Chelsea increasingly dependent on Cesc Fabregas for productive passing
By George Perry
Burnley effectively contained Chelsea’s pass and possession in the 1-1 draw on Sunday. With Cesc Fabregas only coming on late, Chelsea’s 72% possession and 615 passes were empty tokens of a frustrating draw.
Chelsea completed 615 of 729 attempted passes at Turf Moor on Sunday. Fewer than one-third (179) of those passes came in the attacking third. Most of those came at the boundary of the middle and attacking thirds, with few successfully finding a Blue in the box.
N’Golo Kante was Chelsea’s top passer in the attacking third at 30/31. He sprayed four long diagonal passes from right to left to Marcos Alonso. He also fed shorter balls forward to Victor Moses attacking the right flank and Cesar Azpilicueta running overlaps on the right.
Chelsea’s top five pass combinations involved the three centre-backs and N’Golo Kante. Cesar Azpilicueta led the team in completed and attempted passes, going 103/117. Behind him on the stats sheet was the man to his left, David Luiz with 70/87.
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The last time Chelsea had such lopsided metrics was against Sunderland on 14 December. The Black Cats – like Burnley – stacked their team behind the ball and forced the Blues to carve out opportunities. Sunderland are a weaker opponent than Burnley, but still held Chelsea to a single goal.
The difference – and not just because of his goal – was Cesc Fabregas.
Against Sunderland, the Blues controlled 66% possession and completed 536 passes. Unlike in this weekend’s fixture, though, Chelsea’s passes were decidedly offensive. Instead of Cesar Azpilicueta leading the way, Cesc Fabregas went 100/117. Fabregas was part of Chelsea’s top seven passing combinations: serving for five and receiving for two.
Cesc Fabregas’s exclusion from the starting XI against Burnley and Hull City is all the more puzzling given his performance against similar opponents like Sunderland and Stoke City. No other Chelsea player – indeed, few players anywhere – can create opportunities via passing like Fabregas. Against teams that drop their entire squad behind the ball, Fabregas is the difference between purposeful passing in a build-up towards a goal and unproductive passing in unthreatening areas of the pitch.
Similar to Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas’ presence on the pitch forces the opposition to alter their tactics because of the threat he poses. They cannot allow Fabregas time and space on the ball. He induces a press to eliminate his opportunity to find the perfect moment and weight for a pass. This creates new spaces for Hazard, Diego Costa and Pedro to run into to receive the pass.
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Cesc Fabregas needs time and space to be his most effective. Burnley granted Chelsea both, but the Blues did not have the right man on the pitch. The pass statistics show how thoroughly Burnley denied Chelsea the offensive zone, and how inefficient Chelsea were in their passing and possession.