Chelsea Tactics and Transfers: An opportunity to learn and improve

Chelsea dropped points against Burnley, but a draw at Turf Moor is a decent result. Moreover, they saw where their vulnerabilities lay.

Chelsea might feel a little bit hard done by following the Burnley match. They might, even though they shouldn’t. At no point in this match did it feel like Chelsea ever got out of second or third gear. Because of that, Burnley were able to play just as well as the Blues. The good news is Chelsea were able to learn about their own weaknesses during the match while not being punished with a loss.

Chelsea still have trouble breaking teams down if they sit back against them. This team can often be accused of accepting a stagnant situation rather than changing it. When the other team is sitting with five men in the box, it will be hard to break them down.

Chelsea need to be more adaptable in an attacking sense rather than the hope-Hazard-does-something-magical-and-Costa-capitalizes attacking plan. What is still lacking from the team is another great creative force. Things opened up when Cesc Fabregas entered the fray slightly but the right wing was still a problem area.

After his goal Pedro never really seemed to make much of an impact and Victor Moses is beginning to show the signs of a long season. With Burnley able to man-mark Diego Costa and keep the ball in front of them while forcing Eden Hazard out wide there was not a lot for Chelsea to do.

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It is precisely in matches like this that one sees why the 3-4-3 is likely only a step in the evolutionary process towards a 3-5-2. The team needs more options to attack besides startling wing play.

3-4-3 puts a large emphasis on wing play while also relieving pressure on both the attacking winger and the wing back. They have one another for support at all times. This is not true in a 3-5-2. In 3-5-2 the wing-backs simply need to be dominant and fluent in the language of their position. In both the attacking and defending senses there is no room for mistakes.

Victor Moses, for all his industriousness, is still learning the position. Having said that, he does have the potential to develop into the best wing back in England and maybe even Europe. That will be about coaching and experience.

Alonso may, however, find himself the odd man out eventually. He is too slow to not have a player in the third in front of him. His crossing ability and positional sense are good but ultimately his ceiling physically may be too low.

The reason why the 3-5-2 is the next step is simple. N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic for all their horsepower are not creative enough as a midfield pair. They are wildly industrious, but not a single manager in world football is worried about them passing their way to glory. They need a third partner.

Whether that player is Nathaniel Chalobah or Cesc Fabregas now or Lewis Baker or Marco Verratti in the future is unclear. The match against Burnley, though, shows exactly what the limitations of the 3-4-3 are against a disciplined hard fighting team who aren’t awed by the names their playing against.