MX23RW : Wednesday, January 23 06:09:56

Maurizio Sarri vows to stick with tactics at Chelsea

Maurizio Sarri vows to stick with tactics at Chelsea
© Reuters
The Blues boss has stubbornly stuck with a 4-3-3 formation, with creative midfielder Jorginho at its heart.

Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri intends to stick rigidly to his tactical methods until his players are fully adapted.

The Blues boss has stubbornly stuck with a 4-3-3 formation, with creative midfielder Jorginho at its heart, even though Chelsea's performances have stuttered of late.

N'Golo Kante
N'Golo Kante has played a more attacking role under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea (Adam Davy/PA)

World Cup winner N'Golo Kante has been deployed on the right side of midfield, in a more attacking role than the one to which he is accustomed, to accommodate Jorginho, who followed Sarri from Napoli to Stamford Bridge last July.

"We are not ready to change at the moment," said Sarri, speaking ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash at Arsenal.

"I can change when we are at 100 per cent in what I want to see. If in 4-3-3 we are at the top, we can try to change.

"Like in Naples last season, when we played in the last period also in 4-2-3-1. But not at the moment. We are not ready."

Sarri refused to say how close his team are to being ready, referring to the chaotic fixture schedule in English football which limits preparation periods.

"It's not easy in this situation to improve a lot in such little time," he added.

Jorginho
Jorginho, centre, was "in trouble" against Newcastle, according to Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri (Adam Davy/PA)

Sarri said Jorginho was "in trouble" in last week's win over Newcastle and would have been replaced had Cesc Fabregas not left for Monaco.

Chelsea are still to recruit a new specialist in the position, with Zenit St Petersburg's Leandro Paredes linked.

Jorginho has registered more passes – with 1,997 – than any other player in the Premier League this season and Sarri put his performance against the Magpies down to fatigue.

The 60-year-old Italian said: "Maybe in the last two matches he was a little bit tired.

"He moved the ball a little bit (more) slowly than before. But I think that it's normal.

"You cannot stay at the top for 60 matches, so it's normal to have a different period, a period when you are not so lucid as usual. But it's not a big problem."


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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool23193154134160
2Manchester CityMan City23182362174556
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs23170648232551
4Chelsea23145440192147
5Arsenal23135548321644
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd23135546331344
7Watford239683232033
8Wolverhampton WanderersWolves239592731-432
9Leicester CityLeicester2394102929031
10West Ham UnitedWest Ham2394103034-431
11Everton238693433130
12Bournemouth2393113342-930
13Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2375112532-726
14Crystal Palace2364132332-922
15Southampton2357112540-1522
16Burnley2364132343-2022
17Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2356121931-1221
18Cardiff CityCardiff2354141944-2519
19Fulham2335152151-3014
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield2325161340-2711

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