Yesterday Antonio Conte was highly reported to have gone separate ways with Chelsea, with players such as Cesc Fabregas, Charly Musonda and Chelsea legend John Terry publicly sharing heartfelt farewell messages to the Italian. However, the strange part of all this is that the club still haven’t released a statement on the topic, refusing to comment on the matter. This has left many fans frustrated and wondering what the club are up to.
Sarri to take over
With Maurizio Sarri’s imminent move to Chelsea as manager/head coach (not yet specified), the Chelsea players will be keen to impress, especially those who weren’t featured as much under the leadership of Conte. The switch of managers will bring a completely new formation and style of play, with Sarri playing a more attacking game, which has been very successful for Napoli in recent years and has even been nicknamed Sarri-ball, after being recognised for its pure brilliance and entertainment it brings to not only the fans but also the mutual.
Jorginho is a blue, Chelsea blue
At Napoli, Jorginho was an integral part of Sarri-ball, the heart and sole of the entire philosophy, making him a brilliant signing for Chelsea, he will help the team adapt to Maurizio’s style of play and will hopefully be as important for Sarri at Chelsea as he was for Napoli; him and Kante in the same midfield is just a dream, they compliment each other very well; with Kante being the more defensive of the two allowing Jorginho to go forward and express his magnificent passing ability to help create chances.
What makes this signing so much sweeter is that he chose to join Chelsea over Man City, a club who in recent years have pretty much got anyone they set target on, with the fierce financial backing the club now possesses, and knowing that Jorginho wants to play for Chelsea this much will surely make him an instant fan favourite and give him confidence going into the Premier League campaign.
Is there a risk?
With such a drastic change in philosophies it’s likely to take time for the players to adapt and truly be comfortable with such a complicated playing style. However, when mastered Chelsea could be producing some of the most beautiful football in Europe. So Sarri will need time, but the real question is will Roman and the Chelsea board give it to him? I really hope so, because Chelsea have a history of doing the complete opposite; and also haven’t played this brand of football for a long time, with Roman Abramovich usually hiring more defensive and safe managers, this is a huge change for the club.
Some fans are slightly worried by Sarri’s lack of silverware and as Chelsea are known for being a success in that market, that won’t be acceptable if this statistic doesn’t change reasonably soon. However, he has never had the financial backing he will grasp at Chelsea.
I for one can’t wait to see this new style Chelsea play-out the season and see how it all unfolds!
