Maurizio Sarri has been nothing short of spectacular since his arrival at Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Entertaining and ruthlessly efficient, the Italian’s new look Chelsea side are yet to drop a point all season and have incredibly reinvented themselves once again after another disappointing title defence.
ESPN’s Ian Darke believes that this new found style of play could potentially translate into a surprise push for this year’s Premier League.
Darke speaks of the ‘turbulent environment’ that Sarri walked into when taking the Chelsea job, and how despite the clubs incredible turnover of managers under Roman Abramovich, the Italian seems unfazed by the prospect of returning Chelsea to the top of the English game.
His free-flowing attacking style helping to appease the fans who have so far seen nothing less than a perfect start in the Premier League – taking four wins from four games prior to the international break.
Influential players such as Eden Hazard, who has had a stellar start to the campaign, and Willian were heavily linked with moves away whilst Thibaut Courtois got his move back to Madrid, this time however with European Champions Real.
These headaches didn’t seem to hinder the progress of Sarri’s revolution, because as Darke points out the transfer window passed with Chelsea having kept hold of many of their key assets as well as bringing in Napoli midfield technician Jorginho and Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to replace the departed Courtois.
Darke concedes the fact that a title charge may be out of the question considering the long continental trips Chelsea have been assigned in their Europa League group but is, however, more adamant that, “Sarri’s big achievement already has been to put his team into the conversation.”
