Feeling Sarri For Chelsea
Breaking Down The Sarri Appointment, The Hazard Transfer And The Chelsea Situation
In many ways, the announcements of Maurizio Sarri's departure from Chelsea to Juventus and Eden Hazard's transfer to Real Madrid were very similar. Both clubs had very underwhelming seasons in the Champions League and they both had very clear spots to fill, Real's in the final third and Juve's on the touchline. The fan reactions to both transfers were very similar because they both seemed increasingly inevitable with each passing day. So nobody was shocked when any of the news broke. However what is shocking is the mess that Chelsea find themselves in. Due to their transfer ban, Chelsea cannot sign players during the current window and the next. This along with the loss of their star player makes Chelsea very unattractive to any of Sarri's potential replacements. Even if the Chelsea job was attractive there are not many high profile managers available. The one name that doesn't seem to go away is club legend, Frank Lampard, coming off of a Championship playoff final loss with Derby County. This leaves Chelsea in a very Manchester United-Ole Gunnar Solskjær type situation with a club legend knocking on the door of Chelsea's management office. Yet, Chelsea have an opportunity to learn for United's mistake and appoint someone who might not be as glamorous as Lampard but is a solid and experienced manager in order to guide them through the transfer ban until a more high profile manager is available. Chelsea can even learn from themselves, as in 2015 Guus Hiddink was brought in on a temporary basis after the relationship between Jose Mourinho and the players went sour. Hiddink helped everyone settle down, make it through the season and by removing the unrest in the dressing room, he laid the groundwork for Antonio Conte to win them the league in the next season.
As for Juventus, I'm not sure that Sarri is the right man for the job. Juventus are desperate for the Champions League as soon as possible (in the short term), as evidenced by the signing of an aging Cristiano Ronaldo. However, Sarri's appointment seems like a more long term solution. As displayed at Chelsea, Sarri can be very stubborn, always turning to his specific set of tactics (dubbed 'Sarriball'). These tactics need the right set of players and will take time to implicate/perfect. However, Juventus don't seem to have the patience to wait and let Sarri adjust his team and tactics, maybe sacrificing results. If results do stutter under Sarri and the players turn against him, Sarri might not cope very well. This is evidenced by the way he handled the Kepa situation in the FA Cup final, as he stormed down the tunnel instead of staying strong and forcing Kepa off of the pitch. Yet in Sarri's favour, Juventus doesn't have the language barrier that he felt in England and he will be better able to communicate with his players and the media.
As for Hazard, he deserves this move. Through the good and the bad of his seven years at Chelsea, Hazard grew into their best player. However Real Madrid are in desperate need of goals due to their aging forwards and Hazard isn't a natural goalscorer. Although he was able to carry Chelsea last season with 21 goals in all competitions, he probably will not provide those goals as he adjusts to the new tactics and surroundings. This is not helped by Real's signings because with the exception of Hazard, none of them will start over the current starting XI as they are young and longer term solutions. Although Real did sign the center forward that they needed in Luka Jović, he is still relatively inexperienced.
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