Sarrismo is here to take over the Premier League

Maurizio Sarri’s arrival ushers in a new era at Chelsea, but can the ex-Napoli boss get the club back on track after a difficult 2017-18 campaign?

Even for a club who have gone through 10 full-time managers in the past 14 seasons, something about this time feels different. For Maurizio Sarri isn’t just any old manager; he’s a manager with principles, a philosophy, a way of playing that might, if all goes well, mean something more to Chelsea than the results it does or doesn’t produce.

Sarri will breathe new ideas not only into the club, but the Premier League in general. Pep Guardiola has already wowed fans and pundits alike with his dazzling, possession-based style at Manchester City. Sarri can do something similar. Sarrismo is built on intricate attacking patterns and intense pressing, a far cry from the more pragmatic philosophies of every Chelsea manager since Carlo Ancelotti. That alone is enough to be excited by Roman Abramovich’s decision to hire Sarri, who emphasized one word above all in his introductory press conference: fun.

“I was not talking about having fun in a press conference, I would like to have fun on the pitch and during the week and during the training sessions and I want to have fun and win matches.” Sarri said.

Despite winning the league in 2016-17 and the FA Cup last season, Chelsea didn’t appear to be a particularly joyful club under Conte. If nothing else, then, Sarri might introduce the sort of soccer that will keep fans happy even if results don’t always follow.

And there’s no guarantee results will follow. This is by far the most high-profile managerial post of Sarri’s career, which has been tainted by instances of racism and homophobia. He has referred to these as “mistakes.” Time will tell whether he has really changed, but one suspects any further transgressions will be a much bigger problem at Chelsea than they were at Napoli or Empoli. Expectations have changed.

That’s true on the pitch as well as off it. Sarri will be expected to return the Blues to the Champions League in his first season. If he struggles, he’s unlikely to be shown the same patience he received at Napoli, where it took him three seasons to build a title contender. Chelsea haven’t had a manager for three full seasons since Abramovich bought the club in 2003. Sarri, however, isn’t feeling the pressure.

“I don’t know and I am not interested,” he said when asked whether he needs to win trophies to keep his job. “My goal is to have fun as long as I am here and be competitive in all competitions until the end. In life the biggest gift you may receive is have fun while you do your job. Few people have this and I hope it manages to happen to me.”

The club are doing everything they can to make Sarri comfortable in his new surroundings, even going so far as to build him his own smoking room, but the transition will be a lot easier if he’s able to keep hold of his best players.

There have been widespread rumors about the futures of Thibaut Courtois, Eden Hazard, Willian and Alvaro Morata. With the possible exception of Hazard, those players are all replaceable, but Sarri’s job won’t be made easier by significant squad turnover in what has already been an abbreviated preseason, the result of both the World Cup and Sarri’s late appointment, on June 14.

The good news is Sarri has never worked at a club that can simply go out and buy the players he wants, and he had multiple star players plucked away from him while he was at Napoli. This is in stark contrast to Conte, who spent much of the last complaining about the club’s unwillingness to adequately support him in the transfer market. Sarri will work to improve what he’s got, which is a solid squad even if some of the big names leave.

The transition will also be made easier by the arrival of Jorginho, who was to Sarri at Napoli what Xavi was to Guardiola at Barcelona. The Italian will dictate tempo in midfield, but is likely to play a slightly more advanced role (he was the deepest-lying midfielder at Napoli) with N’Golo Kante next to him to carry the defensive burden. The two have the makings of one of the best midfield duos in Europe, while Cesc Fabregas and Tiemoue Bakoyoko present two very different options for the third midfield spot in Sarri’s 4-3-3.

Perhaps the biggest tactical question is how the squad will adapt to the switch to a back four. Conte used a four-man back line in the opening months of his time at Chelsea, only to switch to a back three when his side were ripped apart by Liverpool and Arsenal early in the 2016-17 season. The change turned them into title winners, but it also means Sarri inherits a squad built to play with three center-backs and wing-backs. That, coupled with a generally more attacking approach, will place the center-backs (likely to be some combination of Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, Andreas Christensen and Gary Cahill) under a lot more pressure.

Sarri has a difficult job on his hands, with Chelsea expected to challenge for the top four while also competing in the Europa League and the two domestic cup competitions. No matter what, the 59-year-old will stay true to his principles. For the first time in a long time, Chelsea are going to be a lot of fun.