Chelsea may be only two points behind Liverpool at the top of the Premier League but they are “maybe one year” in arrears in where they are as a team, their head coach, Maurizio Sarri, claimed.
Following this goalless draw with West Ham United, a London derby that could have been lost as easily as it could have been won, Chelsea will face Liverpool in a double-header.
There was a clear piece of evidence of “Sarri-ball” here – with midfielder Jorginho attempting 180 passes, the most by any player in the Premier League since 2003-04, but there was also food for thought as West Ham provided further evidence of recovery after their disappointing start to the season.
Predictably, manager Manuel Pellegrini set them up to defend deep, almost deliberately to surrender possession but also to hit hard on the counter-attack – which they did to great effect. Pellegrini also instructed his players to force Chelsea to play down their right and therefore have to rely more on Cesar Azpilicueta, who is far less of an attacking threat than Marcos Alonso and Eden Hazard.
Disappointing for Chelsea was the performance of Hazard, who had been excused the midweek trip to Greece in the Europa League but did not repay that with the kind of dominant display of which he is so capable. Instead, Hazard almost appeared hesitant at times as he twice attempted to tee up substitute Alvaro Morata rather than shoot. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi would have taken the shot.
Telegraph
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