It was Maurizio Sarri who suggested there may be trouble ahead. The question posed of Chelsea's new head coach, glasses perched on his brow even while the television cameras were running, had actually been kind and lobbed in to kickstart proceedings.
Given all the disruption of pre-season, surely it would be unfair to expect his side to mount an instant title challenge?
“I hope that the second part of the season, for us, will be very good with a lot of points,” he replied. “I expect, in the first part of the season, some problems.”
Pushed to explain just what he meant by “problems”, Sarri interrupted. “On the results. Maybe the performances in the first part of the season will not be in line with the potential of the squad. Maybe.”
So, after a summer wrecked by a lengthy period of uneasy inertia while Antonio Conte still called Cobham home, and then a chaotic frenzy of change as Sarri was appointed and attempted to make an early impression on a skeleton squad, here was evidence a sense of calm realism has descended. It may not have been the usual tub-thumping rallying cry on the eve of a managerial debut, but it was still refreshing to hear.
Chelsea's latest Italian steward will take his bow in the din in a corner of west Yorkshire. A team still adjusting to the demands of Sarrismo, or Sarri-ball as it has already been dubbed within the corridors of Chelsea, confront Huddersfield Town in their first outing. Their hosts were awkward opponents last season but, this time, they will be the better prepared of the two sides.
The feeling at Chelsea already is that the particular quirks of their pre-season, initially overseen by Conte and his staff, has actually set them back. Sarri’s task, to familiarise new players with a style of play marked by those breathless breaks upfield which transform measured defence into feverish attack, will need more time. The hierarchy, he said, appreciate as much.
“They know it. They know it very well.”
A quintet of his best players, all involved on the final weekend of the World Cup, only returned to training on Monday and are learning his philosophy on the hoof. Both Eden Hazard and N'Golo Kanté are expected to start this afternoon.
The experienced goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, spent the first half of the week absent without leave to force through his move to Real Madrid, with the replacement, Kepa Arrizabalaga, recruited only on Wednesday night. The youngster’s promise commanded a world record fee.
“He’s very young, 23, so I hope he can improve very fast,” said Sarri. “But, for the moment, he’s not Courtois.”
Training camp
The head coach continues to have two or three English lessons each week, despite his command of the language being impressive, and will move into his house at the end of the month. What time he had enjoyed with the group before the last week had been spent in Australia, France and Ireland, with friendly commitments already set in stone by the time the release from his contract at Napoli had been secured.
At Napoli, pre-season would have the squad immersed in a training camp for three weeks. Already, there is talk of meetings with the commercial department and hierarchy to discuss how to ensure next summer runs more smoothly.
“I would change it completely, if I can,” he said. “I arrived in the middle of July, so the problem was there. I accept it, but, for the future, it will be better to change it. But my perfect programme of pre-season is not completely in line with the programme of the club. So we have to arrive at a compromise.”
That should eventually be achieved. So, too, will familiarity with the style as 3-4-3 becomes 4-3-3, with Jorginho conducting the tempo from the centre. It will take time for the squad to crack the system. Players are readjusting in terms of their positions, with centre-halves restored to a back four and Kanté now flanking a creative midfield anchor and charged with a more attacking brief.
“In training he has tried to explain to me how we play, but I will understand more in a few weeks with more sessions and games,” said the Frenchman, who lined up alongside Jorginho for the first time in Tuesday’s goalless friendly with Lyon.
“It will take time. But yes, it could be more attacking for me. I was a little bit more offensive than last season. But that is something I used to play at my old club, Caen. I like it.”
One slide-rule pass by Jorginho for Kanté to collect on the gallop caught the eye in midweek, even if Anthony Lopes blocked at the Frenchman’s feet. There was promise in that glimpse of a partnership.
Great speed
“You have to wait for a couple of months,” offered Sarri when asked how long it would take to adjust. “The players, in this moment, need to think what to do too much, and so the ball is not moved at the right speed, materially and mentally. But I have to adapt myself on the characteristics of the players, and not vice versa.”
How would he define the style he is hoping will flourish?
“In Naples we played at great speed: ball forward, ball back, with continuity, with great speed with the strikers. So it was fun for the supporters. And useful for the results, I think. We made the [points] record of the club in the first, in the second, in the third year. In 23 of the last 25 Serie A [seasons], the 91 points we had last year would have been enough to win it. So it was a bit unlucky.”
Coaxing goals from a team that managed the least of last season’s top six will be the priority, and pre-season results have demonstrated a need for speed in the side’s approach play if they are to be effective. Huddersfield, whom Sarri has watched in pre-season and against Liverpool’s 4-3-3 last season, will test a rejigged back-line. Yet this is the first step on a journey for this group. There will be teething trouble. The world has been warned.
