Chelsea: Lampard and Kante’s return open up midfield shapes and rotation

N’Golo Kante returned to Chelsea’s starting XI for the UEFA Super Cup. His return enabled the Blues’ midfield to have more fluidity and options in all phases of the game than the team have had for some time.

Frank Lampard’s base formation to face Liverpool was a 4-1-4-1. Jorginho was the deep-lying midfielder, with N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic joining Christian Pulisic and Pedro on the more forward line. For Chelsea fans whose level of footballing cognition is somewhere between scratch-and-sniff and see-and-say, the sight of Kante forward and to the right of Jorginho was enough to attribute this formation to Maurizio Sarri. They are wrong, for numerous reasons.

For starters, 4-1-4-1 was the base formation, not the only formation. Chelsea normally showed this shape in transitional stages of the game, particularly in the immediate moments after a change of possession: the transition to a transition, so to speak.

If Chelsea were transitioning to defence or transitioning into possession deep in their zone, either N’Golo Kante or Mateo Kovacic would drop close to Jorginho, setting the Blues into a 4-2-3-1.

This served at least three purposes: defensive cover, a short-range passing option for Jorginho and opening wide areas to play the ball up field.

These are essential tasks, as Jorginho continued to receive the ball in Chelsea’s third facing his own goal, or with a body position and orientation that did not allow for a low-pressure move upfield. Jorginho and Kurt Zouma are also liable to play the ball back to the centrebacks or Kepa Arrizabalaga somewhat blindly or under pressure, as Zouma did early in the game on Sunday. Kante and Kovacic did their best to offer a better option, and position themselves to interdict or ameliorate a turnover.

Because Kante or Kovacic flanked Jorginho in the defensive third, they brought extra Liverpool players with them. This opened up Chelsea’s ability to play the ball up the flanks, and for much of the first half the midfield was unusually quiet for both sides. By not playing the ball up the middle themselves, Chelsea made it harder for Liverpool to play against them in central locations. This, in turn, helped Chelsea take control of the opening 45 minutes. The double pivot created an avenue the Blues chose to detour around, edging Liverpool off their game plan.

Once the transition to possession was complete and Chelsea took over the offensive side of the game, Chelsea shifted into a 4-2-4, or perhaps a very lopsided 4-3-3.

Kovacic usually stayed back with Jorginho while Kante played at or just behind the forward line. As the game went on, the 4-2-4 started to look more like a 4-1-5 or a pseudo-three-man defence, as Cesar Azpilicueta did not venture forward as often as he did on Sunday.

Prolonged possession brought Jorginho into the game much more positively, supporting the attack from a central and deep position. He was no Cesc Fabregas and not the No. 10 at least one of my colleagues thinks he could become, but the flow of play at least constrained the consequences of his occasional positioning; and his passes, when properly selected, were productive.

For the first hour, Chelsea pressed mostly through N’Golo Kante and the forwards. Mateo Kovacic hung back, ready to cover Liverpool as they played through the press.

After the 60′ mark, though, perhaps as Chelsea recognized their confidence and control over the game, the real fluidity started.

At times, Jorginho pushed very high up the pitch as Chelsea transitioned out of possession in Liverpool’s zone. He was not quite pressing, but he would support whichever of Kante or Kovacic was pressing, while the other dropped deep to cover the back line. This meant that throughout the closing stages of regulation time and into extra time, all three midfielders took a turn as the deep-lying midfielder, even though Jorginho never pressed as aggressively as Kovacic or Kante. Those latter two, on the other hand, moved like pistons while pressing in the last 30 of the 90.

The Blues accepted greater space between their pressing / attacking midfielders and the deep-lying midfielder as the game went on. This was a calculated risk, especially after Liverpool went up early in the second half. However, Azpilicueta’s added defensive cover and Kante’s ability to recover – sometimes just enough to slow down play, if not regain possession – made the risk acceptable.

Individually, N’Golo Kante – like all of his teammates – had more freedom to find and play a range of passes than he did last year. Kante several times switched the play fully across the pitch from right to left. His usual target was Emerson Palmieri, who usually found Kante’s passes hitting him square on the laces. This was a pass neither Kante nor any other player made very often last year, as any movement of the ball from one side to the other had to go through Jorginho. Kante could also dribble himself into more positions, knowing his midfield partners and the forwards would have to (and were able to) respond to his movement to get themselves into better positions to receive a pass or create space.

N’Golo Kante’s role against Liverpool was an expansion of what he did both before and after Maurizio Sarri arrived. He played in a more advanced role, as he did last season, but he did so within the context of midfield rotation, different formations spinning off of a base formation to match the game state and freedom of play and decision-making.

Many of those features were traditionally hallmarks of Chelsea’s midfield, especially when Frank Lampard was between the touchlines instead of standing alongside one. To varying extents, every Premier League team shows some of these characteristics – they are part of the football culture of the league, as opposed to, say, Serie A. Better teams do all of them better, but most teams in England will exhibit at least two of them to varying levels of quality.

This will be the next stage in the development of Chelsea’s midfield and Chelsea’s midfielders. The more Jorginho can stand on his own as a deep-lying midfielder – that is, not require defensive cover or assistance in playing out from the back – the more options Lampard will have for the other midfielders.

Similarly, as Chelsea’s defence builds their stability they will be less reliant on Kante-quality protection through the midfield, whether that comes from Kante himself or the combination of Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho.

Lampard’s approach is as new for Jorginho as it is for a large number of Blues. His response to this learning curve will shape his performances and his place in the squad, and he deserves as much a chance as anyone to adapt. It’s not his fault he’s only ever done one thing.

However, Lampard may only tolerate coverage schemes for so long before he makes a dramatic move akin to Antonio Conte’s shift to the 3-4-3. At some point he will need to build a system that makes the best use of every player on the pitch, instead of one where Player A must take on added responsibilities to compensate for Player B.

Whatever Lampard decides, N’Golo Kante continues to prove he can do absolutely everything tactically, technically and physically.

Now that he has fuller freedom to do it, Chelsea’s opponents must confront the terrifying thought (for them – wonderful for us) that they have yet to see the extent of his abilities.