Welcome Mauricio Pochettino

[Vesper 28,967]

44 minutes ago, Vesper said:

the away kits look great

should have won it there

1 1

FT

they were down to only 9 players

Edited October 8, 2023 by Vesper

[Fulham Broadway 16,894]

4 minutes ago, Vesper said:

should have won it there

1 1

FT

they were down to only 9 players

8 when we equalised !

[Vesper 28,967]

Chelsea have constructed a midfield to fear in Fernandez, Caicedo and Gallagher

https://theathletic.com/4951028/2023/10/12/Chelsea-midfield-fernandez-caicedo-gallagher/

Moments after superbly putting Chelsea ahead against Fulham at Craven Cottage, a beaming Mykhailo Mudryk slid on his knees towards the corner flag, revelling in his first goal for the club and waiting to be mobbed by several of his jubilant team-mates.

Enzo Fernandez was not one of them. Replays showed that, as Mudryk wheeled away in front of the Fulham fans, the Argentina international instead turned his back, crouched, and waited with a broad grin for Moises Caicedo to run into his outstretched arms.

It was a small, wholesome moment noticed by many supporters and one that underlined the genuine warmth that has quickly developed between Chelsea’s two British transfer record-breaking signings.

In convincing away Premier League wins over Fulham and Burnley, it has become clear that Chelsea’s lavishly expensive midfield is beginning to click into a higher gear. Fernandez and Caicedo have shone, both in combination and alongside Conor Gallagher, the on-field captain who complements their respective strengths excellently.

The tactical tweaks to the team’s structure made by head coach Mauricio Pochettino have also facilitated this process and Chelsea now head into a daunting run of games after the October international break with a midfield that is becoming a serious problem for opponents in and out of possession. But how does it work?

Let’s take a closer look…

With the ball

Fernandez’s career at Chelsea to date has been a quest to find the individual role that maximises everything he does well and a broader midfield structure that makes sense around him. His first six months at Stamford Bridge were largely spent confined to the No 6 position as Jorginho’s direct replacement while, at times in the early weeks of this season, he found himself playing almost as a No 10 — too high up the pitch to exert consistent control over matches.

Pochettino’s solution has been to give Fernandez almost total freedom to roam the pitch and progress the ball, with Caicedo generally behind him and Gallagher ahead of him against Fulham and Burnley. It is something he does exceptionally well; only Kieran Trippier and Bruno Fernandes can better his 50 progressive passes from the 2023-24 Premier League season to date.

The graphic below illustrates that Fernandez can play these passes from virtually anywhere beyond Chelsea’s defensive third of the pitch.

His default area to receive the ball against Fulham and Burnley, however, was almost in the left-back position, with Caicedo to his right and Gallagher pushed out high towards the right flank — demonstrated by the pass map below of the match at Turf Moor.

This midfield structure also gives Cole Palmer the opportunity to drift infield and act more like a No 10, looking for space between the lines to receive progressive passes on the half-turn, while Gallagher maintains Chelsea’s width on the right. There were numerous examples of this against Fulham and Burnley.

Caicedo is still nominally the No 6 in Pochettino’s midfield and therefore the focus of opposition attention when Chelsea attempt to play out from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, but the presence of Fernandez gives them two highly polished options through which to build the first phase of play.

Below is a classic example. Burnley are pushing up in an attempt to deny Sanchez an easy pass out of his penalty area and Caicedo is man-marked. Fernandez recognises this and tells his goalkeeper to wait as he runs back to present for the ball.

Fernandez’s marker is hesitant to track him and risk compromising Burnley’s defensive structure, so the Argentine is able to meet the ball unchallenged and sweep it out to Marc Cucurella (just out of the below shot) first time, nullifying the home side’s aggressive positioning.

Fernandez and Caicedo share the same innate understanding of space and angles on a football pitch, moving around each other seamlessly to bait, stretch and ultimately dissect opposing midfields in a manner reminiscent of Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic on their very best days.

The below sequence shows them toying with Fulham’s press. Fernandez, having frozen Harrison Reed and Raul Jimenez with the ball at his feet deep in his own half, deliberately passes to a marked Caicedo in order to lure the Ecuador international’s marker, Andreas Pereira, towards him.

Caicedo spins into the space vacated by Pereira and, once the Brazilian is close enough, Fernandez simply rolls the ball under his right foot to create an angle and flicks it deftly with the outside of his boot through the narrow gap between Pereira and Reed to spring his midfield partner free into space.

Having let the ball run across his body, Caicedo is aware of the advancing Joao Palhinha and sweeps a low left-footed pass across to Gallagher, who has found space at the right time.

Gallagher is excellent at creating separation from opponents in order to receive passes; being frequently utilised as an off-ball runner during loan spells at West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace prepared him well in this regard, but the early weeks of the 2023-24 season have debunked the idea that he cannot be an asset to a dominant possession team.

As well as averaging 12 more passes per 90 minutes (60.9) than he ever has before in his professional career, Gallagher is also completing a career-best 88.6 per cent of his passes this season, a significant improvement on his previous high of 81.1 per cent in 2022-23.

Gallagher does not have the technical range of Fernandez or Caicedo with the ball at his feet, but he is good at keeping things simple and this, coupled with his highly intelligent movement, makes him an effective foil to complete Pochettino’s midfield trio.

Here he drops into a pocket of space between four Burnley players, simply to give Fernandez the option of escaping pressure with a quick lateral one-two.

This provides Fernandez with enough space to line up a pinpoint switch of play out to Levi Colwill near the left touchline.

Fernandez is the undisputed conductor of Chelsea’s midfield, but Caicedo ensures opposing teams cannot divert extra resources to stifle him. He is much more than a deep-lying destroyer, very capable of switching the point of attack with an accurate crossfield ball or threading an incisive pass through a narrow gap with minimal margin for error.

Here he is in the closing stages against Burnley, spotting an opportunity to spring Mudryk and floating a 40-yard pass perfectly into his stride.

And here he is earlier in the same game, executing a disguised first-time flick from an Axel Disasi pass between two opponents and into the feet of an unmarked Palmer.

Chelsea enjoyed 62 per cent possession while routing Burnley, but exactly the same midfield also triumphed against Fulham despite having only 44 per cent of the ball.

Game state is a factor in those numbers — Pochettino’s men led from the 18th minute at Craven Cottage while conceding first at Turf Moor — but Chelsea triumphed in both cases in part because their midfield demonstrated it can be effective in a range of situations. But how so?

Without the ball

One of the problems with playing Fernandez as a full-time No 6 in the second half of last season is that he is not a particularly impactful defensive presence. It is not a question of effort; he cares about his defensive duties, is a very willing tackler and will throw himself in front of a shot. It is simply not the area where his best talents reside.

The good news for Fernandez is that, in this particular Chelsea team, he is partnered with two of the most defensively active midfielders in the Premier League. Gallagher ranks behind only Palhinha for ‘true tackles’ — a combination of tackles won, tackles lost and fouls committed while attempting a tackle — per 1,000 opposition touches in 2023-24, while Caicedo is also in the top 10.

Caicedo is very adept at picking the right moments to step up and make a tackle or jumping into opposition passing lanes to make an interception that turns defence into attack. Here, he initiates the sequence that leads to Raheem Sterling’s goal against Burnley by darting into the opposition half and poking the ball free.

The ball runs to Gallagher and he plays it perfectly to Sterling, who finishes clinically.

Here in the Fulham game, Caicedo reads Tim Ream’s intention to pass to Pereira before the ball even leaves the defender’s foot, giving him time to move across and cut it out.

Gallagher, meanwhile, is a roving menace. Sometimes dismissed rather condescendingly as ‘grafting’, his preternatural ability to force opposition turnovers is much more than that. Thomas Tuchel regularly likened him to N’Golo Kante during pre-season training in the summer of 2022 and there are echoes of the French legend in his anticipation, timing, speed across the ground, stamina and unwavering desire to win the ball back for his team.

Here is an example from the Burnley game. Everyone else on the pitch is at a standstill waiting for the home side to hit a deep free kick long into the Chelsea penalty area, but Gallagher is already on the move, recognising that the ball is instead heading towards the right flank.

As the ball arrives, Gallagher is close enough to stick out a foot and nip the ball away…

… then gather it, turn, look up and find Fernandez, whose first-time pass springs Armando Broja clean through, only for the Albanian to be flagged offside.

Here against Fulham, Issa Diop makes the mistake of dallying on the ball for a split second too long and Gallagher goes into shark mode.

He pokes the ball away from the Frenchman without committing a foul, drives into the Fulham half and angles a precise pass right into the feet of Palmer.

Later in the same game, Gallagher reads Tom Cairney’s intention to bisect Fernandez and Caicedo with a pass into the feet of Willian, who has an easy first-time option in Ream.

Gallagher, however, tracks the ball from Willian to Ream with startling speed, sticks out a leg and deflects the ball back into Fulham territory, sparking a one-man counter-attack.

This level of energy, intensity and defensive intelligence around Fernandez makes Chelsea’s high press even more effective and their midfield very difficult to play through.

---

There are at least 220 million reasons why Chelsea should have one of the best midfields in Europe, but paying prices that value Fernandez and Caicedo as two of the best midfielders of their generation is one thing; getting consistent performances that live up to those enormous price tags is quite another.

Caicedo has settled down impressively since making costly errors against West Ham and Nottingham Forest, while Fernandez’s regular excellence is now in its proper tactical context. Gallagher is also performing like the player Chelsea valued at £50million ($61.5m) in transfer talks last summer, and his case to earn a lucrative new contract is growing stronger by the game.

Romeo Lavia has not played a minute since his £53million ($65m) move from Southampton and Lesley Ugochukwu has shown very promising flashes in limited Premier League opportunities.

Chelsea’s new midfield will have much harder problems to solve than those presented by Fulham and Burnley in a challenging fixture list after the October international break, but the early signs are that Pochettino has a potentially special alchemy at the heart of this team.

Edited October 13, 2023 by Vesper

[Vesper 28,967]

Chelsea really miss the intelligent positioning and running of James and Chilwell

https://theathletic.com/4976698/2023/10/24/Chelsea-really-miss-the-intelligent-positioning-and-running-of-james-and-chilwell/

To anyone who can name Chelsea’s strongest starting XI this season: congratulations.

Genuinely. That is an impressive feat — it’s one that manager Mauricio Pochettino is yet to figure out himself with the glut of young talent that he has in the squad.

The fact it is such a difficult question is, in part, due to the lack of availability of some of the players in the Chelsea squad. While it might appear like a swollen group, Pochettino has not been able to select from a full complement of players, with plenty still on the treatment table for the foreseeable future.

Christopher Nkunku, Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell and Romeo Lavia are out with injuries for the foreseeable future, and Chelsea could do with some positive news ahead of their home clash with Brentford this weekend.

One reason to be cheerful is the return of Reece James from his hamstring injury, with Chelsea’s club captain making an appearance in the final stages of the 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Saturday.

A degree of depth and positional versatility in this department has helped Chelsea in this area in the short term, but few can deny that James and Chilwell are the preferred starting pair at full-back or wing-back when all players are fit and available to choose from.

The problem is, there haven’t been enough occasions in recent seasons where that has been the case.

From ACL ruptures to hamstring injuries, James and Chilwell’s absences have been vast — and Chelsea fans hardly need reminding. But it needs to be stressed how infrequently they have played together.

The duo have started together just seven times in the Premier League since the beginning of last season, with their longest run in the team together spanning just three games in that period.

Just four league games started together in 2021-22 means that the pair played more domestic games together in their first season (16 times in 2020-21) than in the subsequent three seasons combined.

It was Chelsea’s 2020-21 campaign that saw Chelsea benefit the most from having both James and Chilwell on the field, with the duo flourishing as wing-backs in Thomas Tuchel’s 3-4-2-1 system en route to winning the Champions League.

It is hardly new information that the pair have proven difficult to replace in the Chelsea starting XI, but the numbers highlight just how little opportunity they have had to provide that double threat from both flanks.

Speaking of numbers, it is worth noting how integral James and Chilwell have been towards Chelsea’s attack. Only recently departed Mason Mount has registered more Premier League assists (17) than James (12) and Chilwell (nine) since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.

Whether it is their set-piece threat or ability to arrive in advanced half-space zones, Chelsea fans long for the day that both players can take to the field together again.

When James does return to the starting line-up, Pochettino will be looking forward to him playing teasing balls across goal, as he did in the club’s Premier League opener against Liverpool in August.

James was punishing Liverpool’s left flank with strong link-up play with a rejuvenated Raheem Sterling, who came inside to open up space for James to exploit from wide.

In the opening minutes, James plays a neat one-two with Sterling to get into an advanced area and whip the ball across goal for Nicolas Jackson to get on the end of.

And who’s that lingering at the back post? Chilwell from the left flank.

The second example is almost a carbon copy of the first, with James bursting forward and finding Jackson again after another one-two with Sterling. This time, Jackson skied the ball over the bar, but Chilwell was on hand at the back post once again, with Chelsea committing five men forward in a front-foot attacking phase.

In James’ absence, Malo Gusto has deputised well in providing an attack-minded, athletic option to Chelsea’s right flank, but there have been some “less-than-ideal” moments along the way — with the 20-year-old’s red card against Aston Villa forcing left-footed Marc Cucurella to play as a makeshift right-back for two Premier League fixtures.

Do the words “square peg” and “round hole” come to mind?

Chilwell’s injury struggles continued as he limped off against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup, having had a full pre-season getting back to full fitness following a long-term ACL injury.

The prognosis was not positive after the game, with Pochettino saying “I think it is bad news, what the doctor told me is not a good thing.”

A return close to the Christmas period looks most likely.

With able cover in Levi Colwill, there is still strong solidity on Chelsea’s left side until Chilwell recovers, though Colwill is far less attack-minded. Alternatively, Cucurella’s resurgent performance against Arsenal may suggest that the 25-year-old has hit some form at the right time in Chilwell’s absence.

GO DEEPER

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Of course, Chilwell’s role has not been reserved to left-back or left wing-back, having played in a more advanced left-wing position in the early stages of the season — a position he has been slowly adapting to.

“I’m still learning as I’m going, I’ve been used to playing at left wing-back and before that left-back, so this is a bit higher up the pitch,” Chilwell revealed in a recent interview with talkSPORT.

“When I’m playing that high up the pitch, I expect the pressure that’s on me to contribute to goals. It’s something that is new to me, it’s obviously new to Levi (Colwill) as well but we’re both taking it in our stride and we’re happy that we’re playing.“

GO DEEPER

Ben Chilwell interview: On Pochettino's mind games, leadership and making Chelsea great again

The versatility and individual quality provided by both Chilwell and James is obvious and they offer Chelsea a different attacking dimension when they are both on the pitch.

Unfortunately, Pochettino has only been able to call upon both his captain and vice-captain once since arriving in the summer, and it is a sight that we simply haven’t seen enough in recent seasons.

GO DEEPER

Is Ivan Toney the solution to Chelsea's No 9 problem?

[lucio 5,418]

how can he play disasi , who is really slow, when he has james and gusto on the bench. Inexplicably dogshit lineup choices yet again. Do all the managers get brain damage when they join Chelsea?

[gdlk 272]

Hes gone till Christmass... 

[MoroccanBlue 5,318]

6 hours ago, lucio said:

how can he play disasi , who is really slow, when he has james and gusto on the bench. Inexplicably dogshit lineup choices yet again. Do all the managers get brain damage when they join Chelsea?

Because Poch needs aerial dominance on the pitch to combat the likes of Brentford shitehousing and relying on a set piece to get anything. Our kryptonite in essence. 

Disasi for me is just a very average defender. It has to come to a point where Poch starts being more proactive in his selection. Nothing to lose anymore. What's the worse that can happen? Lost 0-3 instead of 0-2?

[robsblubot 3,527]

5 hours ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Because Poch needs aerial dominance on the pitch to combat the likes of Brentford shitehousing and relying on a set piece to get anything. Our kryptonite in essence. 

Disasi for me is just a very average defender. It has to come to a point where Poch starts being more proactive in his selection. Nothing to lose anymore. What's the worse that can happen? Lost 0-3 instead of 0-2?

Agreed. Most managers study the opposition before the games, and Poch likes to tweak the starting lineup accordingly. It's easy to say it was the wrong choice (not my pick either), and I'm not really impressed by Disasi tbh, but maybe we'd have conceded earlier with a header... who knows; hindsight makes us always right.

[OneMoSalah 8,783]

Tough run coming up after Blackburn game, if he doesn’t get results & performances I think he will be out the door by the new year.

Genuinely haven’t seen anywhere near enough or anything resembling any progress- whilst I agree it is not just his fault, as players have been poor and areas we need again neglected for anyone under the age of 23 with potential - he will be the first one thrown to the Wolves by this absolute circus that is the footballing department and ownership model.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,512]

Orney says he is here until at least summer.

 

 

[lucio 5,418]

Poch out 

[Fulham Broadway 16,894]

25 minutes ago, lucio said:

Poch out 

Think getting rid would just paper over the cracks - the problem runs a lot deeper with the custodians/investors

[Mário César 988]

no way board will sack him

Chelsea problem are far from poch tatical issues 

[MoroccanBlue 5,318]

52 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Think getting rid would just paper over the cracks - the problem runs a lot deeper with the custodians/investors

There's a culture issue as well. Been here even under Roman.

Can't put my finger on it but we've had mentality and attacking issues for the longest time. 

[Fulham Broadway 16,894]

2 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

There's a culture issue as well. Been here even under Roman.

Can't put my finger on it but we've had mentality and attacking issues for the longest time. 

Yup, seems light years from when we had Terry, Lampard, Ballack, Azpi, players that would literally run through brick walls for the club -as you say the culture has changed to one of individuals just going through the motions. Dont know what the answer is -other than sitting them all down and making them watch the 22 odd trophies/finals we previously won and a documentary on how claiming wages but not doing your job is stealing.

[Blue Armour 4,300]

3 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Yup, seems light years from when we had Terry, Lampard, Ballack, Azpi, players that would literally run through brick walls for the club -as you say the culture has changed to one of individuals just going through the motions. Dont know what the answer is -other than sitting them all down and making them watch the 22 odd trophies/finals we previously won and a documentary on how claiming wages but not doing your job is stealing.

Now the 22 odd trophies are a memory and we have a bunch of 22 yr-old's filling up the squad.

[DDA 9,689]

Cucarella at RB?

Colwill at LB?

No tactical change at HT after being absolutely battered by United?

Keeping Jackson in the team after dropping stinker after stinker?

Dripping Badiashile after a great performance?

Shocking!!!

[Laylabelle 9,369]

Our problems run way deeper. Know management doesn't help but the players we have are pretty dire or just don't care! Then it'll be having someone take that risk to come here..sure they will but within a year or so we'll be back where we are now. 

Know owners change and things change etc but in 2021 we won the Champions league...2 years later we're sitting 10th doing crap