If you have read any of my other articles and there have been a few – I am not the biggest fan of Maurizio Sarri.
His insistence on using Jorginho and having no ‘Plan B’ has been my main criticisms. Well begrudgingly, I feel it is only right to offer some positive reaction to the performances against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final and against Tottenham on Wednesday night.
In both those games, he showed greater tactical flexibility and a change in his substitution patterns, which clearly needed to happen. His decision to bring in Willy Caballero was brave and one that needed to happen. I agreed with that decision, but still, Caballero scares the living daylights out of me, but as the team and defence played really well, my fears were allayed as he did not have much to do.
His decision to start Kovacic ahead of Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Ross Barkley paid off as well, with the Croatian putting in his best shift as a Chelsea player all season.
The return of Marcos Alonso caused a Twitter meltdown before the game, but the decision paid off as well. The Spaniard defended well and worked hard down the left-hand side. Taking off an underperforming Eden Hazard was right and brave, a move that showed guts from Sarri.
Even Jorginho made some vital tackles and interceptions, which ensured I will get off his case a little, but would I still prefer N’Golo Kante in that position? Absolutely.
What I did see though was a Chelsea team, under incredible pressure, perform with heart, grit and determination. A Chelsea team that clearly has pride and one that obviously is starting to believe in Sarri. There is now hope for the season if they can continue in this form and vein.
A top-four place is doable and who knows – possibly a Europa League triumph too. If we can achieve those two things, I think we can say it has been a pretty successful season and that means next year, Sarri will still be in charge and that stability can only be a good thing.
Transfer ban or not, with the return of our top loan players, there’s hope for Chelsea.
