Talking tactics: Chelsea and the simplicity of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Chelsea has not played Manchester United since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge. The Blues could learn from the simplicity of his setup.

Jose Mourinho’s third season at Manchester United was less of an implosion and more of a slow burn followed by a whimper of a boom. The signs were there for a while but it never quite had the big turning point many expected it to have.

But eventually things caught up with Mourinho and United decided enough was enough. In his place, they turned to former player Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. On paper, that seemed an incredibly underwhelming and foolish appointment at the time. In practice, it has been their best appointment since Sir Alex Ferguson retired (so far).

Solskjaer did not come in and enact a master tactical plan. His genius at United has come from simplicity and empowerment. And it is hard not to compare him to Maurizio Sarri and his Chelsea tenure thus far.

Solskjaer has mostly used a 4-3-3 that often looks like a 4-4-2 diamond or 4-3-1-2 in its actual usage. There is a normal back four with overlapping fullbacks with a band of three midfielders ahead. Paul Pogba is given license to roam centrally and vertically. Jesse Lingard or Juan Mata are given license to roam horizontally behind and beside an attacking duo usually consisting of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

The fluidity of Pogba and Lingard/Mata makes the formation extremely tricky to cope with, as many Premier League teams have found out already. It also does not help that Rashford and Martial are dangerous no matter where they pop up. United will be without Lingard and Martial for the match, but it may not matter for them. Perhaps the biggest advantage the side has gotten has been having the weight taken off of them.

Solskjaer has basically done what made Ferguson so successful: he has kept the tactics simple and has empowered the players to make their own decisions. This has turned a defensive, counter attacking United into a free flowing and vertical passing side almost right away. The players feel comfortable taking risks and doing their own thing whereas previously they were afraid to do so.

Of course, letting the players take some control over themselves has not been a total plus. A system like this requires the players to have high confidence but they also need to make the right decisions. A player like Alexis Sanchez with virtually no confidence has no chance right now. And if players start making incorrect decisions, as they did often against Paris Saint Germain, then it looks more like Mourinho is still the manager.

That is much different than how Sarri has set Chelsea up this season. Sarri is more of a circuit based manager than a decision based ones. The players are performing routines rather than deciding what to do. That is why it often looks as though opponents know what Chelsea is going to do before they do it. It does not allow the freedom of the decision based system but can also avoid the pitfalls of making the wrong decision.

Chelsea versus Manchester United will be another battle between organization and free flowing football. Last time Chelsea played a Manchester team of decision makers, it did not go so well. Sarri will be hoping things are different against a side not yet fully adjusted to their new found freedom.