We’re a funny old club, aren’t we? The last few weeks have been ‘peak Chelsea’, and it’s been rather baffling to observe. A common theme I’m hearing from fellow match-going fans, is that this year has not at been enjoyable (for the record, I agree…).
It’s fair to say that the way the club managed the summer transition from Conte to Sarri was pretty amateur… looking back to the first training session being taken by Conte just seems so bizarre. In my opinion, this set the tone for a number of events that followed.
But, let’s not forget…when Sarri was unveiled, there was a (bit of a) buzz about the ‘evolution’ of our style of football and I think people were generally quite positive (singing ‘Mauriziooo’ seems a lifetime ago, right?). However, we now find ourselves firmly entrenched in a debate on Sarri in vs Sarri out, with the latter gaining a lot of traction both at home and away.
In defence of Sarri, his Chelsea journey started like an episode of Grand Designs. Visions of demolishing a dated building, to be replaced with floor to ceiling windows, funky technology and mid-century Scandinavian designer furniture. But reality hit as he checked the bank account, realising this was going to have to be a DIY project, with little appetite to spend the required money to leave Kevin McCloud cooing.
For me, this is the debate… do we invest in the ‘project’? Is the project right? Will it bring us success? Can it work in the Premier League? You’d hope, that if the club had done their due diligence, the answers to each of those questions would be yes. This would take time, which hasn’t been a commodity given to previous managers.
Like many other fans, my main issue with him is the lack of flexibility and creativity which has seen us become one of the most predictable teams ever to grace the top tier. So, should he be sacked? If he is sacked, then I think it’s as much a failure on the club as it is on Maurizio Sarri. This evolution was always going to take at least a year…
I see the case for giving him time, building the project, but I just don’t have faith that the Club are willing to do that. However, in my opinion, he’s on a very thin tightrope and I want to see evidence that he can have a plan B, and show some tactical nous.
If I don’t see that in the coming weeks, then I might come off this fence that I’m currently sitting on… maybe.
KTBFFH.
