Players' positioning.

[The Rising Sun 711]

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 13,570]

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.