Chelsea: Drinkwater or Fabregas in 3-5-2 is more than “defence” vs. “offence”
By George Perry
Danny Drinkwater is a more effective two-way midfielder than Cesc Fabregas. His inclusion in Chelsea’s starting XI against Liverpool shifted the balance of the 3-5-2 more towards defence without making it a ‘defensive’ formation.
Antonio Conte gave Danny Drinkwater his first Premier League start at Chelsea against Liverpool on Saturday. Drinkwater replaced Cesc Fabregas, who has already played 75% of the total number of minutes he played in the 2016/17 campaign, including 90 minutes against Qarabag on Wednesday. Fabregas came on for Drinkwater in the 74′ and quickly started spraying his trademark passes towards Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata. The different playing styles and Fabregas’ eye-catching passes should not detract from Drinkwater’s offensive abilities.
Both Chelsea and Liverpool played heavily down their respective right sides. Liverpool focussed their offence on Mohamed Salah on the right wing. As the Reds moved everything forward and to their right, they created space on their left.
Particularly when Chelsea counter-attacked – but even when they played the ball out patiently – Davide Zappacosta and Danny Drinkwater moved into this space. These two – separately or together – occupied Chelsea’s right wing area as Liverpool repeatedly failed to pick up their runs. This pair occupied more advanced positions more regularly than their left-side counterparts Marcos Alonso and Tiemoue Bakaoko, who had to deal with Mohamed Salah.
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Beyond simply moving into space, Drinkwater created scoring chances for the Blues. Recalling his title-winning days at Leicester City, Drinkwater showed his ability delivering the early ball to Eden Hazard, Alvaro Morata or any other Chelsea player marauding forward fast enough. This is a significant advantage over Cesc Fabregas, who can see better angles and more adroitly weigh the passes at the expense of efficiency and surprise.
Drinkwater put himself on the other end of a sharp move forward, as well. Drinkwater charged from his midfield position through a gap in Liverpool’s defenders. Eden Hazard played a perfect through-ball, which Drinkwater picked up at pace. Drinkwater’s touch was a bit heavy and Simon Mignolet read the play well, allowing the Liverpool keeper to snuff the chance.
Drinkwater finished the game with two key passes, 88% pass accuracy and one shot, interception, clearance and tackle. This should be no surprise for a player that was second to Riyad Mahrez for assists when Leicester City won the title on 2015/16. In that season Drinkwater was fourth on the team in key passes and third in tackles. He also had the Foxes’ second-highest pass completion among players with over 1500 minutes. Only N’Golo Kante did better.
Despite all this, Danny Drinkwater has been Exhibit A for how Antonio Conte played too defensively against Liverpool. Drinkwater is certainly more defensively astute and capable than Cesc Fabregas, but he is by no means a defensive player.
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Choosing Drinkwater over Fabregas is a much more nuanced strategic decision than “offence vs. defence.” Chelsea needed Drinkwater’s defensive abilities against Liverpool, but they also needed to be ready to exploit Liverpool’s back-line. Conte may have been as surprised as anyone that Jurgen Klopp did not start Sadio Mane or Roberto Firmino. If either of those players had been in the lineup, Drinkwater’s defensive advantages would have been much more apparently useful.
Liverpool’s speed in the press and defensive frailities must also factor in to the Drinkwater vs. Fabregas question. By the time Fabregas came on Liverpool were not pressing as high or as hard as they normally do. This gave Fabregas a shocking amount of time to operate. Earlier in the game, though, Chelsea needed Drinkwater’s quick-release passes to keep the play moving around and through Liverpool’s press.
Furthermore, Liverpool allow a substantial amount of space to develop around their back-line. Chelsea did not need Cesc Fabregas to pinpoint a perfect pass through a stacked defence. They had the right combination of rhythm and accuracy from Danny Drinkwater.
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Whatever shortcomings Chelsea had in their strategy or execution on Saturday, Danny Drinkwater’s first Premier League start was not one of them. Given Drinkwater’s strong performance and Tiemoue Bakayoko’s dismal showing, Antonio Conte may try new combinations for his midfield. Whether he stays with a two-man or three-man midfield, Danny Drinkwater’s presence in no way signals a parked bus.