Arteta has used a certain pressing structure to great success from goal kicks that has been used by other top coaches like Pep & Tuchel, but Maresca managed to find an interesting tweak to bypass it, let’s take a look at how it worked

THREAD: To understand how Maresca’s tweaks worked we first need to understand what makes Arteta’s pressing structure so good & why a lot of top coaches have used it

Arteta (& Bellamy’s Wales side for the 2nd screenshot) uses a press called the diamond press from goal kicks

Chelsea’s hybrid press has been great, one fullback starts in between the opposition winger & FB

If the ball is played long they drop to maintain a +1 at the back

If their FB receives then ours jumps man to man

But I wonder if there’s 2 ways opposition could deal with it:


1st way: opposition winger moves deeper & central, why would this be a problem? Because now Chelsea’s wider centre back has a lot of distance to cover to reach the winger

This is even more problematic if they’re good in tight spaces & good carriers like Foden/Musiala

Let’s talk about Chelsea’s press against Spurs, Chelsea pressed in a 4-1-4-1 against the 4-2-3-1 of Spurs, man to man in midfield, +1 at the back, it gave Spurs an extra player at the back

Note Neto’s position, half way between Van De Ven & Spence important for later (1/9) Chelsea tried to lock Spurs down one side of the pitch, Pedro would try to force Vicario down the right, Neto then fully commits to Danso, it leaves Spence free but he’s on the other side of the pitch

If Spurs go long Chelsea have a extra player back to win second balls (2/9

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

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

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

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

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

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

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”

Chelsea’s 3-4-3 diamond created a 3v2 between the lines against Leicester’s 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 out of possession shape

If the double pivot isn’t narrow then Palmer is free, if they defend more narrow then one of the wider 10’s can receive (1/5)


It also helps in build up as against usual our 3-2-5 box shape some of our opponents would use a 442 with the two strikers preventing passes into our double pivot, effectively making it a 4v4 in midfield

But against a 3-4-3 diamond they’d both be marking one man, space elsewhere

Maresca did something interesting against Inter, he changed from his box midfield into a diamond shape, but why did he do it? Will we continue to see it in most of our games? How can we predict when he’ll change system & what is positional play trying to achieve?

MEGA THREAD⬇️: I think to understand why he changed to a diamond shape we should first understand why he didn’t use the 3-4-3 box midfield

Against Wrexham we used our box midfield whilst they used a 5-3-2 as Inter did, I’d say that was our worst game on the ball so let’s look at why that was

Chelsea vs Celtic pre season analysis

THREAD: Chelsea lined up in a 4-2-3-1 turned 3-2-2-3 in possession, Celtic defending in a 4-3-3

Chelsea’s aim is to try & get the ball to the attacking 5 for a 2v1 against their 6 & a 5v4 overload against Celtic’s back 4 if they can turn & face the play

We have to be careful when talking about Jackson, if we overestimate a player too much he’ll be overly criticised when he doesn’t reach the levels some think he can, a good value for money signing so as competition I like him, but we still need a striker like Osimhen

THREAD: Jackson is an incredible outlet, has pace to run in behind, can link up well & his little flicks into space for players to run onto are really good, but he doesn’t dominate the box well enough for me to not sign another striker

Finishing isn’t elite but neither is his movement

Chelsea came out victorious in a 3-2 win against Newcastle & I think the major reason for this win goes down to a tactical tweak from Poch near the end of the 1st half, what was the tweak? How did it improve us? Was the setup perfect or are there still issues?

A thread: Chelsea defended in their usual 442 mid block, the 2 strikers look to cut out passes to the double pivots whilst the wingers look to cut the passing lanes into the fullbacks

If a pass is played into a deep Newcastle midfielder 1 of our double pivot jumps out to them

Chelsea & Arsenal clashed in a fascinating tactical battle with the spoils being shared, I found some of Poch’s & Arteta’s ideas interesting but how did they set up their teams the London Derby?

THREAD: Arteta usually starts with a 4-2 build up shape that quickly morphs into a 3-2-5 with Zinchenko inverting into midfield & White tucking into defence

This gives them a box midfield which overloads opposition midfields, then the attacking 5 can overload back 4’s in the final 3rd

What is going on at Manchester United? They sit mid table in the league & bottom of their Champions League group, who or what is to blame for their poor performances?

A thread: First let’s talk about Ten Hag’s press, United usually move one winger narrow onto a centre back to prevent central progression, in theory this is fine as a lot of other big teams do this to, but unlike other top teams they leave a fullback spare

Another disappointing result for Chelsea with some fans claiming we are playing than results show whilst others wonder if Poch is the right man for the job, so what happened tactically in the Chelsea vs Villa game?

THREAD: Villa set up in a 442 with a higher defensive line in an attempt to make sure Chelsea couldn’t gain territory as easily, however they barely applied any pressure so Silva in particular could find long balls in behind, Silva with 8/8 long balls

Chelsea have good players, the problem is the system isn’t getting the most out of some of the players, some problems are easy to fix but others will only make other problems appear due to issues being ignored in the transfer market

THREAD: First let’s give a quick & simple breakdown of what Poch’s in possession tactics are so everyone has a brief idea of how he sets up

During pre season AND in the league Poch uses a back 4 off the ball with a 3-2-5 on it, one fullback goes high & wide, the other tucks into CB

Poch’s first game back in the Premier League ended in a 1-1 draw against Liverpool, but how well did he fare? What were the positives & negatives both Chelsea & Liverpool fans can take from the game?

THREAD: Liverpool were dominant for the first 20 minutes but then Chelsea took control after that, why was this? Chelsea started the game in a 3-1 build up with Gallagher as the deepest midfielder, Liverpool’s front 3 was narrow onto our centre backs with Jota covering Gallagher

Liverpool have 1 loss in their last 15 games since changing system & 0 losses in the league with 24/30 points, yet I don’t think they’re currently as good as some people think, a few moves in the market could change that but rn I think there’s quite a few problems

THREAD: Let’s start with the obvious problem, the lack of DM is a major problem I think everyone knows this, if they don’t get one they will ending up conceding more goals like this, Liverpool’s pressing structure is fine here until Jones ruins it