Chelsea need a Route One option to play a long ball out from the defence

Watford clearly studied how Bournemouth defeated Chelsea and employed similar tactics against the Blues. After dominating last season with a high-pressing 3-4-3, Chelsea have succumbed to it two games in a row against mid-table teams.

Watford executed their game plan against Chelsea from the opening kick-off. Like Bournemouth, the Hornets lined up in a 3-4-3 and pressed the Blues high and hard in their defensive third. Tiemoue Bakayoko’s incompetence gave them a target for their efforts over the first 30 minutes, and his absence simply made their day easier.

With the exception of Chelsea’s brief surge midway in the second half, Watford’s wingers and midfielders pinned Chelsea deep in their zone. With no target man to bring down a long ball in the air, the Blues maintained meaningless possession and racked up horizontal passes among their centre-backs. Chelsea’s pass-map revealed the dreaded U-shape, indicative of a team unable to move the ball out from the defence.

Watford’s press forced Chelsea’s defenders to use Thibaut Courtois as a relief outlet in dangerous situations. The Hornets not only rushed the ball-carrier, but shut down passing lanes up the field and to the relief defender. This forced David Luiz and Gary Cahill further back until they were sometimes making low angle or even horizontal passes to Courtois. But with the Blues so deep, Watford’s midfielders would not have to cover much ground to pressure Courtois himself.

However, Courtois had few options on the ball. A short pass to a centre-back or wing-back would not take the pressure out of his zone. But a longer pass usually ended up in Watford’s possession as Chelsea have no forwards or central midfielders able to win aerial duels in the middle of the pitch.

Particularly with Marcos Alonso and Alvaro Morata out of the lineup, the Blues only had short ground options available, and Watford knew it. They could play high with impunity because they knew Chelsea would not attempt a long outlet ball and, if they did, no one would be there to bring it down and launch an attack.

All the talk about Chelsea’s need for a reference point striker has centered on their play in the offensive third. But in the last two games the Blues needed such a player just to get the ball over the midfield line.

A true centre-forward can win the aerial duel at midfield and either hold the ball up or turn the play himself to move upfield. The long-ball to the centre-forward not only circumvents the press, but it instantly shifts the play. The team goes from being beseiged to being on the counter-attack. With speedy wingers streaming up on either side of the centre-forward, the counter is on.

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If all this sounds familiar, it is because it is what Chelsea had last year with Diego Costa. Before him, they had Didier Drogba. Alvaro Morata has yet to show the physical strength and will to win the aerial duels. Michy Batshuayi could win the duels, but did not have the hold-up play to bring the wingers into the flow. Marcos Alonso could also win the duels and could even turn the play upfield, but he cannot be in the centre of the pitch looking for an outlet.

Olivier Giroud and Ross Barkley will offer two such outlets. Both have the size necessary to bring the ball down and at least maintain possession long enough to lay it off to a midfielder or winger coming into the play. This could even be the opening through which Giroud challenges Alvaro Morata for the starting role. If Giroud is willing and able to involve himself in the play earlier than Morata would be, he would offer Antonio Conte a much needed tactical option for moving the ball out from the defence.

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Bournemouth’s and Watford’s high press disconnected Chelsea’s defence from the midfield and offensive lines. They threatened the Blues in one direction and neutralized in the other. Chelsea’s tactics have gone from being predictable to being stale, and are now being used against them.