Dominant 4-2-3-1 left Man City pressed

[Barbara 15,149]

I Got The Blues
Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City – English Premier League


In maybe the most difficult match at home for Chelsea in the Premier League, the game against Manchester City was special in its own way. Following 14 goals scored in 4 matches and only 2 conceded, Chelsea made their most mature approach to a fixture so far this season. Tactically perfect – especially in the first half, José Mourinho’s side was efficient, dangerous and secure for most of the match, seemingly being in their comfort zone, controlling the match and opponents’ actions with a short leash, while given then the counterfeit notion of possession. In such a tactical match from both sides as Manuel Pellegrini’s team also showed high quality and were able to pressure Chelsea in two distinct moments, one of them leading to their goal – the article will be more tactical too. The stats will provide information about the players’ contribution, but if anything, this was a game of chess that highlighted how in control Mourinho’s players are at this stage, no matter the competition. The Blues are in the rise and competition is probably starting to raise their eyebrows and feel the Mourinho effect in a team filled of talent, but still in the early stages of collective [and in some cases individual] affirmation.

The special analyses won’t follow the usual pattern, and most information isn’t backed up by tangible data, but instead impressions and observations of what was the most technical, tactical and calculated – and still thrilling – match in the Premier League so far. If anything both sides showed their competition that they’re their biggest contenders in the race for the title. While Arsenal is yet to be properly tested, in a highly competitive arm wrestling, Chelsea and Manchester City showed their power and strength, and in their personal quarrel, Chelsea proved to be the winner.


PLAYERS RATINGS
total amount of contributions (amount of positive/negative contributions); +rate; -rate
§ Petr Cech: 5 (4, 1); +15, -2
§ Branislav Ivanovic: 12 (8, 4); +34; -14
§ Gary Cahill: 13 (8, 5); +28; -20
§ John Terry: 14 (13, 1); +46; -2
§ Ashley Cole: 9 (8, 1); +26; -3
§ Ramires: 11 (10, 1); +44; -1
§ Frank Lampard: 9 (6, 3); +20; -12
§ André Schürrle: 9 (6, 3); +29; -8
§ Oscar: 12 (8, 4); +31; -16
§ Eden Hazard: 16 (5, 11); +18; -39
§ Fernando Torres: 10 (8, 2); +31; -7
§ Willian: 2 (2,0); +8, -0
§ John Obi Mikel: 2 (2, 0); +8; -0
§ Samuel Eto'o: 2 (2, 0); +7; -0


TEAM CHEMISTRY
§ Only one play showcased, rated +5.


TEAM WORK
§ Six plays were showcased, five positive. +21, -4


INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS

§ Fernando Torres. Even if he’s only the 4^th (tied with Oscar), he was the man of the match, contributing directly with the two goals that gave Chelsea the win. In addition to that he pressed the opposition during all time he spent in the pitch, working hard and being obedient to the manager’s tactics. He also helped the defense in corners and free-kicks and went for individual plays such as the run that ended with him hitting the post.

§ John Terry. The skipper had the best score for the second match (analyzed) in a row. He didn’t put a foot wrong during the entire match and he was absolutely dominant in the defense, denying Manchester City to do anything on his side of the defense.

§ Ramires. The Brazilian was simply sublime. His contributions were both very important attacking and defending. Some of the best assists in the match were provided by him as well as linkup plays and tackles. Irreprehensible in the defense, he was the main responsible for playing Yaya Toure out of the match, although others such as Lampard, also contributed to that.

§ Branislav Ivanovic. The full-back was more present in the attack than in other occasions, presenting himself for linkup plays with both Hazard and Schürrle. His crosses are still the downside of his game, and he wasted a few of them in this match, but he was also flawless in defense.

§ Eden Hazard. The Belgian was the negative note of Chelsea's display. With twice more bad contributions than good, he was sloppy attacking and clueless defending more often than he was sharp doing either. It was a match for him to forget and hopefully he’ll resume his good streak prior to this game, when he was showing significant progress to his quiet start of the season.


ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS

§ A chess board. In such a high quality match, dominated by effective and successful tactics by both sides and highly technical, it resembled a chess tight match. Proof of that is how much less contributions in general were made by the players. In previous matches against Norwich and Cardiff there were respectively 120 and 134 rated contributions compared to 100 against City. Strategy, thoughtfulness, calculated moves marked the match as much as they do in the board game. The teams took their time to execute the plans their managers came up with and the players were successful on their duties most time of the match. Despite being such a calculated game by both sides, it can’t be said it was a boring match or uneventful. It was a match that had fans from both teams completely glued to the game. The quality showed by both sides was impressive, but especially by the home team, who seemed to control the match to the extent of scoring the winner in the last minute.


SPECIAL STATS & ANALYSES

§ 4-2-3-1 through and through. If there’s one thing that has been common this season was for Chelsea to switch formations while defending. More often than not the team would defend in a 4-3-3 or even 4-4-2 when the ball was around the half-way line, but for most part of the first half the team had the four lines in the 4-2-3-1 clearly seen in the pitch. Still all attackers, including Torres, the striker, pressed the opponents, most time high in the pitch keeping the formation design. During the second half it was less noticeable, among other reasons because City came from halftime more aggressive. Still it wasn’t until Willian came in at mark 65 with specific words from Mourinho to Oscar that the starting Brazilian changed his positioning – going deeper, but not to defend, but in attack phases. From that mark on a 4-3-3 formation when attacking could be seen at moments as Mourinho probably felt the team needed to win the midfield a bit deeper to improve their chances to score. The manager had also showed discontentment during the first half with the lack of patience the team sometimes showed, going for long passes instead of building up the attack exchanging passes. But even as Mourinho asked Oscar to go deeper, the 4-2-3-1 formation still dominated the last half, especially because towards the end of the match some players such as Oscar and Ivanovic, as well as Torres and Hazard seemed slightly tired and took longer than usual to run back to defense when Chelsea offered turnovers or City intercepted the ball.

§ Too eager. For times during the first time Chelsea opted for long passes instead of going through the three talented attackers that were moving fairly well around the pitch, not only conceding turnover, but contributing to City’s momentum, as they continued to keep ball possession while Chelsea seemed to get rid of it too soon. Mourinho showed his own impatience when the team did that and the cameras registered him giving orders to his players about it. The problem basically didn’t happen in the last 45 minutes.

§ Yaya who? One of the best things Chelsea as a team was able to do throughout the whole match was closing the doors to Yaya Toure. Chelsea attacking players as a rule don’t do individual marking because they rotate positions in the pitch way too often – the pivot players as well as the attacking midfielders. One of the downsides of so much rotation is leaving behind an unarticulated and chaotic defensive formation when losing possession or in the early stages of pressing, but that didn’t happen once in the match. Schürrle, Hazard and Oscar worked in complete synch with Ramires and Lampard to keep Toure quiet. It should be mentioned though that while Schürrle did an impressive job with both full-backs he marked, Hazard offered too much space for Clichy and also Zabaleta, as well as Silva and Nasri moving to the middle too often and leaving only Ivanovic or Cole to mark the opponents in their respective flanks.

§ At the edge of the seat. Mourinho’s side pressed high most part of the first half, allowing City to enjoy a little bit of possession, but never giving them control of the match. The main reason why the 4-2-3-1 formation in defensive phases was so important was because it let City’s players edgy the entire match – except for the short moments they were actually dangerous – because they knew if they had a bad pass, Chelsea had four players in the midfield and in the attacking half, pressing high to recover the ball. That’s one of the most important strategies Mourinho is trying to incorporate in the new philosophy. His teams know how to defend, but they’re using the high pressing as an attack weapon against teams who aren’t afraid to attack Chelsea. Most oppositions will prefer to park the bus or at least defend deeper against Mourinho’s side, but the few that dare to do their own game, without fear, fall in the same trap Manchester City did: they have pressure on their feet while having possession knowing one small distraction, one minimum mistake could be lethal. [As there won’t be a report for the Arsenal match, the same can also been seen in the League Cup match against the Gunners. During first half Chelsea held the ball and tried to leak the North Londoners lines, but both defenses were working very well even if the teams didn’t come with defensive formations and were looking for the goal all the time. The mistake made by Jenkinson was fatal because the never-give-up and relentless philosophy Mourinho sold to his players capitalizes the smallest mistake by opposition].

§ Two is company. Last but not least, much has been said about Chelsea's maybe too big squad, and that it will create problems for the manager to handle the potential unhappy players. The style Mourinho is working on his side demands a lot physically from players and as the season progresses the tiredness will only pile up, especially if the team go deep in the cups and matches keep being added [which is a real possibility]. It’s expected that the same players won’t be able to work hard and press most minutes in a match for nine months without being drained. The match against Arsenal showed that for each of the 11 positions Mourinho has one backup with the same quality or almost as much the same quality. The only reservation might be Tomas Kalas, but with Terry, Cahill and Luiz Mourinho might not need a fourth top level CB as a squad member and the three defenders will probably be able to handle all matches – saved injuries. Mourinho has two top teams at his disposal and by the second half of the season it’ll be proved that having such abundance for each and every position is going to be more useful than just a surplus. It’s highly improbable only 18 players could be able to offer what Mourinho wants from them in 60 matches. Using terms such as A Team and B Team for the distinct squads Mourinho has at his disposal is derogatory to the level of those players. He has two A teams that will have players rotated between them like a carrousel. Arsenal and Arsène Wenger can attest that.

I Got the Blues is an analysis that contextualizes statistics. The feature rates players’ individual contribution – positive and negative – in all relevant aspects of the match. As an attempt to identify players’ and tactics’ weaknesses and strengths, negative and positive contributions are rated separately instead of being deduced from one another. Rates vary from 1 to 5 [positively or negatively] and are given to players individually. The same stat [for example an interception] can be given different rates depending on its importance in the match. Team work and team chemistry are rated as a way to assess the team’s evolution and Mourinho’s work. One of the biggest differences between the stats provided in this feature and usual stats is that contributions that don’t produce real impact during the match whether positively or negatively are completely disregarded. Many times dry stats count the player’s touch in the ball producing tackles, interceptions, takes-on, chances created numbers regardless of what followed said touch, creating misleading stats. In this feature those actions will only be rated if they are 1) purposeful; 2) effective [positively or negatively]; 3) consequential. The objective is to provide stats that really tell the players’ history in the match.
Every week a special analysis is done, showcasing different aspects of the game that are normally overlooked. Suggestions about the special stats & analyses section can be requested by PM or in the post-match threads – as long as the author is mentioned in the post.

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[CHOULO19 24,332]

Brilliant and informative as usual.

[Barbara 15,149]

Data Summary

First Half

00:15 - Hazard concedes a turnover. Hazard -3

00:17 - Lampard recovers possession. Lampard 3

00:49 - Ivanovic anticipates the opponent recovering possession. Ivanovic 3

01:49 - Schürrle concedes a turnover, but Torres immediately recovers it back. Team work 3. Schürrle -2, Torres 3

01:56 - Lampard concedes a turnover. Lampard -4

02:00 - Hazard tackles the ball successfully. Hazard 4

02:47 - Oscar makes a splitting pass, leaving Cahill just in front of the keeper, but the shot is way off target. Oscar 5, Cahill -3

03:22 - Cahill wins an aerial duel. Cahill 2

03:30 - Lampard interception in the midfield. Lampard 3

03:44 - Oscar trips on the ball and concedes a turnover. Oscar -4

06:36 - Long pass assist to Torres by Ramires. Ramires 5, Torres 1

08:06 - Cole concedes a turnover. Cole -3

09:07 - Terry clears the ball from the box. Terry 3

10:04 - Terry clears the ball from the box with a header. Terry 3

10:36 - Terrible long pass by Ivanovic goes straight to Hart, giving away possession. Ivanovic -4

12:56 - Lampard bad long pass. Lampard -4

13:50 - Schürrle clears a corner. Schürrle 3

14:07 - Hazard leaves Silva completely unmarked, offering space for the attacker. Hazard -4

14:19 - Hazard is incapable of controlling the ball inside Chelsea's box after Ramires intercepts it, losing it and offering an attack chance for City, but Cahill clears the danger offering a corner. Hazard -5, Ramires 4, Cahill 4

14:47 - Schürrle clears the ball from the box. Schürrle 4

15:19 - Schürrle tackles successfully and regains possession. Schürrle 4

15:35 - Too long pass by Hazard kills counter-attack. Hazard -2

16:08 - Terry loses an aerial duel in the midfield. Terry -2

16:15 - Cole intercepts a pass conceding a corner. Cole 2

16:30 - Schürrle clears a corner with a header. Schürrle 4

18:16 - Terry wins an aerial duel in midfield. Terry 2

18:23 - Poor anticipation by Cahill offers Agüero the assist. Cahill -4

18:28 - Cech defends Agüero’s shot. Cech 3

18:38 - Hazard poor pass concedes turnover. Hazard -4

18:53 - Terry successful tackle. Terry 4

19:08 - Clueless marking by Hazard allows Clichy to linkup with Toure who takes on Ramires successfully and cross into the box, but Lampard clears the ball away. Hazard -3, Ramires -1, Lampard 4

19:48 - Effective press by Torres allows Cole to clear the ball away from near the corner. Team work, 4. Torres, Cole 3

20:30 - Schürrle loses tackle to Zabaleta in the attack. Schürrle -2

21:06 - Ramires intercepts a ball in the attack. Ramires 3

22:12 - Oscar wins a tackle in the defensive field. Oscar 3

22:31 - Bad pass by Torres kills counter-attack. Torres -2

23:52 - Terry wins aerial duel. Terry 3

25:01 - Sloppy pass by Oscar in the attack. Oscar -3

25:44 - Cole anticipation in the defensive field. Cole 3

27:18 - Amazing run and pressing by Schürrle by the box, contributes for Ramires to recover possession. Team work 4. Schürrle 4

27:21 - Terrific cross by Ramires finds Torres in the box, who’s offside by minimal space. Ramires 5

28:05 - Terry wins aerial duel. Terry 3

28:33 - Terry clears the ball at the edge of the box with a header. Terry 4

28:49 - Superb cross by Ramires finds Torres in the box, but the striker misses it. Ramires 5, Torres -5

29:27 - Hazard wins aerial duel in the midfield. Hazard 3

29:56 - Ivanovic wins duel in the midfield. Ivanovic 4

30:03 - Poor long pass by Lampard concedes turnover. Lampard -4

30:13 - Clinical interception by Ivanovic stops counter-attack. Ivanovic 5

30:38 - Hazard intercepts the ball inside the box. Hazard 5

32:17 - Ivanovic wins aerial duel in the midfield. Ivanovic 4

32:22 - Lovely work at the flank by Torres who crosses precisely for Schürrle to score. Torres, Schürrle 5 [ for movement], Schürrle 5 [for the goal]

35:30 - Dutiful pressing by Oscar, leads to a bad pass that Ivanovic immediately links up with Oscar who assists Torres with a beautiful pass, but Schürrle is offside when he receives from Torres. Team work and chemistry 5. Oscar and Ivanovic 5; Torres 4

36:18 - Interception by Hazard recovers possession in the midfield. Hazard 3

36:22 - Amazing run by Torres [assisted by Cole] who leaves a few defenders behind, before clearing for the shot, that hits the bar. Cole 4, Torres 5

36:50 - Header clearance by Terry. Terry 3

38:03 - Clearance by Terry at the edge of the box. Terry 4

38:25 - Clearance by Terry inside the box. Terry 4

38:45 - Clearance by Cahill inside the box. Cahill 4

41:02 - Poor pass by Oscar kills the attack after yet another brilliant long pass by Ramires. Ramires 5, Oscar -5

41:30 - Good save by Cech. Cech 4

42:29 - Successful tackle by Torres in the flank. Torres 5

43:33 - Cahill wins aerial duel. Cahill 3

43:50 - Cole and Hazard press the opponent and Oscar intercepts the ball. Team work 5. Oscar 4, Cole and Hazard 3

44:50 - Lampard clears the ball from the box conceding a corner. Lampard 3

+00:14 - Header clearance by Terry. Terry 4

+01:00 - Amazing ball control and dribbles by Ramires who passes to Oscar, who also dribbles his way to the backline, but his cross isn’t precise. Ramires 5, Oscar 3

Second Half

47:16 - Zabaleta left unmarked by Hazard at the edge of the box. Hazard -4

48:06 - Poor movement and slow coverage by Cahill allows Agüero to shoot and score. Cahill -5, Cech -2

50:22 - Lampard clearance inside the box with a header. Lampard 4

52:09 - Poor pass by Schürrle concedes counter-attack. Schürrle -4

52:12 - Ramires interception stops counter-attack. Ramires 4

52:29 - Interception by Terry in the attack. Terry 4

54:35 - Clearance by Cahill in the box. Cahill 4

58:43 - Ivanovic clearance with a header. Ivanovic 4

60:49 - Lampard interception in midfield. Lampard 3

62:39 - Risky pass by Hazard in the attack concedes turnover. Hazard -2

63:36 - Oscar successful tackle to set up counter-attack. Oscar 3

64:10 - Slow recovery from Chelsea in counter-attack especially by the midfielders. Team work -4. Oscar, Hazard, Ivanovic -4

64:25 - Sloppy defending by Cahill allows Silva shot and requires great defense by Cech. Cahill -4, Cech 5

66:26 - Sloppy pass by Ivanovic in the attack. Ivanovic -3

67:23 - Sloppy pass by Ivanovic concedes a counter-attack. Ivanovic -3

67:30 - Terry anticipates the opponent and recovers possession. Terry 5

72:12 - Cahill blocks cross inside the box. Cahill 4

73:19 - Ivanovic successful tackle inside the box. Ivanovic 5

74:00 - Cahill blocks cross inside the box. Cahill 3

74:50 - Ramires successful tackle recovers ball in attack. Ramires 5

76:12 - Poor cross by Hazard following Cahill poor ball control, in Oscar’s precise set piece assist. Oscar 5, Cahill and Hazard -4

77:38 - Good assist by Cole, but Hazard poor ball control kills the attack. Cole 4, Hazard -4

80:00 - Oscar wins duel in the attack. Oscar 3

83:41 - Ramires interception. Ramires 3

87:27 - Eto'o successful tackle in defense. Eto'o 3

88:00 - Willian anticipation recovers possession in attack. Willian 4

89:29 - Cole successful tackle in defense. Cole 3

89:40 - Willian links counter-attack up with Torres, who doesn’t give up and is gifted a pass by Nastasic before scoring. Willian 4, Torres 5

91:23 - Ivanovic clearance in the box with a header. Ivanovic 4

91:28 - Mikel clearance in the box with a header. Mikel 4

91:34 - Cech punches the danger away. Cech 3

91:40 - Mikel clearance in the box. Mikel 4

91:45 - Eto'o smartly recovers possession in the defense. Eto'o 4

93:43 - Cole anticipates ball in midfield. Cole 4

93:50 - Cahill wins aerial duel at the edge of the box. Cahill 4

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Fantastic, i knew terry was better than most of us thought

[Barbara 15,149]

Fantastic, i knew terry was better than most of us thought

Yeah, Terry has been very solid for us this season. Since Luiz had that horrible match against Cardiff, Terry became even better. Ivanovic has also been a monster defending - although with more mistakes than Terry.

But none compares to Luiz's best matches the season.

That's the problem with Luiz. He is absolutely solid in matches in a row, a defending machine, then the brain farts happen. Hopefully he'll work around it.