A year and two days after being announced as Chelsea’s new manager, Maurizio Sarri has left the club to return to Italy and take charge of Serie A champions Juventus.
The former Napoli boss certainly divided opinion in his one and only season in charge of the Blues, and if I’m honest, I’m still unsure of what to really make of it.
On paper, Sarri successfully delivered what the club’s expectations would have been prior to his appointment: winning the Europa League, finishing in the top four and a deep run in either the FA Cup or Carabao Cup.
Furthermore, on paper once again, Sarri was more successful in his first season in charge of Chelsea than Pep Guardiola was at Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
Guardiola took charge of City at the start of the 2016/17 season and finished third in the league, winning no trophies along the way, while Klopp also finished trophy-less in his first season in charge after a Europa League final defeat to Sevilla.
However, as the old cliche goes, football isn’t played on paper. And comparing a trophy laden Guardiola to a cigarette chewing Sarri is a bit like comparing a shiny Bugatti Veyron to a reliable but not so glamorous Ford Fiesta – they both get the job done, but there is a clear difference in quality.
The gloss of what has been a relatively successful season isn’t quite so glossy when you’ve suffered record breaking Premier League defeats, faced the sack on multiple occasions, had your authority as a manager questioned in a cup final and struggled to forge any kind of relationship with the fans along the way.
That’s without mentioning his reluctance to have a Plan B for when his beloved 4-3-3 ‘Sarriball’ style wasn’t effective, his poor use of substitutions, a tantrum prior to the Europa League final and his questionable use of N’Golo Kante.
And whilst said record breaking defeats to AFC Bournemouth and then Manchester City respectively were incredibly low moments, his apparent reluctance to connect with supporters has been the key issue for many.
Football fans want to have a connection with their manager, and Chelsea supporters are no different. The likes of Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho were both loved during their respective spells in charge for their passion for the club and willingness to bond with the fans.
However, sometimes a manager and a football club just don’t click, and that was certainly the case with Sarri and Chelsea.
The Italian, though, has left on a high, winning both his first piece of silverware as a manger and adding another European trophy to the Blues’ cabinet, and for that we have to say thank you and wish him well at Juventus.
