Players' positioning.

[Peace. 4,352]

After our two last pre-season games I saw, i.e. against Milan and Brighton, I was striked by what were doing our players. And when I realized that, something spread to my mind : the way we played under the short Villas-Boas reign, and during Ancelotti's second season here. After noticing this, it caught my curiosity to work out whether it was an illusion or a fact, so I decided to focus mainly on this aspect of the game during the second half of our match against Brighton. It appeared to me as a worrisome fact, this is why I am writing down my thoughts here.

It doesn't take a genius to notice this. I am pretty sure many members have already noticed this. But, I want to bring underlying subject into the lights. Because I think it is a genuine concern and that if we don't improve this sector of our game, even Xavi couldn't make us a better side. What I am speaking of, it's something specific : the way our players play when off-ball.

Our players seem to be disinterested about where their team mates are. They move into a position regardless of our needs. They seem to go where they want to, and not where they should move to.

As a matter of fact - I think it won't be a surprise for anyone - we play in a too narrowly way on the field. Our players seem to all play in the center. But I won't lose time on this point, since many members have already pointed out the lack of width we have. Our players are not only all in the center of the pitch, but they are also on the same horizontal line. To picture it, they are all in a circle of a 15 yards diameter (I overstate on purpose). At some point, in the match against Brighton, Ramires, Torres, Hazard, Lampard and Essien (if I recall corectly of the players) were all in the same area around the box. Furthermore, the most shocking thing is, into my eyes, how lethargical the londonian players are. They seem to stand there and to wait for the good God to give them a beautiful pass. They are waiting, while the guy on the ball look embarassed, and after 10 seconds, opts to make a sideway pass. How do you want to unlock a defense (which park the bus) this way ?

Not a single player makes himself available to recieve the ball. Not a single player moves on the wing, or comes deep, in order to stretch the game, to bring a solution to the ball holder. Not a single player try to combine with one of his team mate. They go where the wind leads them... It underlines an eventual lacks of cohesion between players.

Why am I concerned by this ? Because when no one makes himself available to receive a pass, then no matter how good a player is, he won't manage to find a proper pass, and it will lead him to take too many touches on the ball to finally pass it to the defenders...

Here a video to show how our players should position themselves and link up with their teammates :

I am not showing you a video of Barça because I want us to play the Tiki Taka. No, it is only because this video shows perfectly how our players should move on the pitch. The catalan players are always in movement. They move in order to offer an option to the ball holder. They aren't all on the same line nor in the same area of the pitch : they surround their teammate who has the ball.

If we aim to play an attacking football in the forthcoming years, we will need to dramatically improve in this domain. But, if we aim to give up the "park the bus" tactic, we will also have to improve significantly. We don't need to be excellent on this field right now, but we have to be at least average. Otherwise, we will remain the toothless team we were last two seasons, and we will remain prone to defensive mistakes (like on the two first goals we conceded against Brighton).

Now, we can wonder why our players are acting this way ? Is this because they are spoilt brats and do what they want ? Though, it's only the feeling I get. I am not in their heads, nor in the know, so I can be affirmative about this. Or maybe this is because our managers overlook this domain during the training sessions ? Or even this is because they aren't good enough and haven't any tactical awareness ?

Well, I am pretty sure we can't fault their abilities. Indeed, mid-table teams, and even those coming from the championship, are better on this field.

So, is it because we overlook this in training sessions ? In the one hand, they have done this under two managers, and seemingly they have done this during our pre-season games. So, if that was the case, that would mean three coach don't care about this aspect of the game. It would be surprising, wouldn't it ? But, on the second hand, every players we signed during this period of time seem to adopt the posture of an ancient greek statue...

The lack of willingness to put some efforts on the field, and the fact the players play where they want to, appear as the most likely reasons. I am not saying this in order to freely criticize the players. But sometimes, you can really wonder if they aren't superstars crying babies.

Well, I guess it is partly due to their big ego, and to managers' laxity to force them (they might fear to suffer players' wrath, if you know what I mean).

One could say "it's only pre-season, players don't care". But we were playing this way under Ancelotti and André Villas-Boas... One could also say we have new players, and it will change. But, what if it's down to managerial issues ? What if it's down to players' power ? I am partly raising this point because of this, and also to know people's opinion about this subject...

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

Ramires shouldn't play as a RW.

DL shouldn't go forward like he is a striker

Torres need to come down a little bit to get more balls.

[zolayes 14,489]

I shall stay positive . IF when all our team are back and we are in mid table I might panic then.

[Ollie 4,400]

It's an interesting point because last season when RDM took charge, we seemed more disciplined and seemed more like the solid team we were before. This pre season has been with the same Manager using the same formation and yes, we have been all over the place, especially at the back. Maybe it is because it's pre season and the motivation for perfection from the players and the manager just isn't there atm. We have been AVB like which isn't something i wanna even think about but i suppose we'll see what happens on Sunday and in the first 5 part of the season, especially against Arsenal in September. At the moment our players are more relaxed and don't seem to really care that much.

Not gonna worry just yet because the players haven't played much together and i'm sure time and matches will improve things but the positioning and movement, especially in the last 2 games was not good at all. We'll see.

[OneMoSalah 8,748]

Totally agree with you Peace, the movement in preseason was poor. Especially when we were fielding the likes of Hazard, Torres, Lukaku, Marin, De Bruyne and Kakuta in some games, who imo are players that should be looking to come deep to offer themselves for a pass/ to collect the ball to run at people with it.

If Mata, Hazard and Oscar/Marin are going to interchange in the 3 behind the striker that should improve it a bit as they will drop off to collect the ball, while changing positions but we need more than 3 people to move about and to come collect the ball. As long as we have some sort of movement from the attacking midfield 3 and our striker next season we should be looking to cause teams damage but last season under AVB the midfielders were forced backwards due to poor movement from Torres/Drogba and the wingers last year.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Whilst I understand your concerns and agree with them, I think many on here need to understand that it's a matter of patience now.

I commend the club for acquiring the right players to transition our static play into a more fluid, aesthetically pleasing one. However, we cannot expect everything to culminate together in a couple of days, especially when we haven't had our whole squad back. Oscar, Mata, Sturridge etc. haven't really had the chance to work on this movement, to work on the relationships between our players already here.

We're missing two key players in Mata and Oscar IMO. When the pair of them settle down and integrate into the team the off the ball movement and the overall play will definitely improve IMO.

[Duppy Conqueror 1,494]

it`s a valid question to bring up.

i believe his movement off the ball always making himself available for the pass is one of if not the greatest part of Oscars game.so we shouldn`t worry about him atleast.

the thing with this pre-season is that we`ve had a mixed bunch of players who haven`t played in a few months,players returning from the Euro`s and players who have never played for Chelsea before and aren`t in sync yet with their team mates.add into that players who aren`t ready yet for the first team and are loan out candidates.and players like mata,oscar,sturridge,oriol and bertrand who haven`t played yet.

with the Euro`s and olympics,whilst i understand overseas tours are good for the club i think having one this year was not good for the team. we should have stayed at home and tried out new stuff on lower level teams,perhaps even behind closed doors. it will come in time i`m sure .

[Santiago. 1,500]

Always knew the off the ball movement was the most major issue at our squad in the past 3 seasons. Especially in how many times i slagg of Mikel and Essien in the center mid duties, its like they are just not interested. Look at Spain and you will always see Xavi and Alonso check to the ball rather than wait for it to come to them.

[Spike 12,049]

Marin is the only player whose movement impresses me. Mceachran is decent in this sense, but not great.

[Jase 43,479]

That lack of off the ball movement problem has been so apparent in the last 2 seasons and it's really baffling that even till now, we're still seeing the same old problem every time. Nobody is moving around offering themselves as a passing option and dragging opponents out of position to create space and chances for others. Last season, only Mata was the one doing that. Everyone usually just stood within 4-5 yards between each other and making silly sideways and backwards passes.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

for starters im glad we are all out of the phase that its barca offense or counter. for a while, which was months back my i add, seemed like people were worried we were attempting a barca 2.0 and this was without AVB. the height (presuming mosses comes) makes it sooo much worse. i mean we have no height at all or a decent target man up top (in terms of gettin end of crosses) hazard is strong yeah, but marin, mata, oscar, we are very weak and with that being said we need to find a type of offense that suits THAT style.

our play up top.....i think we all can agree, lazy, absolutely lazy. we should run the man united type of offense (it may be basci but just sprung to mind). players making unselfish runs and drawing defenders out of position and players producing fluid creative one two's anywhere on the pitch. that is the only way this current offense can succeed. when we have posession (for like 5-7 min) instead of passing it back we need runs to be made and creative one-twos. why?? becasue we have a more technical squad. we have players that can pass over-the-top of defenders and thread the needle, we couldnt do that before with likes of essien, lamps, malodoua, anelka for they needed to cross into box or go on counterattack where there was more space.

idk what RDM has been preachin maybe defensive stability or having fun, but we dont have studge, mata, oscar back yet do we? right now hazard is playin centrally and nobody (bar marin) is good enough to fill those wings. this is exactly why we need a rw. if we have a full force squad imagin when hazard is inside he has other than marin AND mata to the outside, not just marin. its been 2 players carrying the weight of the front-line all pre-season if you ask me, and although i can accept a loss to milan but to breighton was just in-defense-able. im convinced we will have this sorted out once we have full-throttle squad back and together. this pre-season just confirming what we already knew, we needed a rw and a cm, so hazard marin and mata are'nt our only salvation. and i included marin in the list because even after we bought marin we all we clamoring for rw and cm, and a rb. we seem to be closing in on the rw (moses) and we got the cm oscar. i think we fussing about nothing becasue everywhere-else you look i dont see anyone else miising the type of caliber of players we are missing, our only low was to breighton, end of becasue aslong as malouda and ferriera, and essien are givin substantial minuetes we lose whatever ideas of a perfect, fluid, technical squaad we dreamed of.

also: mata was everywhere on the pitch LAST YEAR, was he not? Last year, with the ultra defensive countering squad yet he found spaces and manuevered everywhere he could. imagine now 3? i think we need to chill and just wait.. never in this pre-season did i see a dynamic first team with 3 attacking players. always hazard and marin and malouda, rambo marin and malouda, malouda, rambo, mceachran. tell me will any of those players be the attacking 3 come the regualr season? i doubt it so we are expecting too much from very litle if you ask me.

[DDA 9,676]

That lack of off the ball movement problem has been so apparent in the last 2 seasons and it's really baffling that even till now, we're still seeing the same old problem every time. Nobody is moving around offering themselves as a passing option and dragging opponents out of position to create space and chances for others. Last season, only Mata was the one doing that. Everyone usually just stood within 4-5 yards between each other and making silly sideways and backwards passes.

This is our most obvious problem and I agree, how can nobody have addressed this problem in the last two seasons.

If we can all see it then surely the managers can too?

[The Rising Sun 704]

After our two last pre-season games I saw, i.e. against Milan and Brighton, I was striked by what were doing our players. And when I realized that, something spread to my mind : the way we played under the short Villas-Boas reign, and during Ancelotti's second season here. After noticing this, it caught my curiosity to work out whether it was an illusion or a fact, so I decided to focus mainly on this aspect of the game during the second half of our match against Brighton. It appeared to me as a worrisome fact, this is why I am writing down my thoughts here.

It doesn't take a genius to notice this. I am pretty sure many members have already noticed this. But, I want to bring underlying subject into the lights. Because I think it is a genuine concern and that if we don't improve this sector of our game, even Xavi couldn't make us a better side. What I am speaking of, it's something specific : the way our players play when off-ball.

Our players seem to be disinterested about where their team mates are. They move into a position regardless of our needs. They seem to go where they want to, and not where they should move to.

As a matter of fact - I think it won't be a surprise for anyone - we play in a too narrowly way on the field. Our players seem to all play in the center. But I won't lose time on this point, since many members have already pointed out the lack of width we have. Our players are not only all in the center of the pitch, but they are also on the same horizontal line. To picture it, they are all in a circle of a 15 yards diameter (I overstate on purpose). At some point, in the match against Brighton, Ramires, Torres, Hazard, Lampard and Essien (if I recall corectly of the players) were all in the same area around the box. Furthermore, the most shocking thing is, into my eyes, how lethargical the londonian players are. They seem to stand there and to wait for the good God to give them a beautiful pass. They are waiting, while the guy on the ball look embarassed, and after 10 seconds, opts to make a sideway pass. How do you want to unlock a defense (which park the bus) this way ?

Not a single player makes himself available to recieve the ball. Not a single player moves on the wing, or comes deep, in order to stretch the game, to bring a solution to the ball holder. Not a single player try to combine with one of his team mate. They go where the wind leads them... It underlines an eventual lacks of cohesion between players.

Why am I concerned by this ? Because when no one makes himself available to receive a pass, then no matter how good a player is, he won't manage to find a proper pass, and it will lead him to take too many touches on the ball to finally pass it to the defenders...

Here a video to show how our players should position themselves and link up with their teammates :

I am not showing you a video of Barça because I want us to play the Tiki Taka. No, it is only because this video shows perfectly how our players should move on the pitch. The catalan players are always in movement. They move in order to offer an option to the ball holder. They aren't all on the same line nor in the same area of the pitch : they surround their teammate who has the ball.

If we aim to play an attacking football in the forthcoming years, we will need to dramatically improve in this domain. But, if we aim to give up the "park the bus" tactic, we will also have to improve significantly. We don't need to be excellent on this field right now, but we have to be at least average. Otherwise, we will remain the toothless team we were last two seasons, and we will remain prone to defensive mistakes (like on the two first goals we conceded against Brighton).

Now, we can wonder why our players are acting this way ? Is this because they are spoilt brats and do what they want ? Though, it's only the feeling I get. I am not in their heads, nor in the know, so I can be affirmative about this. Or maybe this is because our managers overlook this domain during the training sessions ? Or even this is because they aren't good enough and haven't any tactical awareness ?

Well, I am pretty sure we can't fault their abilities. Indeed, mid-table teams, and even those coming from the championship, are better on this field.

So, is it because we overlook this in training sessions ? In the one hand, they have done this under two managers, and seemingly they have done this during our pre-season games. So, if that was the case, that would mean three coach don't care about this aspect of the game. It would be surprising, wouldn't it ? But, on the second hand, every players we signed during this period of time seem to adopt the posture of an ancient greek statue...

The lack of willingness to put some efforts on the field, and the fact the players play where they want to, appear as the most likely reasons. I am not saying this in order to freely criticize the players. But sometimes, you can really wonder if they aren't superstars crying babies.

Well, I guess it is partly due to their big ego, and to managers' laxity to force them (they might fear to suffer players' wrath, if you know what I mean).

One could say "it's only pre-season, players don't care". But we were playing this way under Ancelotti and André Villas-Boas... One could also say we have new players, and it will change. But, what if it's down to managerial issues ? What if it's down to players' power ? I am partly raising this point because of this, and also to know people's opinion about this subject...

One of the Best Articles i have read on Talkchelsea so far!

Well written and spot on.

Couldnt agree more.

What i fear is that what you have spoken about has kind of become a club culture, mainly due to managers being fired all the time.

That already means that the chances of success of any new player coming to chelsea are lower than if they were going to another team.... not talking trophies here, but footballing wise.

Mata was flashy and fast with his passing when he came, and with the playing style of chelsea, has also slowed down.

How David Luiz can become messi whenever he wants is also kind of funny, as SAF wouldve hair dryed the shit out of him and kept him disciplined.

However, the old guard have started being moved on, and that paves the way for a new philosophy, it all really comes down to the coach now.

We also have a decent amount of depth in every position, except ST where we have 2 options, and Lukaku later on. So he has to be a no nonsense guy.

Anyways, Good stuff!

[Nando 106]

It looks ridiculous, moving off the ball is taught at the age of 10. One of my coaches was saying something like: "Don't just stand there contemplating the beautiful pass you just made, run and ask for the ball back instead"

Torres need to come down a little bit to get more balls.

If the CF tracks back or receives the ball in the wing he wont be of any use. He needs to be between the LB/RB-CB and in the box in order to score.

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

It looks ridiculous, moving off the ball is taught at the age of 10. One of my coaches was saying something like: "Don't just stand there contemplating the beautiful pass you just made, run and ask for the ball back instead"

If the CF tracks back or receives the ball in the wing he wont be of any use. He needs to be between the LB/RB-CB and in the box in order to score.

So, We need a better service for him by the other players...

[Hutcho 8,443]

So, We need a better service for him by the other players...

Which he should get, when our 3 behind the striker gets together and gets used to each other, mata only just got back and Oscar hasn't even seen stamford bridge yet...

[Hysteria 159]

Interesting. We should develop that kind of movement but for going straight/fast forward. The chemistry of it.