Almost 11 weeks into his stint in charge, Maurizio Sarri is still stumped. The Italian would appear to have overseen an eye-catching start. Chelsea nestle third in the table behind two more fancied teams, and inflicted a first wound of the season upon the leaders, Liverpool, in the Carabao Cup before Saturday’s collision between the sides at Stamford Bridge. The smoothness of the tactical transition has surprised the head coach and rival managers, while Eden Hazard is playing with the vim and vigour that propelled them to the title in 2015 and 2017.

The Belgian is in the form of his life and positivity abounds, with the atmosphere a throwback to the energy and optimism that fuelled those last two successful pursuits of the Premier League. And yet, with those triumphs in mind, Sarri is perplexed as to why he is even in situ. “The history of this club is a little bit strange,” he said. “In 2014-15, [they reached] 87 points, then 50 points in 2015-16 with the same coach and the same group.

“Then 93 points and 70 last season, again with the same group and coach. A gap of five points might be down to whether you are lucky or unlucky, but the difference in one season was 43. The numbers tell us something. I don’t know if it is attitude, because they usually train very well, so the attitude is good. There is probably something from the mental point of view, but I still have to understand why.”

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Saturday’s game has almost come too soon. Sarri is not the kind to be hoodwinked into thinking Chelsea are restored as challengers by public praise from the troops, and there has been plenty, whether from Hazard or N’Golo Kanté, Willian or David Luiz. He must wonder whether this squad, whose central characters have largely been around a while, simply thrive off a change in approach. When things went stale under José Mourinho, or the mood became too fractious under Antonio Conte given his regular grumblings about the board, standards tended to slip. Recovery almost felt beyond them.

Sarri must wonder whether this squad's key players simply thrive off a change in approach

In that sense, Sarri may still be enjoying a honeymoon period where everything he instigates at the training ground feels uplifting. He has preached “fun” for weeks and there is invariably a mischievous glint in his eye. Some of the tweaks off the pitch were bound to have a positive effect. The 59-year-old, a former banker whose approach leans on experience in the real world, trusts his players as adults.

Tardiness may be inadvisable but Sarri has not resorted to draconian financial penalties. Where it was policy under previous head coaches to stay at a hotel in Chelsea Harbour the night before home games, Sarri would much rather his players spend time with their families before reporting to Stamford Bridge on match-day. Sauces, salt and butter were banned in the canteen under the previous regime but the Italian has pointed out that Chelsea’s army of nutritionists and medics are better placed to advise the players on diet. If they overindulge, they understand the consequences. “My players must be professional not by following rules but by having a good mentality,” he said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Eden Hazard says Maurizio Sarri’s approach is ‘completely different’ to that of José Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

All that is simple common sense. What he is achieving on the pitch, having arrived in mid-July and after a horribly disrupted pre-season which took a team shorn of key personnel from the World Cup to Perth, Nice and Dublin, has been remarkable. That Chelsea are offering hints at the successful implementation of his preferred style is an indication of the technical quality of his squad and the excellence of the coaching, with Jorginho’s presence in the heart of midfield significant.

The Italy international sets the collective tempo, averaging 114.8 passes per game with a success rate for finding a teammate of 91.2%. His constant collection and distribution of the ball at West Ham last Sunday caught the eye – he made a club record 180 passes – but 221 of his 689 passes have thrust Chelsea into enemy territory, with 85% of those finding their target, a figure marginally higher than the team average. The calibre of their opponents should be acknowledged, but having a forward-thinking fulcrum who understands how Sarri wants to play makes implementing the philosophy easier, with the team playing on average 3.2 metres further up the pitch than last season.

“I like to have the ball in the last 30 metres,” said Hazard, who has been granted free rein under previous coaches but rarely enjoyed quite so much of the ball in areas where he is most decisive. “It is completely different from Antonio Conte or José Mourinho before.” That seems a shrewd way of eking the best from the Belgian, which tends to determine whether this team are successful.

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It was defensive organisation that Sarri envisaged would take longer to impose. But no side in the top flight can match Chelsea’s record of closing down opponents advancing in possession after an average of 10.1 metres. That figure was 12.8 last season. A tenacious midfield and willing defence appear to have adapted relatively quickly, even if Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino will provide a sterner test. “Now we are in a medium-to-good level for the defensive phase,” Sarri said. “We need to improve. I’d like to have more time to have training only on the defensive line. It’s very difficult at this moment to do that with so many games, but we are trying to work by videos.”

The head coach is a regular in the analysts’ suite at Cobham. Like Conte, he pores meticulously over footage of his team’s performances and those of forthcoming opponents. His compatriot had understandably returned to Italy during international breaks early in his tenure to visit his family. Sarri, installed at a local property with his wife and pet dog, spent that time “watching Cardiff, PAOK, West Ham and Liverpool, working 12 or 13 hours a day which, for me, is not working”.

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That life experience feels valuable, and will be again over this campaign. No one, least of all Sarri, expects plain sailing for Chelsea in their game of catch-up with City and Liverpool. Yet no one envisaged this startling opening, either. This team can be “strange” indeed.