Bayern’s build up play was superb against us on Wednesday but I think there’s an area we could’ve improved on defensively, Chelsea tried to keep a +1 at the back whilst giving Bayern a +1 in their build up
(Screenshots from @Tactx_ whose video I’ll link at the end of the thread)
Bayern would look to constantly rotate players, mainly with Kimmich, Gnabry & Kane into deeper areas whilst others could look to attack space higher up which made it difficult for Chelsea players to decide on who to track
You can find more on this on the linked video at the end
But I think Chelsea could’ve done better when it came to recognising when the free player was going to be found & when to jump out to deny space
In this example Palmer leaves Laimer to press a centre back, Gusto looks ready to jump onto Laimer to deny time & space
The problem is Gnabry has moved wider on the left & the defence hasn’t shuffled across so Chalobah can’t leave Diaz to press
This leads Laimer having time & space and a few seconds later he’s found running in behind our defence
Ideally Caicedo would move to the position marked so Chalobah could be ready to step onto Gnabry once Gusto jumps
Palmer was clearly tasked to make those jumps onto their centre backs but if one player goes then everyone has to go
Similar issue here, Upamecano is the spare man here so Bayern will try to find him, this situation is a lot more difficult for Chelsea though, why? Well ask yourself who should press Upamecano?
No +1 in the backline this time, there’s two people on Laimer
Just prior to this Chelsea did have a +1 in the backline but Bayern try to find Laimer, James should probably be the one to press him but Gusto jumps out instead
Perhaps James should then drop into defence to compensate but everything happens so quickly
Ofc that shows how effective Bayern’s build up was, Palmer has been told to press a centre back so Gusto can then step up & go man to man
1st screenshots, Gusto should & wants to jump but can’t with others not covering
2nd screenshots, he probably shouldn’t jump but does
I do wonder if missing Colwill has a big impact here as well, someone who leads the backline & can see where the free player is so they can instruct players on when to jump & when to stay
And if you want to see more on how Bayern’s build up worked & the overall analysis of the game then you can check @Tactx_ video that I mentioned here
Chelsea clashed against Crystal Palace in a very even game which lead to the points being shared, Palace were extremely difficult to break down but why was that the case? And could we have changed anything to have a better chance of winning?
THREAD:
Chelsea lined up in a 4-2-3-1 which quickly became a 3-1-5-1 shape with Enzo & Cucurella moving between the lines to have a 3v2 against Palace’s double pivot & a 6v5 against Palace’s back 5
Palace lined up in a narrow 5-4-1/5-2-3 shape
In theory having these overloads against Palace’s midfield & defence sounds great, there’s a spare player upfield which could make it difficult for Palace on who to mark
But we struggled to get in positions to take advantage of it because of how Palace stifled our build up
The biggest improvement Maresca & Chelsea have made since the start of the year is how they work out of possession, their defensive work in their 3-0 win vs PSG & their 3-1 loss to City in January was miles apart in quality, let’s look at the changes made
THREAD:
Starting with the City game, Chelsea are 1-0 up yet are putting no pressure on the ball whilst the defensive line remains high
The problem with this is it’s too easy for the player on the ball to get their head up & have time to play runners in behind, leads to a chance
Only a few minutes later & once again there’s no pressure on the ball with the defensive line high & Gvardiol scores
It also gives the attackers too much time to keep making good runs, eventually the defence will make a mistake
Chelsea clashed against the Champions of Europe PSG to become Champions of the world, & they not only won, but did it in a very convincing fashion against arguably the best team in the world, so how did Maresca & his men make it look so easy?
THREAD:
Let’s start by looking at Chelsea’s in possession approach, Chelsea used a 3–2-5 in possession with Gusto overlapping rather than inverting as he had been doing in the Premier League whilst PSG defended in a 4-3-3
This gave us a 5v4 overload against their backline
As we’ve seen throughout the season this gives our wide players space to attack 1v1, if teams manage to get their midfielders across quickly like here, then it can open up gaps centrally to exploit
Neto & Enzo get doubled up on, which leaves Palmer free
Our wingers have been criticised for their lack of output, fans have wondered why Felix & Palmer aren’t starting together, some have questioned where Enzo’s elite passing range has been at times, so why has this been the case & how could we potentially fix it?
THREAD:
Let’s start with our wingers, Noni has the most goals with 5 (3 of which were in one game vs Wolves) whilst Sancho has the most assists out of all our wingers with 4
These numbers aren’t great, particularly when Palmer has 3 more G/A than all of them COMBINED, he needs some help
Ofc G/A isn’t everything but when it does need to be spread out acrosss the team, when Palmer is the only one getting them that’s a big concern
Compare this to a team like Barcelona, yes Lewandowski gets them G/A, but Raphinha & Yamal do also whilst providing lots outside of it
Chelsea & Everton clashed in a 0-0 draw in what was one of Maresca’s toughest challenges as a Chelsea manager so far, was that down to the genius of Dyche? Could Maresca have changed some things? A player issue or something else?
THREAD⬇️:
But to better understand Everton’s defensive game plan, I think it’s important to have a quick recap of how Spurs tried to press us & how we exploited their defence
Tottenham tried to press high in a 4-3-3 with Bissouma man marking Palmer, wingers high & wide to press wide CB’s
They had success at times but they faced a few problems:
The first problem was Sanchez would act as an extra centre back for a +1, when Solanke pressed him he’d leave a centre back free, a bounce pass could find the spare man
Chelsea came out on top against Spurs in arguably the most entertaining fixture so far this season, so what gave Chelsea the tactical edge to go on & win this London derby?
THREAD:
Chelsea lined up in a 4-2-3-1 which immediately changed into a 3-2 build with Caicedo inverting into midfield from right back (4-2 build with Sanchez stepping out as a right centre back from goal kicks)
Spurs in a 433, wingers & 8’s on our centre backs & “DM’s”
Right from the get go you can see Tottenham’s intentions to press high & a few problems for Chelsea in the build up phase
Solanke presses Sanchez who should pass to Lavia who can bounce it to the free Colwill, however he gives it to Badiashile who gives it away