Chelsea’s preparation against Fulham has been reset by Claudio Ranieri’s sacking. What tactics are going to be at play with Scott Parker in charge?
Slavisa Jokanovic was given a ton of new players to transfer his possession based style from the Championship to the Premier League. It did not go well and he was sacked. Claudio Ranieri was brought in to shore up the defense which was (and is) quite frankly awful. It did not go well and now Fulham are on their third manager this season.
Former Chelsea player Scott Parker only just joined Fulham last summer. He has no previous professional management experience. In fact, his only real experience is from managing the Tottenham U18’s last year. As such, Chelsea has virtually nothing to go on for this match.
The only tactics Chelsea can really prepare for are ones similar to Ranieri’s. Everything beyond that is entirely up to the Blues doing the right things.
The only formation that Parker used consistently with Tottenham U18 was the 4-2-3-1. But the Blues are likely to have so much possession that it will more often than not look like a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2. Fulham is going to look to sit deep and absorb as much as possible before launching it forward and hoping for the best.
Fulham is not going to come out and meet the Blues with a high line or an aggressive press. They are not going to try to play their way through the Blues’ press. And that is the type of opponent Chelsea has struggled to break down this season.
Chelsea simply does not make runs in behind often, usually because there is no space to do so. The possession only works if the opponent is pulled out of position, which Fulham is unlikely to be. And the long balls could cause issues for Chelsea’s high line if everyone is unaware.
So what can Chelsea do? Well the tweaks from the last two matches are probably not going to be totally effective against a team just trying to survive. Defending low will not draw Fulham high, so there is no reason not to counter press high up the field. That will cause the long balls to be more dangerous but it might be the only way to advance.
Chelsea will be forced to break Fulham down and the Blues have simply not been great at that this season. But this is where some of the recent tweaks could prove useful whereas the others will be made obsolete.
Against Tottenham, Chelsea made an effort to add a fourth man to the attack. That helped to stretch Tottenham’s back line and it kept their midfield from being too aggressive. Against Fulham Chelsea can do the same simply because they can afford the risks more easily.
This match will be a bit of a slog. But it could very easily go like the match against Huddersfield did a few weeks ago. Once the first goal goes in, the rest will flow. It will simply be a matter of trying several things to see what works.
Bar a new manager bounce, Chelsea should have a solid chance at this one.