Saturday, 29 September 2018

Chelsea rediscover energy and optimism under Maurizio Sarri | Dominic Fifield

Italian head coach has overseen eye-catching start – and with Eden Hazard in the form of his life positivity abounds at Stamford Bridge

Almost 11 weeks into his stint in charge, Maurizio Sarri is still stumped. The Italian would appear to have overseen an eye-catching start. Chelsea nestle third in the table behind two more fancied teams, and inflicted a first wound of the season upon the leaders, Liverpool, in the Carabao Cup before Saturday’s collision between the sides at Stamford Bridge. The smoothness of the tactical transition has surprised the head coach and rival managers, while Eden Hazard is playing with the vim and vigour that propelled them to the title in 2015 and 2017.

The Belgian is in the form of his life and positivity abounds, with the atmosphere a throwback to the energy and optimism that fuelled those last two successful pursuits of the Premier League. And yet, with those triumphs in mind, Sarri is perplexed as to why he is even in situ. “The history of this club is a little bit strange,” he said. “In 2014-15, [they reached] 87 points, then 50 points in 2015-16 with the same coach and the same group.

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from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2xXepE1

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