forward pass was sublime at times with Napoli, but while we've seen glimpses in Chelsea blue, the 27-year-old has been guilty of being too safe in possession. 

Jorginho is averaging 97.5 passes per 90 minutes, completing over 90 per cent of those, but he has created just 14 chances all season (0.7 per 90) and is yet to register a single assist. He didn't do so with great regularity in Naples, with a modest 12 assists in four and a half Serie A seasons, but his average of 1.7 key passes per 90 in that time was a substantial increase on what he has managed in London. 

David Luiz has actually had to step up and play the role where Jorginho has failed on occasion this season, picking out runners in behing the opposition defence, playing more accurate through balls not only than the teammate signed to do so but, in fact, any other player in the division. 

Then there is the issue of the impact on N'Golo Kante, handed a new role that he is actually performing relatively well but one that restricts him from doing what he does best, in turn offering less protection to the defence. The Frenchman's averages for tackles (1.7) and interceptions (1.4) per 90 this season are almost half what they were under Conte, but for the increased freedom he has been afforded to support attacks, his numbers for key passes (1.2) and dribbles (0.9) haven't improved, from 1.2 and 1.4 respectively. 

Kante is a rare player that thrives when the responsibility on his shoulders is greater but in this system he's less involved and, as a result, less valuable. 

It's been said before by coaches that they won't change their philosophy or approach in difficult times, but there has to be a realisation of the resources at ones disposal. Pep Guardiola sets his side up with the same mentality regardless of the opposition, but crucially tailors his tactics when necessary in an attempt outsmart them and find solutions. 

That was a criticism of Arsene Wenger, that he didn't change his side's approach following its great success in the early noughties. Arsenal had the best team in the division at the time but didn't adapt when that was no longer the case. 

While they didn't back it up with silverware, Sarri had Napoli playing the most attractive football in Italy but there's simply no chance of that happening with this Chelsea squad, up against the competition as it stands. 

For all the talk of the players' mentality the coach must see the limitations of his team and as a result he should, of course, be given time to address the issue. In the meantime, however, a little tactical flexibility might help them through a tough patch but if history is anything to go by that, ironically given their patient passing approach, is a long shot.