Tottenham, inspired by Thanksgiving, carved Chelsea up like a turkey. The zonal marking is to blame and it is the club’s greatest weakness.
A pure zonal marking system is a novelty in the modern game. There are few teams with enough time to properly drill it and even then it requires a consistent mental fortitude that few can maintain. But that has not stopped Maurizio Sarri from using it.
The issues with Chelsea’s zonal defending were visible in preseason and especially in the early days of the season. Most of those issues are concealed by the highline and possession. But if a team can stop Chelsea’s possession and push their line back, the zonal defending is exposed. Tottenham pulled off a clinic against Chelsea. The match can be used as a prime example as to A: how to beat a zonal defense and B: why a pure zonal system is not sustainable in the modern game.
Zonal defending in its purest form is a defender only pressing a player if they have the ball in their zone. Some teams use large zones but most have smaller, overlapping ones. The issue with overlapping zones is who commits when the ball is played into the overlap. More often than not, neither player commits and the opponent breaks through a line.
Tottenham did that time and time again. The fullbacks and centerbacks were split by through balls and runs right through the middle of them. The same happened with the centermids and wingers. That is how Tottenham found so much space in behind.
Many want to blame N’Golo Kante and Jorginho being “swapped” for this. But in a zonal system, it makes sense to have Kante in a wider role. His zone is wider and in an area opponents are more likely to pass through. But when Kante’s (or Mateo Kovacic’s) zone is bypassed, the opponent can very easily do the same with the back line.
The only real argument to continue zonal marking is that it takes time to implement and Maurizio Sarri deserves the time to put it in place. Many point towards Pep Guardiola and his complicated system as proof that time will fix the issues.
But Guardiola has quite a different portfolio than Sarri. And what many fail to notice/mention/realize is that Guardiola did not stick to his system as if it was the only solution. He made adjustments to suit the league he was in rather than assume his way could work in England as it was.
Guardiola initially used inverted fullbacks like he did at Bayern Munich. Overtime, he reverted to a more situational use of his fullbacks and wingers (one inverts, the other goes wide) while playing too “flying eights” or “false tens”. Guaridola adjusted how his team set up to cope with the difference in the league. Sarri must do the same.
Zonal marking can work but it requires a very specific sort of player with enough training. It allows for little rotation and that will end up hurting Chelsea. Mauricio Pochettino is not the first manager to try to exploit it and his team is not the only team capable of breaking the zones.
A small adjustment that is possible is to add man marking elements while keeping the zonal system. But Sarri needs to show the willingness to admit that Sarrismo as it was at Napoli may not be compatible with the Premier League. If he does and adjusts, Chelsea can get back on course. If he does not, then this tenure may end up looking a lot like Rafa Benitez’s or Andre Villas-Boas’.