Jorginho’s brilliance & Ross Barkley’s new role: What we learned from Maurizio Sarri’s first Chelsea game

Sarri has already begun transforming Chelsea’s style of play (Picture: Chelsea/Getty)

It’s time to start getting very excited about ‘Sarri-ball’. New boss Maurizio Sarri took charge of his first match as Chelsea manager in Monday’s pre-season friendly win over Perth Glory and, even in such a short space of time, has already started to stamp his mark over the side.
A solitary goal from Pedro secured a first victory of the summer, but – as always in pre-season – the performance was far more important than the result. Out of possession, Chelsea pressed extremely high as their manager ordered them to push up from the sidelines, while they kept the ball even better and played fast, pass-and-move football.
Admittedly the calibre of opposition was a long way short of what Sarri will encounter in the Premier League, but we’ve already learned plenty about how Chelsea will play next season…

No more back three

Luiz was never rattled despite having less freedom in a back four (Picture: Getty)

Just seven games into Antonio Conte’s reign, having been blown away by Arsenal, the Italian opted to implement the same back-three formation that had served him so well with both Juventus and Italy. That change was both a blessing and a curse: it ignited Chelsea’s title challenge in 2016/17, but became a burden in the following campaign. As opposition teams worked out how to stifle them, the back three – and its extra defender – became overly negative.
Sarri has wasted no time in reverting to a back four and Chelsea looked far more adventurous as a result without losing too much solidity at the back. Davide Zappacosta was the stand-out player, overlapping and attacking space relentlessly, but David Luiz and Ethan Ampadu – who looked like twins in the heart of defence – played with real authority and purpose. Chelsea held a very high line that occasionally looked susceptible to pace on the break, though reserve keeper Marcin Bulka did not need to make a single save until the 55th minute.

New role for Barkley

Barkley could get a new lease of life under Sarri’s tutelage (Picture: Getty)

Blink and you might have missed Ross Barkley’s 208 minutes of action for Chelsea last season. The Evertonian arrived in west London with a long-term hamstring injury and never managed to force his way into Conte’s thinking. But a full summer of pre-season under Sarri will provide a fresh start and he has already been receiving plenty of one-one-one instruction from the new manager in training.
In Perth, he lined up as the most advanced of Chelsea’s midfield trio – the Marek Hamsik role, if you like – and was the link between the midfield and the attack. In his final full season on Merseyside, Barkley was used almost exclusively as a No.10 behind Romelu Lukaku, but here he was a little deeper and more of a box-to-box threat. He gave a lively performance, attacking space and offloading the ball nicely, and is probably a better fit for Sarri than other midfield options at the club.

Jorginho is the real deal

Jorginho averaged the most passes of any player in Serie A (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea will not make a smarter signing than Jorginho this summer. The Brazilian-born Italy international arrived at Stamford Bridge shortly before his old Napoli mentor in a £52million deal, with the club beating off significant competition from Manchester City to convince him to sign. The effort was well worth it.
Even after just 45 minutes in the sticky heat of Perth, it is already noticeable how much his teammates trust him with the ball, and how eager he is to receive it. It took 19 minutes for Jorginho to misplace his first pass, this despite attempting dangerous, penetrative, line-breaking passes. He had no qualms in ordering around his teammates, calling for the ball and pointing where they needed to pass or move to next. Unbelievably, he completed 98 passes in the first half and the Blues lost a lot of control when he was subbed off.
‘Sarri-ball’ will be infinitely easier to implement with the Jorginho controlling everything in the middle, and he already feels like the team’s cerebral core. Cesc Fabregas fitted in nicely alongside him – expanding the play with his rangy passing – and when N’Golo Kante returns Chelsea will have a genuinely fearsome three-man midfield.

Morata lifeline?

Morata only scored one Premier League goal in 2018 (Picture: Getty)

After starting last season extremely well, club-record signing Alvaro Morata lost his place in the Chelsea side as Conte favoured a little-and-large combo of Olivier Giroud and Eden Hazard. But Sarri’s style of play is well suited to the Spaniard’s skillset and his performance against Perth hinted that he may still have a future at the club.
Morata was full of running, hanging on the shoulder of the last man, splitting the centre-backs and darting in behind. He worked extremely hard and latched onto several through-balls, though Conte’s exit has not improved his confidence in front of goal and he fluffed a number of chances when through on goal. Sarri may still be drawn to Gonzalo Higuain’s more predatory instincts.

Hudson-Odoi and Pedro make their case

The 17-year-old Hudson-Odoi gave a very impressive performance (Picture: Getty)

As speculation continues to engulf Eden Hazard’s future, Chelsea were given a timely reminder of the quality that already exists at the club should the Belgian swap west London for Madrid. The most electric player on the pitch in Monday’s game was teenager Callum Hudson-Odoi, who had the Perth right-back on toast from the first minute.