Chelsea prove Brian Clough right: Players, not tactics, decide the game
By George Perry
After making Watford and Bournemouth look like Barcelona earlier this year, Chelsea took the pressure off Barcelona to be Barcelona. The Blues demonstrated how tactics are only as effective as the players’ ability to execute the fundamentals.
In the battle between Antonio Conte and Ernesto Valverde, Brian Clough had the final word. Despite having and – for the most part – implementing smarter and stronger tactics than Barcelona, Chelsea shipped four goals over the two legs to their Catalan rival. Neither team’s tactics had much to do with three of Barcelona’s four goals. The players on both sides made all the difference.
Nottingham Forest’s legendary manager Brian Clough knew how to win in Europe in a different era. Whether it was working-class bluster or quintessential old-school English philosophy, he dismissed the emphasis – or at least the banter – around tactics.
"Players lose you games, not tactics. There’s so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes."
Antonio Conte’s tactics have been the target of criticism since the first leg against Barcelona. The Blues played too deep and too defensively (and with the false-nine) for many domino players’ liking. They loosened up a bit against Manchester United, but then went to the extreme against Manchester City. In the first two games they surrendered a 1-0 lead, and against City they never came close to having one.
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Conte reversed course at Camp Nou. He restored Eden Hazard to the left-wing / No. 10, and started Olivier Giroud at centre-forward. Chelsea played like Chelsea should and like an Antonio Conte team should. They held 44% possession, much of it purposeful in Barcelona’s half. They pressed high and forced turnovers in the final third, established extended pass sequences in the final third and attacked quickly on the counters through Willian and N’Golo Kante.
The Blues knew what to do and, for the most part, they did it. They knew where to be, where to look for the pass, when to move back towards the ball. Cesar Azpilicueta knew when to move up, and Marcos Alonso knew when to come inside. Willian, Kante and Alonso each knew what was expected of them, and delivered. And – again – for the most part, their teammates did, too.
Just as they did against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge. Just as they did against Manchester City. And just as they did against Manchester United.
But just as they did in those three games, they also had moments of confusion, panic and sloppiness. Tactics do not matter a damn when your goalkeeper allows two shots between his legs for goals. Tactics can not save you when four players are hypnotically drawn towards Lionel Messi on the right with no awareness of Ousmane Dembele sprinting in on the left. Antonio Conte no doubt made his players watch Bernardo Silva’s goal from the Manchester City game. Yet his players allowed Dembele to repeat it almost exactly.
Tactically, Chelsea shut down Ousmane Dembele, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and, in weeks past, Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva and Alexis Sanchez. But there comes a point when tactics no longer matter, and only the players do.
When Lionel Messi is one-on-one with Thibaut Courtois, there are no tactics, only two players. When Messi is one-on-four with Chelsea’s defenders and midfielders, there is no 3-4-3 / 5-3-2 chameleon. There’s only Dembele in space. When Eden Hazard opts not to show up, there is no difference between a No. 10 and a false-nine. There is only one player who talks about being world-class, and another on the other side who truly is. Guess which one is going to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Antonio Conte spoke about the need for a perfect game. Tactically, he has had several perfect games. But there’s more to football than tactics. Tactics are not sufficient, and may not even be necessary, to win at football.
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As another legend of the game once said, “You don’t need to play well to win finals.” When every game feels like a final, you do need to have players up for the moment. Chelsea did not, and Barcelona always does.