Maurizio Sarri's Sarriball 4-3-3

Maurizio Sarri did not play professional football; instead, he worked as a banker while playing and coaching amateur football. Sarri coached many teams in the lower leagues of Italian football, and it wasn't until 2005 he manged in the Seria B for the first time with Pescara.

Sarri then bounced around clubs again until he took the Empoli job in 2012, this was his breakthrough job In his three seasons Empoli finished 4th losing in the playoffs before achieving promotion with a 2nd place finish. In his final season, Empoli finished 15h after six years away from the top flight ensuring they would maintain their place in Seria A the following season.

Sarri moved to Napoli the next season, and this is where his reputation rose, as Napoli finished 2nd and 3rd twice, in his final season before moving to Chelsea Napoli ran Juventus all the way and eventually finished 4 points behind the old lady.

Sarri's style of play

Sarri is considered an intelligent coach taking a meticulous approach when preparing for matches paying particular attention to set-pieces, often having his players practice many different plays for the same set-piece.

One of the main trademarks of his highly organised system is a four-person back-line. His teams usually play a high defensive line and adopt the offside trap and a zonal marking system.

Sarri requires his defensive players to be synchronised in the