Bournemouth used tactics reminiscent of Chelsea’s own to beat the Blues. How did Eddie Howe lead his small yet plucky Bournemouth to one of the club’s greatest ever results over Chelsea?
Bournemouth set up in a 3-4-3 to mirror Chelsea’s. Mirroring formation is a time honored tactic for David’s facing Goliath’s. Sometimes it blows back like it did for Ronald Koeman’s Everton in their 5-0 thrashing in October 2016. Other days it works perfectly.
Eddie Howe is one of the most promising up-and-coming English managers. He set his team with a clear tactical plan and they executed it perfectly.
Bournemouth pressed the Chelsea forwards and defense aggressively and with a high line. Whenever Thibaut Courtois tried to pass out to the center backs, Bournemouth’s forwards pressed. And whenever the ball reached the Chelsea forwards at the halfway line, the Cherries’ defense pressed hard.
This caused Chelsea to have no time on the ball and forced them into errors. Bournemouth’s purpose was to win the ball high, pass it onto the forwards, and cause chaos when they had the ball. Bournemouth had far less possession, but their system prevented Chelsea from having meaningful possession.
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The initial reaction from the Blues was to dribble out of the press. Because Bournemouth was pressing so aggressively, it was easy to side step around them and push forward. That helped progress the ball into the other half with consistency.
Bournemouth committed numbers around the Chelsea wing backs and cut off passing lanes. The Cherries read the subsequent long ball more often than not.
When pushed into their own half, Bournemouth collapsed into a 5-3-2 formation. This offered little space for the Chelsea attackers to exploit. Eventually, Bournemouth would win the ball back and quickly break into the other half starting the process over again.
Antonio Conte responded by staggering Tiemoue Bakayoko and N’Golo Kante in midfield. Kante pushed forward while Bakayoko held. Because Bournemouth was not pressing the center midfielders, Kante could create an additional option near the forward line to play the ball towards.
Kante’s push put pressure on the Bournemouth backline. Now Chelsea were able to progress into the other half more easily, causing Bournemouth to shell up sooner. With less pressure, the Chelsea forwards were able to get more involved in the match, and the remainder of the first half pointed towards Chelsea scoring the first goal.
But it was not to be. Bournemouth was able to continue the plan in spurts and eventually it caused the mistake they were looking for. Bournemouth won the ball in their attacking third after catching Bakayoko in the press. A ball to Callum Wilson split Cesar Azpilicueta and Gary Cahill. Neither defender was sure who was to commit, so neither did. Wilson made no mistake when through on goal.
Bournemouth dialed the press back and were happy with the lead. They retreated into a defensive shape more quickly and dared Chelsea to take the points back. Antonio Conte responded by subbing off Ross Barkley, who had little to do, for Cesc Fabregas.
Strangely, this did not cause a formation change. Fabregas took Barkley’s forward role. Perhaps Conte sensed the 3-5-2 would be pressed back too easily. Perhaps he thought Fabregas could create closer to Eden Hazard and Pedro than he could from deep. Regardless, it did not work and Bournemouth scored the second goal in a similar fashion to the first.
With little other choice, Conte went for it. He subbed Callum Hudson-Odoi in for his second professional game in place of Davide Zappacosta. Unfortunately, terrible set piece defending by the entire Chelsea team immediately gave Nathan Ake his revenge goal on his old club and manager.
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And that is when the tactics stopped. Bournemouth packed it into their half and waited for the final whistle. Chelsea played in a 4-gobbledygook-Hazard formation with no shape besides two center backs holding and Hazard up top. The players in between wandered wherever they wanted to no effect.
All credit to Eddie Howe. Bournemouth stuck to their plan and executed brilliantly. It took three defensive errors to score three goals, but that was the plan all along. In fact, the set up Bournemouth used was eerily reminiscent of Chelsea’s 3-4-3 last season.
Tactically, much went wrong, but outside factors played a role. Conte was forced to change his setup after planning to have a true striker (Michy Batshuayi) up top. Bournemouth had little reason to be pulled out of position without an anchor forward.
In addition, Andreas Christensen’s hamstring injury caused a reorganization of the back line. Gary Cahill is many things, but he is not the correct center back for the middle of a back three. He is not quick enough to sweep when needed, and both of the open-play goals showed it.
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Eddie Howe did not have a masterclass but still planned perfectly. Antonio Conte will be furious with the result and the entire month of January. It may not be time to throw the baby out with the bath water, but it might be time to at least crack the window and consider new tactics.