Talking tactics: Chelsea faces West Ham’s excellent Frankenstein side

Chelsea struggled against the Premier League’s other Frankenstein side Everton. How will they fare against the best Frankenstein side West Ham?

The Premier League has several sides that could be described as “Frankenstein sides”. But few have as much cash and as much of a complete mishmash of players as Everton and West Ham. A few weeks ago, Chelsea struggled and lost to Everton. West Ham is a whole other beast.

Unlike Everton, West Ham’s Frankenstein nature has been set aside somewhat by Manuel Pellegrini. He is not afraid to sit good players if they do not fit the style he is going for that match. It took an incredibly rough start to the season for him to figure out the right balance but since then he has more or less kept the scales even.

What that means for Chelsea is that they will face a side like Everton but much better set up for what they are trying to accomplish. Pellegrini may have taken a step down over the last few years to end up at West Ham, but he is every bit of the title winning manager that he is. Maurizio Sarri and Chelsea must be careful not to underestimate him.

Pellegrini has not totally reigned in West Ham’s Frankenstein nature however. Though he often gets the plan right, the lower quality of players available to him often costs him in the end. So one week they can be swatting a side aside that they are seemingly level with on paper and then the next a “lesser” side does the same to them.

There are three main West Ham formations: 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, and 4-4-2. Pellegrini won the league with the latter but the line between the 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 and then the 4-2-3-1 and the 4-1-4-1 are quite blurred in a Pellegrini side. Against the top six, he has often gone with the 4-2-3-1 as it is the most adaptable into what the situation demands.

Defensively, West Ham will sit somewhat deeper and use a mix of man marking and zonal marking with an offside trap to unsettle opponents. When they win the ball, they look to quickly advance it through the fullbacks and wingers into the opponent’s final third. This is less a “kick it hard and hope our guy gets it strategy” as other teams have used against Chelsea as West Ham generally look to play it low and trust the pace of their wide men.

Once they enter the final third, the wingers like to cut in as the fullbacks sit in wait for overlaps. With Declan Rice holding, the shape in attack can look something like a 3-4-2-1 as they look for openings.

Of course, against Chelsea they likely will not be able to enter that shape and hold possession. They will do what most successful midtable teams do against Chelsea: beat the Blues’ zonal offside trap on the transition and then reset quickly.

Of all the midtable teams Chelsea has struggled against, West Ham will likely be the second most dangerous to Chelsea after Wolverhampton. Pellegrini is a wise manager who was once close to the Chelsea job himself. He will have a point to prove against a Blues side that still does not know who they really are.