Thread by @MobyChe

Aston Villa v Chelsea

Tactical Review

Preseason Cucurella tactic saving Game week 33...

Thread

Aston Villa lined up in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation with the in-form Rodgers starting at LW and the regular dependable team for Villa. Chelsea after losing Enzo, returned to the front 6 that thrashed Everton 6-0 nil. Chalobah came in at inverted RB for out-injured RBs

Chelsea under Poch has usually built up in a 3-2 shape amongst other variations. In this line-up in the first half the back 3 consisted of Silva, Badiashille & Chalobah, Gallagher & Caciedo played in the pivot while Cucurella(LB) initially joined the front 5 line. We will reference this in the 2nd half.

Before the game could really settle, we allowed a petty Villa goal after it looked like the ball went out of play.

But the goal could have been easily avoided if Palmer put more pressure on Pau Torres and Noni read the overlapping run of Digne. It was a very poor goal to concede and it became a theme for the way Villa attacked throughout the first half.

Villa continued to get a lot of joy from the wide areas as Chelsea wingers(Noni and Mudryk) failed to track the runs of Cash and Digne adequately. This was clear for both goals for Villa as The wingers were late tracking the runs of Villa's fullbacks.

Villa also didn’t try to press Chelsea high as the last time they tried that at Villa Park, they got hammered by Chelsea's transition play. Same with Arsenal, they employed a 5-3-2/4-4-2 mid-to-low block with Bailey falling in and out of the backline to cover Cucurella and Chelsea's transition threat in general and looked to counterattack when they could.

The positioning of Chelsea players in their rest defence especially in the first half was poor and Villa broke through multiple times to create their chances. It was basically how they won the first half.

Villa also tried to use playing out of the back to transition when they broke the Chelsea press and their transition threat.

Chelsea facing the low block were in control of the game and the possession but didn’t pose as much threat on goal except for Jackson's offside goal. But it showed a trend of using the Space Villa left in behind that Chelsea tried to use in possession

Chelsea did manage to get behind Villa at times with the right runs in behind like Jackson's offside goal. Mudryk did it here as well with a Half-space pass from Badiashille. Chalobah and Palmer tried the same thing.

But Chelsea created their best chances by winning the ball high in Villa's final third either by pressing or counter-pressing.

The 2nd half brought an interesting tweak though. Immediately Cucurella was inverted into midfield beside Caicedo, and Gallagher moved forward from the pivot and occupied the LHS(Left Half Space). Cucurella is comfortable in central areas but mainly his ability to defend aggressively will be better served in a set up that will be aggressive in the press and counter press. We didn't even use him on the ball as much as off it.

Chelsea's CBs also took very aggressive positions when Chelsea lost the ball, much better than the first half when we conceded counterattacks via poor rest defence positioning as Chelsea became more aggressive in their pressing.

Because of the Cucurella change and intensity with which we were playing off the ball in the 2nd half. Chelsea were able to press and counter-press effectively and sustain pressure consistently. Villa hardly got out of their half.

Chelsea continued to utilize those half-space runs in behind and passes to create chances as that and Noni's 1v1 game caused Villa problems. Those runs in behind were Chelsea's most in-possession route to breaking Villa's mid-block.

If you remember it was what we used against Villa in the FA CUP tie at Stamford Bridge.

The aggressive nature of our play requires the CBs to be aggressive in their positioning continuously, here the time Silva didn’t follow Rodgers who dropped deep to collect the ball, Villa had space to break through and attack

We were denied a late winner in the end but. The tweak did the trick but it’s disappointing that Poch hasn’t tried Cucurella in that role since Preseason given the different circumstances the team has found itself throughout the season. It's going to be interesting to see if we make use of it again We go on to the next game to get valuable points to qualify for Europe.

End of Thread

Likes, Reposts and Comments are duly appreciated as always.

With Enzo out, will Poch use the same tactic till the end of the season?

Some people out of many that may be interested in this
@JohyanCruyff @Blue_Footy @NiiNiiFC @CFCCentral3 @_JoeAlexanderr @SS____899 @AlexGoldberg_ @the_elastico @Asadcfc66