Chelsea emerged as 1-0 victors after a nervy clash with West Brom. Antonio Conte’s defensive substitutions, though, risked the three points.
It is March 11th, 2015. Chelsea are hosting Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of a Round of 16 Champions League clash. Ahead on aggregate by virtue of a single away goal, Chelsea seem certain to go through to the quarterfinals when Zlatan Ibrahimovic gets a red card in the 31st minute.
With a man advantage at home, Chelsea should have been going for the throat of PSG and putting the tie to bed early. Instead, Jose Mourinho had the Blues sit back and play a defensive and pragmatic game.
PSG took advantage with a David Luiz goal in the 86th minute. Eden Hazard put the Blues ahead once more, but the pragmatic, negative style remained despite the man advantage. PSG sensed the fear in Chelsea, and took advantage. Thiago Silva scored and PSG advanced on away goals.
A more recent example, also involving Jose Mourinho, is the recent match between Manchester United and Everton. United were ahead 1-0, and in the 85th minute Jose Mourinho brought on Marouane Fellaini to close out the game. Fellaini gave up a penalty and United had to settle for a draw.
More from The Pride of London
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea player ratings: Abysmal, reckless, wasteful
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: 3 Blues talking points
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
- Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1
Mourinho is the manager best known for scrapping out 1-0 wins. But there is a time and a place for settling for them. Mourinho found this out against PSG, Everton and in most of his final days at Chelsea.
Fast forward to today, and to Antonio Conte. Against West Brom, right after Diego Costa scored the winning goal, Conte opted to sub off Eden Hazard for Branislav Ivanovic with roughly 11 minutes remaining.
This move was Conte essentially saying, “We will settle for 1-0”. Fortunately, it worked, but it was not necessary and risked the victory.
More from Chelsea FC News
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
- Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1
- Chelsea sporting directors finally reveal why they sign so many young players
- These 3 new signings may never get a game at Chelsea
With Diego Costa scoring, momentum had shifted towards Chelsea. It was not the time to go into a shell. It was time to go for the jugular. Instead, Ivanovic coming on afforded West Brom the most dangerous spell of possession that they enjoyed the entire match.
Chelsea were forced to weather the storm. All the momentum from Costa’s goal was immediately seceded for the sake of protecting a narrow lead that would not have been under any kind of threat otherwise.
Chelsea ended the match with an expected goal tally of 0.65. West Brom ended the match with 0.3. Chelsea did not create many opportunities, but West Brom created virtually nothing all game.
However, they posed a threat for the final 11 minutes when Chelsea went to shut down shop. Antonio Conte put Chelsea in greater danger than they had been all game by making a pragmatic substitution.
Must Read: Chelsea FC’s 50 Greatest Players Of All-Time
Against a mid-table club like West Brom, at home, Chelsea should not be afraid of blowing a 1-0 lead. It was not the time for pragmatism. Away to City or hosting a dangerous Spurs team is the time for pragmatism.
Conte’s substitution worked today, but 1-0 wins quickly turn into 1-1 draws and 1-2 losses, as Mourinho proved in his disastrous 2015/2016 season. To play for a 1-0 win when it is unnecessary risks the victory more than it protects it.
Antonio Conte played with fire today, and Chelsea were lucky not to get burnt. Other opponents will not be as forgiving as West Brom were.