Why Sarri’s unique substitute trend spells danger for Chelsea wingers

During Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Manchester City at the start of December, Maurizio Sarri made some headlines by dropping Alvaro Morata from the matchday squad.

Sarri had opted for false nine with Eden Hazard “leading” the line alongside Willian and Pedro. As a result, Olivier Giroud was placed on the bench but there was no room for Morata.

When explaining his decision, Sarri admitted it would have been useless to have two strikers on the bench – showing already his mindset for substitutions.

“I wanted to play Hazard in a different position,” he told BT Sport before the game. “It’s useless to have two strikers on the bench.”

Against Brighton & Hove Albion it was the same system, with Morata once again missing out – though this time it was more due to injury than being dropped.

But another trend showed in the game, one which has been silently plodding along for Sarri. And it spells danger for Chelsea’s wingers.

 

What is Sarri’s substitute trend?

The Premier League is now in its 10th season of allowing managers to name seven players on their substitutes bench. But with the division also allowing 25-man squads this means a further seven players will be missing out every week.

Of those seven men named on the bench only three are able to come on, something Sarri has made sure he makes the most of in every Premier League game this season.

Though there may be a lack of strength in depth behind N’Golo Kante, Chelsea do have some enviable midfield options for the other two roles in their trio.

As a result, Sarri has to decide which of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Cesc Fabregas, Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley start and who makes it to the bench.

For the first two games of the season, as players returned late following the World Cup, Sarri started with two wingers on the bench to one central midfielder as Victor Moses and Eden Hazard were the backup options.

Speaking after Chelsea’s second game of the season, the exciting 3-2 win over Arsenal, Sarri spoke of preferring two wingers for the game, saying: “It was only a decision about the positions [dropping Loftus-Cheek from the bench]. I chose to put on the bench two wingers and only one midfielder.”

But that was the last time Sarri has named two wingers on the bench for a Premier League game, dropping one for an extra midfielder.

On 11 occasions this season, Sarri has gone with two central midfielders on the bench with one winger – often Willian or Pedro as the other starts.

Another time, Sarri has opted for three central midfielders and one winger – in the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace as Hazard took the space of a forward in his return from injury.

However, on three occasions including the past two matches in which Chelsea have opted for a false nine, Sarri has named no winger on the bench.

Sarri has also never failed to bring on at least one of his central midfield options during the game, going as far as using two on five occasions.

How bad is Sarri’s trend for wingers?

On the face of it, things don’t look too bad for Chelsea’s wingers, with at least one featuring on the Blues’ bench for 14 of the 17 Premier League games this season.

But, as previously mentioned, on those occasions it has usually been one of Willian or Pedro in rotation with the other starting. Hazard has been on the bench three times, returning from the World Cup and injury, while Victor Moses has also featured three times.

There is yet to be a place in a Premier League matchday 18 for teenager Callum Hudson-Odoi, despite his promising pre-season and impressive performances of late in the Europa League.

When Sarri first took charge of Chelsea in the summer, some fans were excited at what a false nine system could mean for Hudson-Odoi, one of the club’s brightest young stars.

With thoughts of Sarri converting Hazard to a false nine, there was hope Hudson-Odoi would find himself on the bench for experience and vital cameos.

But if the past two games are anything to go by, with Sarri using the false nine, things don’t look good for Hudson-Odoi and Chelsea’s other fringe wingers.

Of the three times Chelsea have not named a winger on the bench, both Willian and Pedro have started on each occasion with Hazard either alongside them as the false nine or absent through injury (the 4-0 win over Burnley).

On each of these occasions, Sarri has placed three central midfielders on the bench in addition to three defensive substitutes – one goalkeeper, centre-back and full-back – to cover for a worst-case scenario. The Italian has made just three changes to defensive personnel in 17 Premier League game, but it is necessary to cover the bases.

Based on the past two performances, Sarri is likely to continue using the false nine, with Hazard, Willian and Pedro doing well to help Chelsea string together back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since the start of November.

And, should he continue to name three central midfielders alongside the defensive names, that leaves one spot for Sarri to use, with either a striker or winger to choose from.

For Sarri, the choice is fairly obvious. A striker is needed as a plan B should the false nine fail, or for rotation as has been seen in the past two games with Olivier Giroud replacing Hazard late on.

This will leave no space in the team for Hudson-Odoi or Moses, or any other new signing who may come in. While Hudson-Odoi can combat this by going out on loan with an eye on his long-term future at Chelsea, Moses’ Blues career looks set to be up – especially given Sarri’s previous comments on the Nigerian.

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