Kovacic vs Barkley vs Loftus-Cheek: who is closest to becoming Sarri’s new Hamsik?

in , , , , , , ,

Maurizio Sarri has started life well at Chelsea, still unbeaten after 10 games in the Premier League and currently sitting third in the table.

Part of the success has been down to the Italian’s style of play, Sarrismo, which Chelsea have taken to a lot quicker than many expected.

Dubbed by L’Equipe as ‘vertical tiki-taka’, Sarrismo focuses on possession-based football, using short, quick passes with an emphasis on moving up the pitch as fast as possible.

Sarri also heavily pushes his attacking play down the left side of the pitch with his players on that flank seeing a lot of the ball while the right-sided players are reliant on their movement and making an impact with fewer touches.

The left-sided central midfield role focuses on retaining possession and drawing the opposition out towards the middle of the pitch before unleashing the deadly trio in front of him, then reaping the rewards of the newly-emerging gaps ahead of him.

This was something built for Marek Hamsik at Napoli, but Chelsea have three very capable men vying to fill the role in Ross Barkley, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

But who currently has the best claim for the spot, and who is the most fitting replica of Hamsik when the important responsibilities of the role are considered?

Initial statistics are a combination of Premier League and Europa League numbers.

Mateo Kovacic

Passes completed (accuracy): 554 (94.1%)

Chances created (assists): 8 (1)

Shots (on target): 17 (3)

Upon his arrival on loan from Real Madrid prior to the start of the Premier League season, Mateo Kovacic was thrown into the starting XI for Chelsea and looked to be Sarri’s favourite going ahead.

The Croatian is an extremely gifted player on the ball, moving it around the pitch with ease on Chelsea’s left-hand side, misplacing just 23 passes in his eight games – averaging 4.35 misplaced passes per 90 minutes.

No Chelsea player in the Premier League this season has a better passing accuracy than Kovacic, who has completed an impressive 94.59% of his passes.

What makes Kovacic so dynamic in this Chelsea side is his understanding with Eden Hazard on the left, both having a similar mindset when it comes to attacking, happy to take on opposition players with their dribbling.

The Croatian has completed seven take-ons in the Premier League so far with only Hazard (24), Willian (17) and Pedro (nine) managing more for Chelsea this season, coming at an average of 1.32 per 90 minutes.

Their style of play is so similar, from afar you could be forgiven for mistaking Kovacic for Hazard when he picks up the ball in midfield, something not helped when the pair wear boots of the same colour and given the fact the Croatian is sporting Hazard’s old number.

But where Kovacic is currently lacking is his killer instinct in front of goal. The No.17 is yet to score for the Blues, with his last club goal actually coming as far back as January 2017.

For Chelsea in the Premier League, this has been down to hesitation closer to goal, with only five shots inside the area and only three on target. Nine of the Croatian’s efforts have been blocked.

Ross Barkley

Passes (completed): 384 (92.3%)

Chances created (assists): 10 (3)

Shots (on target): 19 (6)

Joining Chelsea in January, Ross Barkley had a tough start to life at the club, managing just four appearances for the Blues amid injury problems and a failure to impress then-manager Antonio Conte.

But the England midfielder has been a revelation under Sarri so far this season and is looking like the player once compared to Paul Gascoigne during his time at Everton.

Barkley has already made 13 appearances across all competitions for Chelsea and, more recently, has usurped Kovacic as Sarri’s favoured starter in the Hamsik role.

Moulded into the perfect Sarrismo midfielder, Barkley has changed his game for the better, focusing more on the team than his own statistics – a positive of having less responsibility on the fate of the club than he did at Everton.

The midfielder has completed 92.05% of his passes in the Premier League so far, accuracy bettered only by Kovacic at Chelsea this season. But he has also completed just three take-ons in his nine games, some way off what he averaged at Everton when the weight was on his shoulders.

But where Kovacic has failed in front of goal, Barkley is making the most of his time on the pitch, scoring a goal in his past three Premier League appearances, becoming the first Englishman to do so for Chelsea since Frank Lampard in 2013.

With three goals and three assists so far, Barkley is one of seven players in the Premier League to both score and assist at least three goals so far this season.

Joining Barkley on the list are Hazard (seven goals, three assists), Callum Wilson (five goals, four assists), Mohamed Salah (five goals, three assists), Raheem Sterling (four goals, three assists), Ryan Fraser (three goals, five assists) and Paul Pogba (three goals, three assists).

These three goals have come from just 12 efforts, five of which have been on target, and seven in total from outside the area.

Barkley is making it hard for Sarri not to start him now, especially when Hazard is out of the team due to injury – providing a goal-scoring threat from deeper.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Passes (completed): 152 (92.7%)

Chances created (assists): 7 (0)

Shots (on target): 11 (5)

When Maurizio Sarri was first linked with the Chelsea job in the second half of last season, Blues fans were salivating over the prospects of Ruben Loftus-Cheek playing the Hamsik role.

However, things have not exactly gone to plan this season with Loftus-Cheek playing just five games so far with the majority of his minutes coming in the Europa League.

This has led the Englishman to be linked with another loan move away from Chelsea to ensure his progress does not falter and he remains a fixture of the England squad.

But in recent games Loftus-Cheek has given Sarri something to think about, tripling his career-Chelsea goal tally in just two matches.

With four goals in all competitions, three of which came against BATE Borisov in a Europa League hat-trick, only Hazard (eight) has scored more goals than Loftus-Cheek for Chelsea this season.

The 22-year-old has also shown composure on the ball, misplacing just five passes in the Premier League this season.

Loftus-Cheek has also been testing defences with his nimble ability on the ball in spite of his frame, giving the midfielder the option to either dance or bulldoze his way through, averaging 1.94 completed take-ons per 90.

The biggest problem with Loftus-Cheek is he needs to prove himself against better opposition for Chelsea, in the way Kovacic and Barkley have. But this will only come if Sarri entrusts him to do so in the Premier League from the start, not in brief cameos.

Verdict

As it stands, Barkley looks to be the man for Sarri to emulate Hamsik, with many quivers in his bow including passing ability and eye for goal. With confidence, Barkley can really become an important part of this Chelsea side but he does have to keep it up with both Kovacic and Loftus-Cheek snapping at his heels – a dynamic that will push all three players to perform to the highest level possible.

The post Kovacic vs Barkley vs Loftus-Cheek: who is closest to becoming Sarri’s new Hamsik? appeared first on Squawka News.



From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2OXvoBz
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)