Chelsea can rebound from their embarrassing defeat with a victory against the league’s bottom team. Huddersfield is just happy to be included.
How does a team prepare against a team with a brand new manager who is from the youth level? It is a tricky question for most clubs because they will often have nothing to go on. Of course, this is Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea so there is no planning for the opponent. There is only “Sarrismo” and what the opponent does is not important.
Still, it is helpful to at least have some insight into the opponent. Huddersfield has had a torrid sophomore slump and will be relegated. No one really doubts that now or expects their new manager, Jan Siewert, to save them. They are playing for moral victories as they prepare themselves for the Championship.
Siewert is the latest in a line of Dortmund youth managers getting English jobs. Huddersfield’s own David Wagner was one and Norwich’s Daniel Farke is another. They all player styles that, if one squints, looks like the philosophy Jurgen Klopp put into place at Dortmund.
So while Wagner may have quit (was sacked?), Huddersfield did not deviate far from the plan to hire Siewert. As such, the formation will be some variant of a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. In practice, the two can look very similar so the difference is largely going to be academic.
Tactically, it is hard to tell what to expect from the side right now. Siewert has not been there long and though his style is born from Dortmund’s like Wagner’s, it rarely looks coherent match to match. Part of that is down to Huddersfield simply not being able to play that style with the players they have in the Premier League. Part of it is they know they are going down so there is not much effort being put in.
If they look as the history would suggest, and that is a big if, they will press high and look to counter press to disrupt the opponent’s possession. Once the win the ball back, they will look for the open man to start a quick and ferocious counter. So, Klopp-lite.
But what is very likely to happen is they will go into a shell, press in the opponent’s half, and try long ball counters through the wings. At best, they may get a shot off. At worse, they lose possession and shell back up till they can go again.
Should Chelsea and Sarri be worried? Logically, no. But deep down, their current league form and the recent shellacking by Bournemouth should make the Blues worry. Huddersfield is very, very beatable by pretty much any side Sarri could throw out on the field. And yet, the mentality of the side is so shot and fearful that one Huddersfield attack and goal could send the Blues spiraling.
If Siewert is half the manager Klopp is, he will understand that psychological battle and how it may be more important than the tactical battle. One Huddersfield goal, even as bad as they are, could change everything. And the worst team in the league beating a stuttering top six side is practically a story for every season. Sarri must be careful with this match.