8/10

I would say very positive. If you were to remove the defeats against Wolves and Leicester, i would say it would have been an excellent start. 

I think the positives and negatives have been largely as advertised.

We've played more attractive football (for the most part) and Hazard has certainly been freed to do what he does best. We're also in the top four and have had good wins over City, Arsenal etc.

That said there is really only one approach and little to no rotation bar Barkley/Kovacic and Pedro/Willian. We've also given less time to Andreas, RLC, CHO and Ampadu than we should be. 

All of this was as expected. We knew all of this when we appointed him. 

I'll give him a 6. Its going well with a squad without a striker and with David Luiz in the backline. He's not the messiah as others have suggested but I really hope he can finish off the year well and get us back into the CL and maybe sneak a trophy. 

17 hours ago, coco said:

Good post, although 9/10 doesn't leave much space for improvement, 7/10 sounds about right, a good rating all considered.

I give him the 9/10 because at this point I don't think I trade him for any other manager.  If we're rating the job he's done with what he's had in this situation, you can't convince me any other manager in the world would have done more.

Just now, Wearyourblue said:

I give him the 9/10 because at this point I don't think I trade him for any other manager.  If we're rating the job he's done with what he's had in this situation, you can't convince me any other manager in the world would have done more.

And quite frankly the more I hear him the more I like him, which makes me enjoy our team more.

8/10 from me. We were in an absolute hole back before the season started, and he lifted the lads, convinced the best players to not only stay but start enjoying their football again. We can see what he’s trying to create and we’ve seen some games where it’s all come together wonderfully. A few transfer windows and some more time to bed in the new ideas (and stop the players reverting to bad habits) and I think we have a really bright future ahead.

It’s especially exciting that his system isn’t one that relies on a single wonder player to function when it all comes together. If we can keep Eden then obviously that’s even better (and while we transition into it, Eden is saving our bacon regularly), but if we lose him at the end of the season I don’t see it all falling apart on us, any more than when Napoli lost Higuain. People have criticized Sarri for not having a plan B, but I think that’s completely unfair. I think that he is just focused on teaching the team how he needs them to play, and once they have that we’ll see a lot of tactical adaptation from this guy. 

5/10

Hasn't set the league on fire in terms of improving our position from this time last year and has at times been as frustrating to watch as Conte was last season.

At the moment it’s all about what we could potentially become as a team. He’s got grand ideas and if/when they start to come to fruition then he’ll be rated 7/10 upwards from me.

9 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

5/10

Hasn't set the league on fire in terms of improving our position from this time last year and has at times been as frustrating to watch as Conte was last season.

At the moment it’s all about what we could potentially become as a team. He’s got grand ideas and if/when they start to come to fruition then he’ll be rated 7/10 upwards from me.

This.

For the most part I have been unimpressed by our football. He needs his own players but for me there are 5 or 6 teams in this league who are better to watch than we are.

Slightly related to this topic, but man how things changed in a month - from ESPN.  We have 5 guys who can play the wing and 3 were unavailable.... don't know how you keep Hazard at 9 today, but interesting to see that as a criticism.

"Manager rating out of 10

7 -- Sarri's decision to move Eden Hazard back out to the wing in favour of a true striker didn't really work, and Chelsea looked tired and uninspired here. But they got the job done, and Kante once again showed what he can offer in the more advanced role his head coach has given him."

Things to take into account, when judging him.:

- The league is much more competitive this season 

- He came in late to the club and had to work with players in bit parts

 - Is having to work with a group of players whom have been used to a more defensive system

- Not having a striker capable of scoring goals, which hinders the style immediately. 

He's hands have been tied behind his back a bit with lack of players suitable for the system. He can't perform miracles, he isn't a magician. He is working with a less efficient board than Pep is at City for e.g. 

It's actually impressive to be where we are currently considering what he's dealing with. As well as he himself coming to a new league, you also have three first teamers in Kovacic, Jorginho and Kepa who are new to the league too. He and those players are still bedding in. 

12 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

5/10

Hasn't set the league on fire in terms of improving our position from this time last year and has at times been as frustrating to watch as Conte was last season.

At the moment it’s all about what we could potentially become as a team. He’s got grand ideas and if/when they start to come to fruition then he’ll be rated 7/10 upwards from me.

43 points after 20 games for a new manager who didn’t have a pre-season and you score him 5/10? That has wound me up. I’m guessing by your scoring metric that he’d only be on 7/10 if we were top of the league!

8/10 for me. We’re playing good football and still competing at the top of the league. Only 4 points off last years runaway champions and also managed to beat them when they were flying and unbeaten. Also should have beaten the current league leaders were it not for a 90th minute wondergoal, but did manage to beat them on their own turf in the league cup. Really enjoying this season so far and excited to see us play every week. 

14 minutes ago, DannyVblue said:

43 points after 20 games for a new manager who didn’t have a pre-season and you score him 5/10? That has wound me up. I’m guessing by your scoring metric that he’d only be on 7/10 if we were top of the league!

Well no. We’re basically on a similar points tally to last season under Conte so at this moment in time we’re not performing any better in that sense.

For the most part we’re quite dull and frustrating to watch and haven’t beaten anyone convincingly in the league for a couple of months.

So what would we presume Sarri’s targets were going into the season? 1. To improve our league position. 2. Make us more entertaining to watch. 3. Improve player performances.

Right now he’s not really doing any of that. By the end of the season will he? Maybe, you would expect so anyway.

But there’s still an over reliance on Hazard. Goals we’re scoring for the most part aren’t actually as a direct result of the possession football and some players are still massively underperforming.

If we finished 3rd and start dominating teams with convincing wins (3 or 4 nill wins) then that’s a 7/10. 9 or 10 out of ten would be us competing for the league of winning it.... Conte’s first season, that was a 9/10.

1 hour ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Well no. We’re basically on a similar points tally to last season under Conte so at this moment in time we’re not performing any better in that sense.

Conte was doing well this point last year and he would still be in a job had he kept it up, it's what he did after that Sarri is trying to fix, and has done good.

6/10

 

Had no preseason, squad is lacking in key areas but still in all cups and top 4 race.

Points down for lack of opportunity given to Ampadu, CHO and RLC to a lesser degree and the persistence with Willian.

On 29/12/2018 at 22:55, JM7 said:

I would say very positive. If you were to remove the defeats against Wolves and Leicester, i would say it would have been an excellent start. 

When you consider that they have both gone on to beat teams above us in the league, those two defeats don't look so bad in hindsight.

Isn't that how it works in football manager?

10 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

But there’s still an over reliance on Hazard. Goals we’re scoring for the most part aren’t actually as a direct result of the possession football and some players are still massively underperforming.

If we finished 3rd and start dominating teams with convincing wins (3 or 4 nill wins) then that’s a 7/10. 9 or 10 out of ten would be us competing for the league of winning it....

Look at the game against Palace that the pundits say we were uninspiring. Giroud had a perfectly good goal disallowed and we hit the post 2-3 times plus that great save to deny Willian. That game could easily have ended 3 or 4-0 with a bit more luck. Would we still have been uninspiring or underperforming then? My point being that the margins are so small at this level, and we are making the chances, we’re just not quite sharp enough at the moment, and our strikers are obviously not taking their chances often enough.

When you watch the attacking buildup though there’s so many times where the lads do some great work but don’t see a killer last pass or a great opportunity. There were a few times against Palace where I was banging my head because the opening was there for a perfect throughball but the AMs didn’t see it and played back instead. That’s something that the more they play together in this style that they’re going to see and connect with. 

Seriously, there’s so much promise in this system.

22 minutes ago, Kentonio said:

Look at the game against Palace that the pundits say we were uninspiring. Giroud had a perfectly good goal disallowed

Two disallowed offside goals, both level at worst, in the later game Lukaku gets away with a 3ft offside goal. VAR will not address offsides. So were stuck with line officials having to make 50 50 calls, which goes against us because were Chelsea, not media darlings Liverpool or Man u.

In terms of the implementation of the 4-3-3.... 9/10 - false 9, Hazard in a deeper playmaker role as he did yesterday, counter attack against City; Sarri has demonstrated a willingness to adapt the style of play according to the opponent, against Watford for example Hazard as the false 9 didn't really work despite his goals so he changed it yesterday.

I still think there's room for improvement, having a solid rotation option at false 9 for example (Fekir or Bertrand Traore would be ideal), a backup/alternate formation (e.g.  4-4-2 diamond), and as good as I think Kante is in his right centre position I'd still like to see more of Kovacic against opposition who pack the midfield (e.g.  Wolves/Leicester).

So overall 7/10, if we see any of the above i'll be happy to give him a solid 9/10 irrespective of results.

Edited December 31, 20187 yr by the special one

1 hour ago, Kentonio said:

When you watch the attacking buildup though there’s so many times where the lads do some great work but don’t see a killer last pass or a great opportunity. There were a few times against Palace where I was banging my head because the opening was there for a perfect throughball but the AMs didn’t see it and played back instead. That’s something that the more they play together in this style that they’re going to see and connect with.

For sure, we’re very much a work in progress. Personally I’d expect us to be a little further along at this point but that’s just me.

Once the players start seeing and playing those key passes and start converting more chances than I’d ajudge Sarri as a 7/10.

We’re doing okay right now. It’ll be interesting to see what if anything we do in the transfer market next month and how that might influence approach.

The proof is in the pudding, we're 5 points clear of the team in 5th place, and only 4 points off City in 2nd spot. Any of us would have taken that at the start of the season. We're also in the semis of the LC and we won our EL group handsomely. It hasn't been perfect but it's been damn good.

 

At Palace yesterday only Kepa and Jorginho from our starting XI were new arrivals. All the rest were here under Conte yet we dominated possession and showed that we have completely transformed the way we play. It's very hard to criticise the manager, especially given the fact as far as I'm concerned only Kante and Hazard are truly top-level performers.

 

We have so little going forward, and that's not the manager's fault. We are completely reliant on Hazard, as we have been almost during his entire time here. I would like to see Tammy brought back during the window, and I would like to see CHO given a chance. With Cahill, Moses and Drinkwater seemingly off, hopefully this means Ampadu, Christensen, Ruben, Tammy and CHO all get a chance as the season progresses and the games come thick and fast if we stay in all competitions.

 

Sarri seems very reluctant to play the youth. His line-ups in the EL particularly have been very disappointing. He also seems very reluctant to drop underperforming players, especially Alonso. These are quibbles however because you can't complain with where we stand, especially given it's all new to him.

 

Bring back Tammy and sell Morata. If we sold Drinkwater, Cahill and Moses, we'd be going into the new year with a squad of 20 outfield players, and that would hopefully mean everybody was given games.

14 hours ago, Argo said:

Conte was doing well this point last year and he would still be in a job had he kept it up, it's what he did after that Sarri is trying to fix, and has done good.

That's a good point. It's not fair to compare how Sarria has done so far with how Conte did at the same point last season (even if Sarri is still doing better). Totally different circumstances.

I'm not going to give a mark out of ten because that would be too reductive but I think we're doing well and I hope we give him the time and financial means to implement his philosophy properly, even if it means reining in our expectations for this season. We've played some blinding football, especially in the first few months of this season (it's worrying how some of you can't seem to remember that far back, I'd see a doctor if I were you), and he's given the youngsters more minutes than any other manager in recent memory.

We could do with refreshing our attacking options but that's not Sarri's job. I'm sure he's made his feelings known.

Fair points and Conte had less matches due to us not qualifying for Europe nd so more time to prepare the team in his methods.

5-10

He needs to look at his system & realise this isn’t Italy & needs to inject pace into the system, this means moving Jorginho, or tweaking the formation.

Serious here as well, he needs to smarten himself up & stop chewing cigarette butts on the touchline, it’s extremely unprofessional & puts the club in a bad light.

Let’s see what the rest of the season holds, but I don’t envision the top 4 if we continue to play this slow football.

11 hours ago, shedpensioner said:

Serious here as well, he needs to smarten himself up & stop chewing cigarette butts on the touchline, it’s extremely unprofessional & puts the club in a bad light.

Yeah not a fan of seeing him chewing on a dog end every time the camera cuts to him. He must absolutely reek... the club have probably had to employ someone to follow him around with a bottle of fabreeze.