THREAD - With recent speculation that Sarri could be taking over at #Roma next season, I’ve put together a thread on Sarri’s tactics and how the current Roma players could possibly fit into that system. Please feel free to read, share and let me know what you think.

So what is ‘Sarriball’? The key elements of the system are a high press, dominating possession, building from the back and playing with an unrelenting high tempo. This approach resulted in one of most aesthetically pleasing sides in recent history with his 2017-18 Napoli side.

The formation used by Sarri, the vast majority of the time, to deliver this approach was essentially a 4-3-3. I’ll start by looking at the the defence. Sarri would expect his side to build from the back, his full-backs would have a high starting position and his centre-backs...

...would stay wide. Roma currently play a system that has two attacking wing-backs in Spinazzola and Karsdorp who should adapt to full-backs under Sarri’s system. Leo, in particular, could benefit as under Sarri, Napoli attacked mostly from the left using Ghoulam at wing-back.

Looking at Spinazzola’s heat map this season this wouldn’t be a huge change in role for the Italian international. With the centre-backs staying wide and pivot dropping deeper the full-backs were able to have a higher starting position. Looking at centre-back Roma currently...

...have an abundance of players in that position due to their current system. The two most consistent starters at centre-back Ibanez and Manicini would be the obvious picks under Sarri, with Mancini on the right and Ibanez on the left. Karsdorp has impressed this season and...

...should be fine in adapting to full-back. There would be healthy competition in Calafiori and Reynolds, both young energetic players that could fill in at full-back. At centre-back Smalling and Kumbulla would provide options, whether or not the Englishman would be happy...

...in that role remains to be seen. As for midfield as mentioned Sarri would a three with one pivot with the two others playing further forward. Jorginho will no doubt be linked if Sarri does arrive, as he has played this role in both Sarri’s Napoli and Chelsea sides. However,...

...there are candidates for this role already at Roma. The first would be the young Spaniard Villar. He has developed well this year playing as the deepest midfielder in Roma’s current system. His season passing stats are an impressive 90% accuracy, 95% in his own half. Another..

...candidate would be Bryan Cristante. Cristante has played as a centre-back this season, but he could readapt to this role. Moving further forward the two other midfield roles could be filled by Veretout (left) and Pellegrini (right). They would bring both energy and the...

...ability to break the lines, both needed under Sarri’s system. The narrow front three is more complicated and is the area most likely to see new arrivals in the Summer. For the purposes of this thread I will look at players Roma currently have. This season has seen the likes...

...of Mkhitaryan, Pedro, Perez and El Shaarawy play in the front three wide positions. On form the two most likely to start would be Mkhitaryan and SES, but you also have the returning Zaniolo, Kluivert and Under to possibly consider (with the two current loanees likely to...

...return, perhaps a fresh start under Sarri could help them achieve their potential). As for the central forward, with Dzeko leaving this would leave Mayoral to fill this role. SES could also fill in centrally, but I would expect a new arrival to provide competition.

On that note, it is expected that a new goalkeeper will also arrive, but Pau Lopez initially signed for his ability to build from the back could see his recent form rewarded with another chance with the Giallorossi.

So based on the current side, without any new arrivals, under Sarri it could could look like this. It’s not a major shift positionally for many of the players, the main change would be in adapting from the current approach to Sarri’s.

Returning to the key ideas of ‘Sarriball’, there would have to be a change in the approach to pressing. Under Sarri a high press is central, with his side looking to regain possession quickly by pressing as high up the pitch as possible. They would look to force the opposition...

...into making a mistake under pressure resulting in a chance on the break. Although these breaks were an effective tool under ‘Sarriball’, his side would look to dominate possession and pin the opposition back. In possession they would play a high defensive line and the front...

...three would play narrowly allowing the attacking full-backs to get forward. This is clearly a risky approach and resulted in lots of goals for his Napoli side, but it also left them vulnerable at the back. It also created, as mentioned, some beautiful football to watch.

Finally, please don’t read this is as me clamouring for Fonseca out. It’s just in response to the speculation and the exciting prospect of something similar to that 2017-18 Napoli side being replicated with Roma. Thanks for reading, again please feel free to like, share and...

...let me know what you think. Grazie! END OF THREAD