First game of the Sarri era tonight, 11:30pm, vs Perth.
Chelsea thread
Amid the downpour in Perth that made the WACA's usually pristine turf feel more like a paddling pool, one training drill in particular stood out.
It started with Chelsea's players playing with the ball at the back, producing one-touch passes as if for the sake of it, before a whistled signal from Maurizio Sarri.
Suddenly, choreographed chaos. The ball had to be handed to Jorginho and the entire team would break at electrifying speed, the move eventually ending once Alvaro Morata had scored.
An exercise in how to go from back to front in less than 10 seconds, essentially, and one we can expect to see examined on Match of the Day this season.
If they scored, Sarri would shout: 'Again.' If they missed: 'Again.' If they messed it up midway through: 'Again.' Repetitive, but the new boss wants this to become second nature.
'Sarrismo,' is what they called it in Italy. 'Sarri-ball,' is what they're calling it at Chelsea. This is the Sarri style of play which he promised Blues bosses will work in the Premier League.
Under Antonio Conte, there were complaints of dull defensive work becoming too mundane to bear at Cobham. Sarri's at least focused on attack in Australia on Saturday.
Maybe it was for the benefit of local Premier League fanatics who scrambled to catch a glimpse at the WACA, maybe because he knew there was media present.
Yet Sarri, the chain-smoking former banker who never played professional football, did not seem to take note of the intruders. He started the session by coming out early to place cones in their correct places, and finished it with the look of a man pleased with his day's work.
All exercises were conducted under the watchful eye of Sarri while fitness coach Paolo Bertelli was also particularly involved. Gianfranco Zola and Carlo Cudicini stood on the touchline and surveyed from afar, stood by the boundary of the WACA at times.
One drill included keeping possession in tight circles while defenders acted as piggies in the middle. Another was about winning the ball as high up the pitch as possible.
There was also a short 11-a-side match with both teams playing 4-2-3-1 in the first half then 4-3-3 in the second. Jorginho the orchestrator on one side, Cesc Fabregas on the other.
As a first glimpse of Sarri at work on the training ground, this was revealing. Conte was known for being temperamental. His successor, still idolised in Napoli, was given few reasons to lose his cool here.
Chelsea's presence in Perth has been felt well ahead of Monday night's friendly.
The local Perth paper poked fun at how flash they had found Chelsea following their visit, citing how they had hired a private jet that cost £335,000 and came with butlers. The owner of Perth Glory, their opponents on Monday, reckons his club is worth around £9m total.
Sarri arrived in Australia with his new squad on Thursday night and scheduled double sessions for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Another will follow on Monday ahead of their friendly on the night.
The WACA's pitch held up for this session at least, and around 6,000 fans filed inside to watch Chelsea. Shirts on stalls were being sold for 120 Australian dollars (£68), and scarves for 30 (£17).
The names of all 25 squad members, from Ross Barkley to Cesc Fabregas to Morata, had been pinned up on the cricket venue's scoreboard. A nice touch from the locals which took Chelsea by surprise.
At the end of Saturday's session, utterly saturated, Sarri left the pitch pleased with his near two hours of work, exchanging handshakes with staff.
David Luiz had finished training at 7.20pm but thoughtfully stayed to sign autographs and take selfies. He finally made it inside and out of the rain at 7.55pm, sharing a laugh with stewards on his way.
Sarri's message at his unveiling was one of 'fun' – he mentioned the word a total of 11 times during that first press conference at Stamford Bridge.
He means business in Australia but Luiz and Co say they are fully committed to 'Sarri-ball'. Funner times ahead, they hope, and one laden with silverware.
If any Chelsea fans are awake, the game vs the Glory is streaming live on Twitter https://twitter.com/ollywilton/status/1021356801508470784
That's an interseting read thanksa Royce.
Didnt manage to see the game, good to see the likes of Fabregas, Luiz and Barkley getting game time time.
I saw some highlights and Hudson-Odoi looked good. The more i read about Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount the more it appears they might just be the real deal. Be great to see H-O break into the first team thids yeqar and play a good handul of games.
Video of the game at
Golovin off to Monaco it appears. Great news for RLC.
Golovin off to Monaco it appears. Great news for RLC.
I really want to see him play a lot of minutes this year.
I think there is a decent number of fans who were disappointed to see Conte go so things like having Zola back and playing some of the youth guys will go some way to easing concerns/tensions
Rob Green has joined on a one year deal to help with thr homegrown quota.
Always seemed a waste having that third GK spot occupied by a non-English player, especially when you're limited to 17 in a Premier League squad. I'd prefer to promote Blackman, though I guess first team minutes are more valuable for him at this stage.
Rob Green has joined on a one year deal to help with thr homegrown quota.
Insert PMSL emogie! He'll want 70k per week. Hope he drops the same sort of clangers as he did for QPR. We never wanted him in the first place, cost us at least 10 points per season.
Rob Green has joined on a one year deal to help with thr homegrown quota.
Insert PMSL emogie! He'll want 70k per week. Hope he drops the same sort of clangers as he did for QPR. We never wanted him in the first place, cost us at least 10 points per season.
Based on Eduardo/Amelia/late phase Hilario he'll never actually make it onto the pitch, all going well.
Bit of noise about Pickford being the preferred target if/when Thibo heads off to Madrid. Whatever we do short of getting Oblak (which won't be happening) will be a downgrade, but I'd be reasonably happy with him as a solution. Can't see why Everton would sell, though, unless Silva wants a differnt keeper.
Looks like we're giving up on Rugani and have bid €40m for another young Juve defender instead, Mattia Caldara. Juve not keen on selling Rugani unless part of a Higuain deal, which we're seemingly cooling on now (thank Christ, the man is another Torres/Sheva in the making given his age/price). Though Milan might beat us to Caldara anyway.
Abramovich has reportedly personally met with BVB representitives regarding a possible deal for Christian Pulisic. Real Madrid interested in getting Willian as well as Thibo.
A 1 Billion pound offer to buy Chelski off the Russian? From Britains richest man!
A 1 Billion pound offer to buy Chelski off the Russian? From Britains richest man!
Dreadful thought, being owned by a London-based United fan. Hardly a recent development though, I remember it being reported about two months ago.
A 1 Billion pound offer to buy Chelski off the Russian? From Britains richest man!
Dreadful thought, being owned by a London-based United fan. Hardly a recent development though, I remember it being reported about two months ago.
Yea it all came out around the time of Romans visa issues.
Apparently he was dead against selling, which went against the narrative in the press about how he was ready to sell up and take off.
Willian has poured a bunch of cold water over Jose's reported transfer plans.
Drew 1-1 with Arsenal this morning, lost on pens.
Didn't see the game.
Commumity Shield this weekend. Its always nice to play the Com Shield. A good, competative friendly right beofre the season to shake things off.
Commumity Shield this weekend. Its always nice to play the Com Shield. A good, competative friendly right beofre the season to shake things off.
I always enjoy the Community Shield.
In other countries they call the equivalent game the Super Cup and they actually place some value on it, they like to win it. For some reason in England it gets talked down a lot and treated more like a true pre-season game.
Some CHO highlights from the Arsenal game.
He certainly looks exciting. Would love to see him given a proper go.
By all accounts I've read he looks like the real deal. Though we've been here before with exciting young talent. McEachran, Traore, Kakuta to name a few.
I'd love to see him come in and actually force Pedro or Willian out of the team.
Sarri has said its a coaches job to manage what you've got and make players better as opposed to simply buying a squad so here's hoping we might actulaly see some young guys force their way in.
Maurizio Sarri confirmed after tonight's friendly against Arsenal that Callum Hudson-Odoi will be a member of his squad for the forthcoming campaign.
The 17-year-old produced another excellent performance showcasing his speed, skill and vision, and Sarri spoke about him after the 1-1 draw.
'He will stay with us for all the season,' Sarri said. 'He is a very young player. We have to wait. In the future he will be a very, very strong player.'
Pedro has signed a 1-year extension, contract now expires in 2020.
Lost 2-0 this morning in the Community Shield to City.
Courtois trying to force our hand by doing a Costa and going AWOL, albeit without a manager trying to punt him out as was the case with Diego. Replacement options range from the cheap-but-average Butland to the expensive-but-risky Kepa.
Looks like we're getting Real Madrid's Mateo Kovacic in on loan with an option to buy.
Courtois trying to force our hand by doing a Costa and going AWOL, albeit without a manager trying to punt him out as was the case with Diego. Replacement options range from the cheap-but-average Butland to the expensive-but-risky Kepa.
Well this has accelerated rather quickly. Kepa Arrizabalaga imminent, straight in for the release clause as that's pretty much the only way to get Athletic Club to part with their players given their limited Basque-only signing pool.
You guys are quickly turning from a dumpster fire to real contenders if all this comes through.
You guys are quickly turning from a dumpster fire to real contenders if all this comes through.
Wouldn't go that far, we're due a slow start as Sarri gets to grips with the league + the squad get to grips with his system. I think we'll be in the top four hunt but anything beyond that would rely on too many other contenders going off the rails.
Looks like we won't have an option to buy Kovacic as Real still have him earmarked as a potential Modric successor long term. Still, at least a loan gives us a year to identify a third starter for Sarri's midfield and removes the need to spend big on a CM.
Apparently the keeper is earmarked to be better than De Gea. I wanted a keeper like that for us, instead we got mid-table German keeper ;(
It's exciting, of course, but the last time we bought a young 'keeper of the future' we had the luxury of sending him off to Atleti for a few seasons and already had the well-established club legend Petr Cech in place. This time we're throwing him straight into the fire, Sarri reportedly wants him starting as soon as the Huddersfield game this weekend.
The De Gea parallels are obvious, young keeper coming in and needing time to adapt to England. And De Gea had the benefit of Ferguson in his corner at United, deflecting all of the negativity away in those initial tough months. But this is still an infinitely preferable situation to giving Sarri a keeper he didn't want/wasn't familiar with in Butland.
The Kovacic medical is reportedly all go, some of the reporting on the English journo side of things points to a buy-option being included in the deal, despite contrary reporting in Spain. Guess we'll have to wait and find out.
The reported 80m we'll be paying for Kepa seems way too much.
I have a slightly different view when it comes to keepers. I think if you've got everything else sorted (defense, midfield, players coach wants) then you don't necessarily need a world class keeper.
I feel like you could have chucked any keeper from the premier league into Man City last season and they'd still win the league at a canter. Likewise i think if you chucked De Gea into WBA they'd still likely get relegated.
So given the rules around homegrown players I'd much rather go after an English keeper. Surely we'd get Pickford for less than 80m?
Or not even English, just someone who won't cost us 80m.
I'm sure some will scoff at this but pretty much how i feel.
Goalkeepers are invaluable, think of how much of a difference De Gea makes to United. Look at how they churned through any number of average keepers between Schmeichel and eventually getting Van der Sar. We've been blessed by an unbroken line of properly good/world class goalkeepers for nearly two decades now: Cudicini, Cech, Courtois. How different would our honours list look if you alter history and replace one of those three with, say, a Ross Turnbull.
You say that any old keeper could have succeeded for Man City, but Pep went for the wrong one in Claudio Bravo and it cost them in numerous matches during his first season. Yet getting rid of Joe Hart was still the right decision, as evidenced by his subsequent form for Torino and West Ham.
The homegrown player thing is overblown, we've already got 11 of them in the first team squad at the moment. Bakayoko's departure will free up one of the non-HG spots for Kovacic. If we end up winning the Nabil Fekir sweepstakes we can loan out Michy and keep Tammy on as 3rd-choice striker, freeing up another spot. Bringing in Rob Green gives us all the flexibility we need in this regard.
Pickford was only signed last season and judging by reports Everton were very intent on keeping him. Look at how they rebuffed our efforts to sign John Stones. The only way of getting him would be overpaying, so why not overpay for someone who could end up being a whole lot better. Butland was the best English keeper readily available, and I'm not wholly convinced he's good enough for a top Premier League club that wants to be competitive.
The reported 80m we'll be paying for Kepa seems way too much.
I have a slightly different view when it comes to keepers. I think if you've got everything else sorted (defense, midfield, players coach wants) then you don't necessarily need a world class keeper.
I feel like you could have chucked any keeper from the premier league into Man City last season and they'd still win the league at a canter. Likewise i think if you chucked De Gea into WBA they'd still likely get relegated.
So given the rules around homegrown players I'd much rather go after an English keeper. Surely we'd get Pickford for less than 80m?
Or not even English, just someone who won't cost us 80m.
I'm sure some will scoff at this but pretty much how i feel.
I disagree. Teams are coming around to the fact that a world class keeper can mean the difference of a couple of spots on the table. Look at Man Utd; they have basically been kept in the top 4 by De Gea for two seasons running now.
Agree with you totally on De Gea, but remember they were 6th the season before last, not top 4. They got 4th under van Gaal in 2014/15.
Those 2 seasons are the only times they've finished in the top 4 since Ferguson retired.
Agree with you totally on De Gea, but remember they were 6th the season before last, not top 4. They got 4th under van Gaal in 2014/15.
Those 2 seasons are the only times they've finished in the top 4 since Ferguson retired.
True, my bad - he was still their best player ,though.
Yea I totally agree. Where would they be without him. Hasn't he won most of their player-of-the-season awards since he came in?
He is a pretty amazing keeper.
Yea I totally agree. Where would they be without him. Hasn't he won most of their player-of-the-season awards since he came in?
He is a pretty amazing keeper.
That's the point Downey is making. If the rest of your team is world class then you are less dependent on a world class keeper, which I get his logic on.
Unfortunately for Arsenal we've had neither a world class keeper or defence for some time!
Yea I totally agree. Where would they be without him. Hasn't he won most of their player-of-the-season awards since he came in?
He is a pretty amazing keeper.
That's the point Downey is making. If the rest of your team is world class then you are less dependent on a world class keeper, which I get his logic on.
Unfortunately for Arsenal we've had neither a world class keeper or defence for some time!
I'm not quite sure that that argument stacks up. I remember reading a piece on this years ago (so not even going to bother looking for it), but it basically demonstrated pretty conclusively that to be a top team, you need a top goalkeeper. Which is unsurprising, since you'd struggle to find a great team that did/does not have at least very good, if not excellent, goalkeepers.
The demands of a goalkeeper for a top side are quite different to those of more average teams. They are called into action much more rarely, so need to have very high levels of concentration, and need to be able to make a very high percentage of saves compared to goalkeepers playing for the lesser teams. This means that the amount of pressure on them is very high too, so finding keepers who have both the goalkeeping talent and ability to deal with that pressure is not easy, but can certainly significantly improve your chances of winning games since no matter how good the rest of your team is, there will always be a difficult situation or two to deal with in most games where you will really need your goalkeeper.
And just to give an anecdotal example of this - the World Cup final in 2010. The Dutch spent 119 minutes of that game kicking the lumps out of the Spanish and sitting very deep, but halfway through the second half Robben had a 1-on-1 with Casillas, which Casillas saved. A lesser keeper there, and the Dutch may well have won the World Cup, and the way both those sides are evaluated in the following years is completely different.