Sarri’s Chelsea & Emery’s Arsenal still very far away from being the real deal

Arsenal’s visit to Stamford Bridge last August was supposed to tell us a few things about how well or otherwise Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri were implementing their philosophies at their respective new clubs.

We were certainly not expecting anything conclusive: after all, Arsene Wenger’s successor had only been announced in May while Sarri arrived from Naples a full two months after that. We were though hoping for clues; glimpses of the reimaginings to come.

In the event the game only produced more question marks. Each side took it in turns to be dominant and were mostly incisive in the final...