
Chelsea
have won their first five Premier League games under Maurizio Sarri and the
change of style is clear, explains Jamie Carragher.
Long before Maurizio Sarri's protracted app

ointment
as Chelsea head coach was confirmed, the speculation had already begun about
how the Italian might transform the team. Five games and five wins have won
over any Stamford Bridge doubters but the evidence of change was there
before a ball was even kicked. It showed itself in the first kick-off.
"The first thing his team did in the Premier League was away at Huddersfield
with the kick-off and you look at it and think, OK, that's different," Jamie
Carragher explained on Monday Night Football. "You had seven players almost
on the halfway line.
"The reason I liked it is that I am sick of teams taking the kick-off and
ended up back with their own goalkeeper. You have got the ball on the
halfway line. Look to go forward.
"They are already on the front foot. They have actually taken nine
kick-offs, Chelsea, and there is only one where they have not done that. At
least there is a plan. People think they are a waste of time and they are
not important. They are important and if you can gain an advantage from it
then fantastic."
Of course, there is much more to Sarri's changes than kick-offs and that
shines through in the statistics. Chelsea currently rank top of the Premier
League for possession, successful passes, passes in the final third and the
number of sequences of 10 passes or more. They did not rank among the top
four in any of those metrics last season.
It is indicative of the change of approach - a change that is personified by
Jorginho. The Italy international was signed by Sarri in the summer from his
old club Napoli and has been at the heart of things for Chelsea. Jorginho
tops the Premier League stats for touches of the ball and successful passes
so far. "He looks a class act," said Carragher.

"When
a manager comes in you can already tell his style if he goes with that type
of player in the holding midfield role, a passer rather than N'Golo Kante
who is more someone who can break things up. He has moved Kante's position
to get him in there and I think that shows how he wants to go forward with
the team."
Jorginho is more than a mere passer. "He is already ordering players
around," adds Carragher. "He is Sarri's man, he is the coach on the pitch."
And that means instructing his team-mates to play a high pressing game - a
new thing at Stamford Bridge.
"The big difference with Chelsea is the pressing high from the front," he
added. "Under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte they won Premier Leagues but
sat off teams, which is not a problem, they were successful at it, but this
is different."
There was an example in that very first game against Huddersfield that
highlighted the change when Jorginho went charging forwards to put pressure
on his opponent and Chelsea succeeded in winning the ball back.
"Very rarely do you see a holding midfield player go flying out at the
opposition's holding midfield player," said Carragher. "More often than not
he will hold his position and protect the back four. But Sarri said
something to Pat Davison in an interview about defending - it's about the
ball and not the man - and Jorginho knows that better than anyone.
"This is what we are going to see all the time, this pressing from the
front."