Cardiff vs Chelsea: ‘Fighter’ Ross Barkley making all the right noise for Maurizio Sarri

With Chelsea caught in a rough patch, one ray of hope for the Italian is the improvement shown by Barkley

Chelsea travel to Cardiff today certain to face a stern test from a home side sent out to battle for their Premier League survival by Neil Warnock. With Maurizio Sarri’s men recently looking a soft touch on their travels, Cardiff will be favourites in many eyes to inflict a fifth defeat on the London club in six league away games.

However, one ray of hope for Sarri is the improvement shown by Ross Barkley, who looked authoritative in the England midfield during the international break and may be the club’s most improved player this season.

“He improved a lot tactically,” Sarri said. “Also physically, I think. As you know very well, in the last season, he played only 200 minutes [after recovering from a hamstring injury]. And so he needed to stay on the pitch. Fortunately, now, he is going very well with the leg, and has improved a lot during the season. A very, very good player.”

Barkley’s tactical improvement has been most pronounced when Chelsea are without the ball. “I think that he improved a lot in the defensive phase,” Sarri said. “Because, technically, he was and is a very good player. In the offensive phase he's able to score seven or eight goals every season. Now I think he's a good player also in the defensive phase. He's not a defensive midfielder, of course, but he's good enough now.”

Sarri resisted attempts to paint Barkley as either a new N’Golo Kante or a fist-shaking leader in the mould of a John Terry. “He has different characteristics, I think. He is more offensive [than Kante]. He is important in our midfield, and he played a lot of matches.

“Probably he is not a leader in that [John Terry] way. He is not able to lead the other players, but he's a fighter. So he is able to fight in every match. I think it's a question of personality. Sometimes you have a very young player with a very high level of personality. Sometimes not. It's not easy to change. It's an individual characteristic, I think.”

However, Barkley’s run in the side this season, with a total of 40 appearances in all competitions, has boosted his self-belief. “Of course, at the beginning of the season, he had less confidence because last season was really very hard for him,” Sarris said. “Then, after three, four or five matches in the starting eleven, he changed. Now he's a very important player for us.”

Gonzalo Higuain might have more to prove as he continues to adjust to the physicality and the refereeing standards of British football after moving to Stamford Bridge on loan from Juventus in January. The Argentinian has decided to retire from international football but Sarri refused to take that as a sign that the striker wants to concentrate on a Chelsea career beyond the end of this season.

“I don't know. I'd like to see him at the top in the last two months [of the season]. At the moment, only this is really very important. We need Gonzalo at the top. It's not easy, I think, to get used to this championship. The level is different. The way of playing is different. I think, especially for a striker, it's really very difficult to get used to the Premier League in only one or two months.

“He said to me that it's difficult because the physical impact of the defenders here is really very strong. The referees here are really very different to in Italy. And so, it's another football for him. Especially for strikers and goalkeepers, it's really very different. So I think that he needs time, but we have no time. We need him at his top level in the last two months.”