Super Frank Thread

[Vesper 28,795]

How Lampard tweaked tactics to ease Chelsea’s set-pieces troubles

https://theathletic.com/2205157/2020/11/18/corner-lampard-goals-chelsea/

There was a point last season, crystallised by a 3-2 loss to West Ham United at the London Stadium in July, when every corner kick that Chelsea conceded was cause for panic.

David Moyes tailored his game plan that night to exploit the visitors’ glaring weaknesses when defending set pieces, matching 6ft 4in midfield giant Tomas Soucek against 5ft 10in Cesar Azpilicueta at the back post. The strategy proved highly effective, and briefly threw Frank Lampard’s bid to deliver a top-four finish into doubt.

Moyes wasn’t alone in identifying this particular route to success against Chelsea, who ended last season as the worst team in the Premier League at defending corners.

In terms of raw numbers, only relegated Norwich City conceded more goals (12) from corners, but they faced 266 across their 38 matches. Lampard’s team managed to let in 10 from 133 — exactly half that number.

Premier League corner defending 2019-20

 

TEAM	CORNERS FACED	CORNER GOALS CONCEDED	%
Chelsea	133	10	7.50%
Manchester United	186	9	4.80%
Norwich	266	12	4.50%
Brighton	204	9	4.40%
Aston Villa	242	10	4.10%
Manchester City	97	4	4.10%
West Ham	219	9	4.10%
Wolverhampton Wanderers	148	6	4.10%
Arsenal	229	9	3.90%
Watford	201	7	3.50%
Everton	182	6	3.30%
Newcastle United	252	8	3.20%
Burnley	238	7	2.90%
Leicester City	175	5	2.90%
Crystal Palace	235	6	2.60%
Southampton	223	5	2.20%
Tottenham	207	4	1.90%
Bournemouth	251	4	1.60%
Liverpool	160	2	1.30%
Sheffield United	218	2	0.90%

 

Overall, 7.5 per cent — around one in every 13 — of the corners Chelsea conceded in the Premier League last season resulted in opposition goals. It was a rate of defensive failure that distinguished them from every other team in the division for all the wrong reasons; in fact, the only team in any of Europe’s top five leagues who conceded goals from a higher proportion of corners faced in 2019-20 was French side Amiens, who ended up relegated from Ligue 1.

 

Europe's worst corner defences 2019-20

TEAM	CORNERS FACED	CORNER GOALS CONCEDED	%
Amiens	140	12	8.60%
Chelsea	133	10	7.50%
Borussia Dortmund	102	7	6.90%
Werder Bremen	198	13	6.60%
Bayern Munich	102	6	5.90%
Cologne	200	11	5.50%
Sassuolo	213	11	5.20%
Monaco	137	7	5.10%
Schalke	178	9	5.10%
Manchester United	186	9	4.80%

 

Finding a way to solve or at least mitigate Chelsea’s set-piece problems was an urgent priority for Lampard heading into this season, even within the context of the team’s broader defensive issues. After that West Ham game, he suggested the solution might be as simple as recruiting taller players, but he has also been proactive in switching up his system in his search for a configuration that works.

For the first few months of 2019-20, Chelsea lined up with striker Tammy Abraham guarding the near post area in a similar manner to predecessor Didier Drogba, with four team-mates deployed in a line along their six-yard box and most of the rest of the side stationed in front of them, tasked with blocking or disrupting opposition runners.

When that purely zonal system yielded too many free headers, Lampard switched to a mixed strategy, with Abraham and Kurt Zouma the only men given freedom to attack the incoming ball while virtually everyone else was given a man to mark. That change improved things for a while, but teams soon found weak spots to target; either nipping in front of Abraham at the near post, as Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez did at the Amsterdam Arena, or drifting in behind Zouma to meet a floated delivery to the back post, the way Soucek did for West Ham.

Roman Abramovich’s spectacular spending spree has built a very different Chelsea team in almost every aspect this season, and Lampard has in recent weeks seemed to settle on a defensive structure that balances the attacking firepower now at his disposal. He has also made changes to the way his team defend corners, and the early returns look reasonably positive.

 

Premier League corner defending 2020-21

TEAM	CORNERS FACED	CORNER GOALS CONCEDED	% ▼
Liverpool	14	2	14.30%
Brighton	25	2	8.00%
Manchester City	26	2	7.70%
Leicester City	42	3	7.10%
Sheffield United	47	3	6.40%
Fulham	34	2	5.90%
Burnley	42	2	4.80%
Leeds United	42	2	4.80%
Newcastle United	43	2	4.70%
Chelsea	44	2	4.50%
Everton	39	1	2.60%
West Bromwich Albion	44	1	2.30%
Southampton	43	1	2.30%
Wolverhampton Wanderers	44	1	2.30%
Crystal Palace	48	1	2.10%
Tottenham	37	0	0.00%
Arsenal	41	0	0.00%
West Ham	42	0	0.00%
Aston Villa	27	0	0.00%
Manchester United	28	0	0.00%

 

Lampard’s latest system appears to blend elements of the previous two, with four players — including centre-backs Zouma and Thiago Silva — stationed zonally in a line along the edge of the six-yard box and three or four colleagues in front of them marking and tussling with opposition runners. Behind them, new goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is encouraged to be proactive in venturing off his line to intercept high balls into the box in contrast to Kepa Arrizabalaga, who too often remained rooted to his line.

Mendy seemed particularly keen to be assertive in this regard on his Chelsea debut, against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup in September. Spurs got four corners in the game and of the three they decided to send directly into the penalty area, the Senegal international rose highest to connect with two and almost punched Zouma in the head in his eagerness to clear the other one.

Mendy’s formidable 6ft 6in frame has impacted Chelsea’s set-piece defending beyond his willingness to use it to command his penalty area. It also acts as a deterrent, discouraging some opponents from swinging corners directly into the box and leading them to take more of their corners short. It is here that Lampard’s new system has been caught out a couple of times, most notably in the opening minutes at home to Sheffield United in the final game before the current international break.

Here, Oliver Norwood takes a corner short to an unmarked George Baldock and the pair of them then take advantage of miscommunication between Hakim Ziyech and N’Golo Kante, combining slickly to work space for a cutback that leads to David McGoldrick’s ninth-minute opening goal.

Manchester United’s best chance of the second half in a dour goalless draw against Chelsea at Old Trafford last month also came from a short corner: Bruno Fernandes giving the ball to Luke Shaw and getting it back, before whipping in a low cross that substitute Edinson Cavani pokes just wide after darting in front of Kai Havertz.

Lampard can reduce the short-corner risk by moving one player closer to the taker and anyone who shows for a short pass, but he must also be wary of leaving too much space on the edge of Chelsea’s penalty area.

West Bromwich Albion capitalised on this to score their third goal of a shocking first half for Lampard’s team in September, when Darnell Furlong was granted the freedom of The Hawthorns to redirect a floated delivery to Kyle Bartley at the back post. Marcos Alonso compounded the system failure by losing his man.

Another scare came in the second half of the goalless draw with Sevilla in last month’s opening Champions League group game.

In this example, Timo Werner is stationed at the edge of the penalty area, as he generally is when he is in the team, both to put himself in a position to provide defensive support and to offer the threat of a rapid counter-attack. But behind him, Sevilla midfielder Joan Jordan is unmarked in space.

The ball is floated towards Jordan and Werner can’t get close enough to bother the midfielder, who tries to beat Mendy with a spectacular volley. Silva’s smart decision to retreat to the goalline once the corner has gone over his head, however, basically means Jordan can only score if he finds the top corner from nearly 20 yards. He gets impressively close to scoring what would have been one of the greatest goals in Champions League history, but instead his shot sails narrowly over the crossbar and loops onto the roof of the net.

John Terry was a master at picking exactly the right moment to put himself on the goalline to make a crucial block, and Silva’s defensive talents are underpinned by similarly intelligent instincts. The bulk of the Brazilian’s value to Chelsea’s defending of corner kicks comes from the fact that, though he isn’t the overwhelming aerial force that Zouma is, he generally puts himself in the right positions and times his jumps well. He has directly cleared six of the 37 corners Chelsea have faced with him on the pitch across all competitions.

It isn’t quite as simple as buying taller players, but Lampard’s system looks more convincing with many of his new personnel in the team. Mendy is a more confident, dominating presence than Kepa was, while Silva and Ben Chilwell are both proving to be adept in the air. Havertz is not a particularly physical player but he is tall at 6ft 2in and does not shy away from headers, meaning that Chelsea lose less defending corners when 5ft 11in Werner plays up front instead of 6ft 3in Abraham or 6ft 4in Olivier Giroud.

Defending corners at an average level of efficiency constitutes a big improvement on last season for Chelsea, and Lampard deserves credit for the systemic tweaks he has made — as well, of course, as signing the right players. In the coming weeks and months, however, the biggest scope his team has for further progress in this area has nothing to do with individuals or scheme.

If they want to concede fewer goals from corners, Chelsea simply need to concede fewer corners.

Over the first eight matches of the new Premier League season, they have given up an average 5.5 per game; by way of contrast, in 2019-20 they averaged just 3.5 — second-fewest in the league. So far in 2020-21, they have conceded 30 more corners than Liverpool and 18 more than Manchester City, the two teams Lampard constantly holds up as the benchmark for his young group.

Greater control of matches, and therefore of their opponents, is the key to Chelsea eliminating goals conceded from corners as a significant issue.

Lampard and his players are working on that but, in the meantime, upgrading their corner defence from extraordinarily bad to average is a big step forward.

[Fernando 6,455]

November - December time frame was the appointed time for me to see the real deal. 

And have to say I'm glad I waited and I'm seeing the results that I thought we should see by this time frame. 

That being said I'm still cautiously optimistic. 

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

Lampard's tactical approach with the high press and Kante roaming free suffocated the life out of a really poor Newcastle side. Vs the smaller teams it really seems to be enough killing their way back into the game and relying on Mendy and a quick and mobile back 4. Spurs at the weekend will be the first test of our rejunevated team since ManUre. will be interesting to see how we handle this.

[killer1257 3,282]

People still have not seen the best out of Lampard ball yet.

 

 

 

Gesendet von meinem VOG-L29 mit Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[Fernando 6,455]

I will be surprised if we win against Spurs. 

I think Spurs are a bit more experienced and coach nice by Mourinho. 

Mourinho does good in his second season usually. 

[Jase 43,479]

25 minutes ago, Fernando said:

I will be surprised if we win against Spurs. 

I think Spurs are a bit more experienced and coach nice by Mourinho. 

Mourinho does good in his second season usually. 

Err, we already beat them twice last season...

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

Err, we already beat them twice last season...

They are unfortunately a different animal now. They look like a proper team, no real weaknesses, solid defensively and have got great players who can make the difference in Son and Kane who would start in every team in Europe. If we play at our best we will still be more than capable of beating them obviously but they just seem different this season. Will be our toughest game so far I think. A good barometer to see how we’ve come on though. 

[Jase 43,479]

7 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

They are unfortunately a different animal now. They look like a proper team, no real weaknesses, solid defensively and have got great players who can make the difference in Son and Kane who would start in every team in Europe. If we play at our best we will still be more than capable of beating them obviously but they just seem different this season. Will be our toughest game so far I think. A good barometer to see how we’ve come on though. 

By the same token, we are also better than last season and have looked better over the last 1 1/2 month. As long as we play it smart again, there's no reason why we can't beat them again. 

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

6 hours ago, Jason said:

By the same token, we are also better than last season and have looked better over the last 1 1/2 month. As long as we play it smart again, there's no reason why we can't beat them again. 

Absolutely. Will be our toughest match so far this season though I think. 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[milka 3,346]

 

[Johnnyeye 7,440]

9 hours ago, milka said:

 

i love Conte ❤️🙏

[Jap Si. 50]

Conte was good but Super Franklin is goodest.

[Vesper 28,795]

On 22/11/2020 at 2:11 PM, Jason said:

 

class fucking ac  t

[Vesper 28,795]

Tomori out, Rudiger in? The latest on Chelsea’s centre-back situation

https://theathletic.com/2212518/2020/11/22/chelsea-defence-tomori-rudiger/

 

The January transfer window can’t come soon enough for Fikayo Tomori.

Sources have told The Athletic that of the five centre-backs in Chelsea’s squad, he is the one most likely to leave, and it could be on loan.

To say 2020 has not been a good year for the England defender is an understatement and Chelsea’s victory over Newcastle provided another reality check over where he stands in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.

Even with the inspirational Thiago Silva left out of proceedings — he only arrived back from playing for Brazil on Thursday — Tomori couldn’t get a place on Chelsea’s bench. It means his total playing time in the Premier League over the last ten months or so remains at 109 minutes (one start, one as a sub). The other four appearances were in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

What a contrast to 2019. He was named Derby’s Player of the Year having enjoyed a successful loan in the Championship before becoming a Chelsea regular (19 games in all competitions). He also scored a fantastic goal at Wolves to get off the mark for his boyhood club, was given a new five-year contract and earned a first England cap against Kosovo.

The Athletic first looked into his situation back in February when things had started to go awry, but it is much bleaker nine months on. There have been no major fall-outs between himself and coach Frank Lampard, who was also his manager at Derby and still regards him as a player of great promise.

Tomori made the headlines earlier this month after photos emerged of him attending a dinner with team-mate Callum Hudson-Odoi at a London restaurant, which broke lockdown rules. But it is understood the incident wasn’t deemed that serious by the club or management staff.

A combination of factors has been the cause of Tomori’s regular absence. He suffered a drop in form to begin with and when he was recalled against Bournemouth in February, he struggled during the 2-2 draw.

There was some misfortune as he suffered a muscular injury in June, just before the season restarted. By the time he had recovered, Chelsea were in a real battle to secure a top-four finish and couldn’t afford to pick someone who was short of match fitness, even though the defence was leaking goals.

The arrival of Silva as a free agent from Paris Saint-Germain in the last window was always going to make competition for places even more intense and so it has proved. After a shaky start on debut against West Brom, the 36-year-old has established himself as Chelsea’s best defender and his displays have also had a positive impact on Kurt Zouma’s form.

Lampard trusts the pair. Chelsea have kept seven clean sheets in their last nine matches and they have been the central defensive partnership for five of them. Understandably he doesn’t want to rotate too much now there are such signs of progress.

The other two clean sheets, including the one at Newcastle on Saturday, were when Antonio Rudiger was brought in for the rested Silva and herein lies another part of the Tomori saga.

Tomori had offers to leave Chelsea on loan in the last window, however moves to Everton and Rennes fell through as Lampard wanted Rudiger to leave instead. By the time it emerged that Rudiger wasn’t going to secure a switch and opted to stay, Tomori had just a few days before the deadline to look for something new. He came close to joining West Ham only to change his mind with minutes to spare because he wasn’t convinced about how much he would play under David Moyes.

Tomori must have hoped that he would stay above Rudiger in Lampard’s thoughts and he was on the bench for the three games which immediately followed the window closing, while Rudiger was nowhere to be seen. But positive talks between Rudiger and Lampard changed things. The Germany international was picked as a substitute instead of Tomori for the 0-0 draw at Manchester United. Four days later he was the one trusted to play alongside Zouma when Silva didn’t make the trip to Krasnodar.

The Athletic has been told that Rudiger’s attitude and performances in training have been a key reason why. He has responded really well to the challenge of being left out and showed much better form too. The fact he is a popular character and quite a leader in the dressing room has been to his benefit too.

It also helped that Rudiger’s two appearances were against rather weak opposition in Krasnodar and Newcastle. How Tomori and another ignored defender in Andreas Christensen would have loved that opportunity.

But Lampard was full of praise for Rudiger following the victory at the weekend. He said: “I was pleased with the performance. It’s not easy (to play well after a spell out the side). That means they have to have a good attitude through the week, how they prepare. I have confidence in Toni and his performance alongside Kurt was very strong. For Toni to come in and show what he did, for the team to keep a clean sheet, is brilliant for him, brilliant for me.”

So should Tomori start getting mentally ready to play elsewhere now? Not necessarily because there is still some uncertainty. Chelsea won’t make a definitive decision to let him go just yet because of the possibility of injuries. And with the European Championships next summer, there are no guarantees Rudiger or Denmark international Christensen, who hasn’t played for Chelsea for two months, will be happy acting as a back-up to Silva and Zouma.

It is believed Christensen is still part of Chelsea’s plans. He is regarded as the second-best passing centre-back at the club after Silva so they don’t want to lose him as an option.

When Lampard was asked about Tomori’s situation at the beginning of November, he suggested that he is a victim of circumstance rather than any major issue being at fault.

He said: “I’ve got no problem with Fikayo. I rely on him. That’s clear from when I took him to Derby and how I handled him last year. He’s been a fantastic player for me. He trains very well and when he gets his opportunity, like he had when he came on against Liverpool (in September) and in the Carabao Cup, it’s important he takes them.

“He’s still a developing player. When I say developing, he’s had a great two years. He got himself in the England team, was one of the best defenders in the Championship and then played 20-plus games for Chelsea. It’s normal for a young player sometimes, in a squad as competitive as ours, where there are periods where you maybe aren’t playing every week.”

But given his potential, it would only be normal for Tomori to make sure a loan happens so 2021 has a better outcome.

[Atomiswave 6,072]

16 hours ago, milka said:

 

I keep saying this man loves Chels but many still hate his guts. He is proper imo.

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

4 hours ago, Vesper said:

Tomori out, Rudiger in? The latest on Chelsea’s centre-back situation

https://theathletic.com/2212518/2020/11/22/chelsea-defence-tomori-rudiger/

 

The January transfer window can’t come soon enough for Fikayo Tomori.

Sources have told The Athletic that of the five centre-backs in Chelsea’s squad, he is the one most likely to leave, and it could be on loan.

To say 2020 has not been a good year for the England defender is an understatement and Chelsea’s victory over Newcastle provided another reality check over where he stands in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.

Even with the inspirational Thiago Silva left out of proceedings — he only arrived back from playing for Brazil on Thursday — Tomori couldn’t get a place on Chelsea’s bench. It means his total playing time in the Premier League over the last ten months or so remains at 109 minutes (one start, one as a sub). The other four appearances were in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

What a contrast to 2019. He was named Derby’s Player of the Year having enjoyed a successful loan in the Championship before becoming a Chelsea regular (19 games in all competitions). He also scored a fantastic goal at Wolves to get off the mark for his boyhood club, was given a new five-year contract and earned a first England cap against Kosovo.

The Athletic first looked into his situation back in February when things had started to go awry, but it is much bleaker nine months on. There have been no major fall-outs between himself and coach Frank Lampard, who was also his manager at Derby and still regards him as a player of great promise.

Tomori made the headlines earlier this month after photos emerged of him attending a dinner with team-mate Callum Hudson-Odoi at a London restaurant, which broke lockdown rules. But it is understood the incident wasn’t deemed that serious by the club or management staff.

A combination of factors has been the cause of Tomori’s regular absence. He suffered a drop in form to begin with and when he was recalled against Bournemouth in February, he struggled during the 2-2 draw.

There was some misfortune as he suffered a muscular injury in June, just before the season restarted. By the time he had recovered, Chelsea were in a real battle to secure a top-four finish and couldn’t afford to pick someone who was short of match fitness, even though the defence was leaking goals.

The arrival of Silva as a free agent from Paris Saint-Germain in the last window was always going to make competition for places even more intense and so it has proved. After a shaky start on debut against West Brom, the 36-year-old has established himself as Chelsea’s best defender and his displays have also had a positive impact on Kurt Zouma’s form.

Lampard trusts the pair. Chelsea have kept seven clean sheets in their last nine matches and they have been the central defensive partnership for five of them. Understandably he doesn’t want to rotate too much now there are such signs of progress.

The other two clean sheets, including the one at Newcastle on Saturday, were when Antonio Rudiger was brought in for the rested Silva and herein lies another part of the Tomori saga.

Tomori had offers to leave Chelsea on loan in the last window, however moves to Everton and Rennes fell through as Lampard wanted Rudiger to leave instead. By the time it emerged that Rudiger wasn’t going to secure a switch and opted to stay, Tomori had just a few days before the deadline to look for something new. He came close to joining West Ham only to change his mind with minutes to spare because he wasn’t convinced about how much he would play under David Moyes.

Tomori must have hoped that he would stay above Rudiger in Lampard’s thoughts and he was on the bench for the three games which immediately followed the window closing, while Rudiger was nowhere to be seen. But positive talks between Rudiger and Lampard changed things. The Germany international was picked as a substitute instead of Tomori for the 0-0 draw at Manchester United. Four days later he was the one trusted to play alongside Zouma when Silva didn’t make the trip to Krasnodar.

The Athletic has been told that Rudiger’s attitude and performances in training have been a key reason why. He has responded really well to the challenge of being left out and showed much better form too. The fact he is a popular character and quite a leader in the dressing room has been to his benefit too.

It also helped that Rudiger’s two appearances were against rather weak opposition in Krasnodar and Newcastle. How Tomori and another ignored defender in Andreas Christensen would have loved that opportunity.

But Lampard was full of praise for Rudiger following the victory at the weekend. He said: “I was pleased with the performance. It’s not easy (to play well after a spell out the side). That means they have to have a good attitude through the week, how they prepare. I have confidence in Toni and his performance alongside Kurt was very strong. For Toni to come in and show what he did, for the team to keep a clean sheet, is brilliant for him, brilliant for me.”

So should Tomori start getting mentally ready to play elsewhere now? Not necessarily because there is still some uncertainty. Chelsea won’t make a definitive decision to let him go just yet because of the possibility of injuries. And with the European Championships next summer, there are no guarantees Rudiger or Denmark international Christensen, who hasn’t played for Chelsea for two months, will be happy acting as a back-up to Silva and Zouma.

It is believed Christensen is still part of Chelsea’s plans. He is regarded as the second-best passing centre-back at the club after Silva so they don’t want to lose him as an option.

When Lampard was asked about Tomori’s situation at the beginning of November, he suggested that he is a victim of circumstance rather than any major issue being at fault.

He said: “I’ve got no problem with Fikayo. I rely on him. That’s clear from when I took him to Derby and how I handled him last year. He’s been a fantastic player for me. He trains very well and when he gets his opportunity, like he had when he came on against Liverpool (in September) and in the Carabao Cup, it’s important he takes them.

“He’s still a developing player. When I say developing, he’s had a great two years. He got himself in the England team, was one of the best defenders in the Championship and then played 20-plus games for Chelsea. It’s normal for a young player sometimes, in a squad as competitive as ours, where there are periods where you maybe aren’t playing every week.”

But given his potential, it would only be normal for Tomori to make sure a loan happens so 2021 has a better outcome.

Tbf it seems a bit daft now because he had the offers to go to Rennes or Everton on loan and it didn't happen for whatever reason. Everton signed Ben Godfrey so won't come back for him and Rennes probably got another replacement. Fuck knows where hes going to go in January. He needs to play but again I still don't know who will sign him in the PL realistically. And a Championship loan would be a backwards step 100%. 

[Vesper 28,795]

17 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

Tbf it seems a bit daft now because he had the offers to go to Rennes or Everton on loan and it didn't happen for whatever reason. Everton signed Ben Godfrey so won't come back for him and Rennes probably got another replacement. Fuck knows where hes going to go in January. He needs to play but again I still don't know who will sign him in the PL realistically. And a Championship loan would be a backwards step 100%. 

Seeing as we can only loan one player (stupid rule, it should be two) to each EPL team

and looking at the CB's on each EPL team

the options are quite few

Burnley would be the best bet, as he would be the 3rd CB (with Mee and Tarkowski in front of him aad they are often injured now it seems)

maybe NUFC

maybe West Ham

West Brom would have been ideal, but Conor Gallagher is there already