Sarriball branded a ‘myth’ as fans and Shearer fume at Chelsea’s boring football

ALAN SHEARER has blasted Chelsea’s ‘Sarriball’ tactics, claiming the style is nothing more than a myth.

Blues fans were hoping to see the return of swashbuckling attacking football at Stamford Bridge when Maurizio Sarri arrived from Napoli last summer.

Things got off to a good start under the new boss, with Chelsea going unbeaten in the league up until December.

But the Blues have struggled in recent matches, with goals becoming a big problem.

The likes of Alvaro Morata and Willian are misfiring in attack, while players such as Ross Barkley and Jorginho are failing to influence games from midfield.

And Blues fans appear to be increasingly disgruntled after seeing their initial title bid quickly morph into a desperate top four battle instead.

Chelsea drew another blank as they played out a 0-0 bore draw against Southampton last night.

And former Newcastle captain Shearer reckons Sarri’s brand of football is nothing the Premier League hasn’t seen before.

Shearer told BBC Radio Five Live: “Is Sarriball when they ask a midfielder to get on the ball and pass it around?

“Hasn’t that happened since football start, no? I was just wondering exactly what it was.

“Giving the ball to a centre-half who can then give it to a midfielder, who can then try and control the game?

“I don’t think that’s anything new to football, do you? Has no other team tried to play football through the middle of the park?”

Shearer’s comments drew support from Chelsea fans as well as supporters of other clubs.

One wrote: “Southampton 10 games without a clean sheet, until they came up against Sarriball.”

Another said: “Sarriball is version 2.0 of Louis Van Gaal’s philosophy.”

One tweeted: “Sarriball = tiki taka – goals. Pretty much training ground stuff.”

One simply noted: “Sarriball is boring.”

Another added: “Sarriball has got to be the most boring pointless possession based football philosophy I’ve ever seen!”