Richard Buxton: Sarri offers a stiff challenge to Pep
Chelsea boss, seen as Pep's tactical equal, has a chance to lay down early marker
Too much of a good thing is dangerous for Pep Guardiola.
Winning remains the Manchester City manager's serial habit, but also his biggest weakness.
Boredom and formality tend to have a negative impact on him; when the going failed to get tough during three seasons with Bayern Munich, Guardiola moved to the Etihad Stadium.
He prefers to face opposite numbers who pique his interest rather than fail to hold it; years of jousting with Jose Mourinho's trademark antagonism had kept him on his toes at Barcelona.
| CHELSEA | MAN CITY |
TACTICAL EQUAL
The new English Premier League season has at least provided him some refreshing company.
Juergen Klopp may be taking the title fight to the reigning champions with Liverpool, but it is Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea who can become both Guardiola's greatest ally and challenger.
Little should bond them ahead of a Community Shield clash on Sunday, yet the Londoners' new boss is Guardiola's tactical equal.
Mutual respect and an appreciation for Arrigo Sacchi's body of work saw the pair break bread with the Milan legend just weeks before Sarri's eventual appointment at Stamford Bridge.
Guardiola relished the pair's shared ideology even when it attempted to lay siege to his side's erstwhile perfect record during last season's Champions League group stages.
His gushing about "Sarri-ball" in the build-up to their first clash in October could not have been advertised more effectively, unless the Catalan wore it through the streets of Manchester on a sandwich board.
A repeat is unlikely after Sarri snared a reunion with Jorginho from under City's nose.
The Italy international has comfortably set the pace from midfield during Chelsea's pre-season campaign and could make Guardiola rue their failure at Wembley this weekend.
Like his impressively accumulated stock at Napoli, however, Sarri's methods will take time to fully blossom; especially as he sifts through the remnants of another failed Antonio Conte tenure, having replaced him at Arezzo, in the third tier of Italian football, over a decade ago.
Chelsea's World Cup exodus has posed a number of issues for the 59-year-old.
Willian's return from the Finals later than Sarri had requested triggers slight echoes of Diego Costa's self-imposed absence last summer amid the striker's own stand-off with Sarri's predecessor.
Uncertainty over the future of Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard as well as a squad littered with ageing players have merely added to the FA Cup holders' anxieties as they attempt to bridge a 30-point gulf on City's record-breaking haul in the previous campaign.
Even Sarri's reputation as "Mr 33", due to an extensive repertoire of set-plays from dead-ball scenarios, will struggle to remedy Roman Abramovich's assorted mess straight away.
RISE TO PROMINENCE
But he can still lay down a potential marker in Chelsea's catch-up quest by entrusting several of the former prodigies that have risen to prominence the past few weeks.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek's cameo role in England's World Cup semi-final run, coupled with an impressive loan at Crystal Palace, makes this his now-or-never moment while Callum Hudson-Odoi has shone, most recently in their International Champions Cup defeat by Arsenal yesterday morning (Singapore time).
He may not be able to displace Hazard or Willian in the long term, but the winger's routine tormenting of Hector Bellerin offered a glimpse of the damage he could potentially inflict on opposing defences in their absence, beginning with Guardiola's own charges.
Sarri's masterplan remains a work in progress at Stamford Bridge, but there are ample ingredients at his disposal to at least make an initial statement of intent. For the good of the EPL as much as his own, he must again take the fight to City.
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