Chelsea need a sturdier defence before they can chase gratuitous goals

Chelsea were up 2-0 at the half against Huddersfield, and spent the second half aggressively pursuing more goals. They will need a stronger defence against counter-attacks if they plan to do this in future games.

Chelsea’s second half against Huddersfield pleased a particular segment of Chelsea watchers. The Blues played the latter 45 in much the same style as the first 45, validating those who wanted Maurizio Sarri to overturn Antonio Conte’s tendency to protect a 2-0 lead rather than chase a 3-0 (or larger) win. Against Huddersfield Town on opening day, chase away. But starting with matchweek two against Arsenal, the Blues must be much more judicious.

Huddersfield took only three shots in the first half, and their first shot of the game ended up being their only shot on goal. The Terriers had only three shots in the remainder of the game, all coming between the 70′ and 75′. Chelsea had little to worry about as they gave Maurizio Sarri’s style and tactics their first introduction to the Premier League.

Despite only three shots in the first half, including a penalty kick, Chelsea had a 2-0 lead and peppered Huddersfield with 10 shots in the second. Sarri’s halftime talk helped the Blues look much more crisp and confident in their ball and player movement. Huddersfield resisted Chelsea well, until Eden Hazard tore them apart in the final 14 minutes of the game. But Huddersfield did not have anything to counter Chelsea’s tempo. When they retook possession they granted Chelsea enough time to transition into and out of their press and then into their defensive lines. Huddersfield came out of their zone at the time, place and tempo of Chelsea’s choosing.

The Blues will not have this chance again. Arsenal are in a similar transitional period as Chelsea. Unai Emery, like Maurizio Sarri, has not had enough time to train his players in how to present his system under a range of circumstances for 90 minutes.

Against Manchester City on Sunday, the few times where Arsenal showed sparks were on the counter-attack. The counter-attack is a meeting point between Arsene Wenger’s long-ingrained system and Unai Emery’s emerging plan. When Arsenal could get a quick pass to the outside to start the attack and then another pass up the side to get across midfield, they showed some of what Emery hopes will keep them in contention this season.

Manchester City has the speed and organization to recover quickly enough to snuff out the counter. They also have John Stones at the base of the defence. Chelsea do not have any such advantages to defend against the counter.

The overall compactness of Sarri’s play creates the first vulnerability. Sarri likes to play the ball up the centre of the pitch, and he keeps his wingers and full-backs relatively narrow. This creates long and wide channels behind the full-backs.

Chelsea’s full-backs rely on positioning, intelligence and winning one-on-one battles to control their position. Neither Marcos Alonso nor Cesar Azpilicueta are among the faster defenders in the league. This makes them vulnerable to a quick inside-out or over-the-top pass to the space behind them.

Antonio Rudiger and David Luiz have the pace on Chelsea’s defence. But if they need to tap their maximum speed to shut down a counter-attack, they have already lost. Luiz is as untrustworthy with his positional discipline as ever, and throughout preseason would lose his markers when facing an attack or on set pieces. When facing a counter-attack the centre-backs will be starting from too narrow a position to interdict the counter before it builds momentum. A mometary lapse by Luiz will leave Rudiger 1-v-however-many.

They have no such issues on a controlled transition into defence. Maurizio Sarri has the team efficiently setting up in a 4-4-2 as the opponent brings the ball over midfield. They have few issues taking up this formation nor executing it under normal circumstances.

Chelsea biggest structural, personnel and tactical weakness right now is the one thing Arsenal looks like they can do well. If Chelsea take a 2-0 lead against Arsenal and then pursue additional goals, they will be gifting Arsenal the opportunity to get back into the game. This is the blessing and curse of Sarri-ball: a 2-0 lead can become 3-0, 4-0, 2-1 or 2-2 with equal odds and in the same amount of time.

Chelsea need a more reliable and sturdy centre-back pairing, That is, they need a more reliable and sturdy partner for Antonio Rudiger. Any combination of Rudiger, Gary Cahill, Andreas Christensen and Ethan Ampadu (other than Ampadu and Christensen together – too young, not enough size and strength) will be sufficient.

They must also choose their Sarri-ball moments wisely once in the lead. Over the last two seasons the Blues’ strong three-man defence was the platform for Chelsea’s own counter-attacks and offensive rushes. Now they have a shaky, narrow two-man defence playing high up the pitch. Instead of the stable platform they have a rickety gate.

Maurizio Sarri is introducing a new style of football, and perhaps a new ethos at Chelsea FC. If he and his players are not careful, though, they will find out how important the winning mentality is at this club. Unless, of course, the fans (and supporters) really would prefer to lose 4-0 as long as it’s beautiful.