After a few weeks of absolutely dire football, Chelsea finally clicked against Brighton to score four goals. How did it all come together?
Chelsea burst out of the blocks to put Brighton two down early on. And although they sagged again in the middle, it was not for want of trying. Eventually those efforts resulted in another two goals. The question is why? Why did Chelsea, after several 0-0 draws and an unconvincing showing against Norwich, remember how to score? How to attack? And do it all with a makeshift lineup?
The simple answer is they went back to what worked last year. The more complicated answer is they have already been doing this but the pieces all worked against Brighton. The even more complicated answer is that there were a few twists to what worked last season that meant all their chances yielded material reward.
As always with Antonio Conte’s system, it starts with the striker(s). Michy Batshuayi stepped in for the suspended Alvaro Morata. Many have claimed that Batshuayi does not suit Conte’s system. That is true at times and false at others. The inconsistency of it is why Batshuayi has struggled for minutes.
In Conte’s system, the striker is a reference point. Players move in reaction to what the striker is doing, especially in attack. Batshuayi did things he has done on his good days (and Morata on his good days) causing the attack to work.
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The simplest thing Batshuayi did was press the opposition when they tried to play out. This facet goes missing on Batshuayi’s bad days. Morata is capable of it as well (though less aggressively) and Diego Costa did it too.
More importantly, Batshuayi did not dribble out of pressure. This has been a significant problem with Morata in recent weeks, often leading to turnovers. Instead, he passed out of it to his support players.
Another recent issue comes from the 3-5-2 formation. With only one support player (Eden Hazard), opponents can easily deal with the flicks and tricks. But with two (Willian and Hazard), the striker has options and the opposing defense has to spread out to mark everyone. This leaves spaces for players to exploit which is why nearly every goal came down to a one-on-one.
Ideally in the 3-5-2, there would be a midfielder bursting forward to become a support player. N’Golo Kante did this the first few times the formation was used, but since then it has been a duty put on Danny Drinkwater, Cesc Fabregas and Tiemoue Bakayoko. Theoretically, Ross Barkley would fill this role when he becomes match fit.
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Interestingly, Willian and Charly Musonda played a similar role in the Brighton match. Willian would drop into midfield when Brighton gained momentum and would burst into attack when Chelsea got the ball back. Musonda only had time to play in the central midfield role and did the same.
With Ross Barkley added to the mix, that gives Chelsea three players who can adjust their position to change the formation from 3-5-2 to 3-4-3 as needed. This would allow Chelsea the best of both worlds.
The midfield line (wingbacks and center-midfielders) also played an important role in the buildup. In recent weeks, only one player would be an option for the back three to use – N’Golo Kante. This made Chelsea’s build up easy to cope with because opponents knew where the ball would come from every time.
Against Brighton, both Bakayoko and Kante stayed back to receive the ball from the defense. This forced Brighton to commit at least one player, creating a gap to play into.
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Another effect of Bakayoko and Kante being available was the ability to have the wingbacks press up. Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses got ahead of Bakayoko and Kante to force the opponents press back and to draw players away from Willian and Hazard. This is different than last season because the wingbacks would start deeper before making an overlapping run.
On attack, Kante and Bakayoko merely served as a recycle option. Again, in recent weeks only Kante served this role. By taking one player back, it actually allowed Chelsea to get more players involved in the final third. The wingbacks were able to push up and, if needed, the ball could be sent back to the center-mids who had a better view of the field.
But perhaps most importantly of all was how Chelsea attacked. Recent weeks saw them sit on the ball as the opponent got into their defensive shape. This made the opposing team hard to break down and made Chelsea’s life much harder.
The goals against Brighton came from quick attacks. Chelsea caught the Seagulls in transition and it led to goals and one-on-one situations. At that point it simply comes down to a player picking a spot instead of having to worry about a defender.
It is also worth noting two things. The first is that Chelsea lost their momentum when they focused on possession. This allowed Brighton to get set and counter into the known weak areas; behind the wingbacks. They nearly scored from several breaks because Chelsea slowed their own play down. Having said that, this is understandable as it is difficult for a team to break quickly constantly, especially after a long and hard midweek game.
The other point is that attacks broke down when Batshuayi started to dribble out of pressure. The Belgian is not a dribbler and when the striker’s role sagged, so did the entire attack. This one is more inexcusable because it was clear he was looking for a goal. Towards the end of the game, he took a more selfish approach and the Blues suffered as as result.
All and all, the match showed that Conte has been thinking of ways to fix the attack. That comes down to the striker appropriately fulfilling his duties, but it also comes down to the formation.
It is possible to play this way in either the 3-5-2 or the 3-4-3. The main difference is where the third attacker starts. In the 3-5-2, it would be a midfielder starting from deep and bursting forward. In the 3-4-3 it would be the winger that is not Hazard. Regardless, the other players need to perform their roles properly as well.
A midfielder needs to help Kante with shovelling the ball from defense to offense. Hazard does not need to be welded to the left, but he does need to stay in a wider area rather than a central one. The wingbacks need to be aware of the space behind them and the players need to quickly drop into the 5-3-2 when they don’t have the ball.
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Conte has been right, Chelsea have been creating chances. But against Brighton a mixture of small, simple tactical changes and players doing as they should came together to create better opportunities. The squad has been right on the edge of this for weeks and on Saturday they finally stepped over. Keeping the momentum against Arsenal is now a must if Chelsea are to banish their poor start to 2018.