Victor Moses taking more offensive approach in Chelsea’s 3-4-3

Victor Moses was Chelsea’s man of the match in Sunday’s win over Middlesbrough. The Nigerian wingback pushed up towards his usual winger position to torment Boro’s defence.

Victor Moses’ nearly overnight transition from loan army castoff to indispensable wingback is as impressive as anything else happening at Chelsea. As Chelsea develops greater facility in the 3-4-3 formation, the individual players can better define their roles. Moses is now starting to merge what he has always done with what Antonio Conte expects him to do.

The invaluable pass and position maps from @11tegen11 show Chelsea’s progression in the 3-4-3. Future generations of football scholars will teach Chelsea’s organization and execution against Everton. Southampton resisted Chelsea better than Everton did, and the graphics show how the Blues adapted to the counter.

Against Middlesbrough, Victor Moses moved forward of his fellow midfielders for the first time since Chelsea’s 3-4-3 debut against Hull City six matches ago. Moses also owned the area in front of Pedro – his right winger – for the first time.

Chelsea all but secured the win against Everton within 20 minutes of kick-off. Despite this, Victor Moses spent substantially more time in his defensive zone against the Toffees than he did against Middlesbrough.

Moses’ heat map shows him spending most of the game on the Middlesbrough side of the middle-third. His aggregate positioning forward of Pedro came from less time in the defensive zone rather than deeper or prolonged penetration on attack.

Moses had diminished passing statistics against Boro compared to Everton. He attempted 13 fewer passes, and received 13 fewer as well. This reduction almost entirely came on the defensive third. Moses attempted 10 fewer passes in the defensive third and three fewer in the middle third. In both games, he aimed 25 passes in the attacking third, connecting on 17 at Middlesbrough and 19 against Everton.

Victor Moses’ persistent offensive activity on the right helped overload that side of Middlesbrough’s defence. Left-midfielder Gaston Ramirez should have been his team’s first line of defence, but he routinely abandoned his post to drift centrally and hack down Eden Hazard and other Blues. That exposed left-back Fabio de Silva, to whom Moses gave no quarter with direct and overlapping runs.

Once past Fabio and Ramirez, Moses had an open path towards the centre. Middlesbrough left centre-back Ben Gibson had the unenviable task of nearly man-marking Diego Costa. The combined effect of a distract and weakened Middlesbrough left was a playground for Victor Moses on Chelsea’s right.

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Victor Moses is the more offensive of Chelsea’s wingbacks. This befits his background as a winger, just as Marcos Alonso’s experience as a left-back keeps him closer to Gary Cahill and Nemanja Matic on the defensive side.

The asymmetry between Moses and Alonso is one more nuance of Chelsea’s 3-4-3 that makes it so difficult to defend. The wingbacks can shape the play on an arc through the middle third. This creates easy pass lanes for N’Golo Kante and Cesar Azpilicueta on the right, and creates two funnels to bring the play towards Diego Costa and Eden Hazard.

With Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City next up, Chelsea will need every ounce of nous. Victor Moses stands ready to deliver.