Maurizio Sarri was signed as the new Chelsea manager during the summer, and the Italian has brought in a new brand of football to the club.
Sarri is famed for his style of play that has been named Sarri-ball which made Napoli one of the most exciting sides in Europe, and he has tried to change Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 system to suit his philosophy of high pressing with quick passing possession football.
Chelsea now play a 4-3-3 system, and former Chelsea captain Dennis Wise has revealed the difference in style between Sarri’s team and former bosses Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.
“I think he had only been with them for 21 days [before the Community Shield game against Man City], so it is a short period that he has been in charge,” Wise told Goal in an exclusive interview.
“He has had to change the system from a 3-4-3 to a 4-3-3 now and they have worked on it in an impressive manner, having watched them against Arsenal [in pre-season].
“I think in that first half they played very, very well. I was impressed with the way they were set up and they haven’t had all their personnel throughout pre-season, so probably the team that starts in each game might not stay the same to begin with.
“After a couple of games into the start of the season you will see a couple of players coming back into it. What I see, in terms of the way they play, they press very, very high. They want the ball constantly and they want to control the game.
“It is different from Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, who were more counter-attacking in their football. I think Maurizio wants to play on the front foot. That’s important for him, he wants to press teams high. It is difficult because the work rate, you have to keep up.
“He did it at Napoli and it worked extremely well, so I am looking forward to actually seeing him do that because I think it is going to be very exciting to see Chelsea on the front foot and passing it around teams.”