Chelsea defenders used low-pressure Newcastle to experiment freely

Newcastle gave Chelsea plenty of time and space, and the Blues used both to try some unusual rotations among the defensive players.

Chelsea have been succeeding through trial and error this season, with Frank Lampard teaching the players to think in training so they can make decisions – some wrong – during the games. This has led to some unusual and unpredictable mistakes, and has created some of the more interesting interchanges amongst the players, such as the midfield against Grimsby Town or Brighton.

With Newcastle acting like their 29% of possession was still too much and with a level of discipline in their 4-5-1 defensive shape that would make Antonio Conte proud, the Blues had the opportunity and necessity to try out new things. Their extreme possession resembled last August’s game against Newcastle at St. James’ Park, but under Frank Lampard the Blues never fell into the U-shaped trap of tippy-tappy keep ball. The defenders, in particular, showed all sorts of freedom in their movement. Sometimes perhaps too much.

Marcos Alonso has never stayed within the usual territory of a left-back or left wing-back. After he mastered the regular role of wing-back in 2016/17, he started to drift into the middle of the pitch. Coming off the flank he would first set himself in the pocket between the opponent’s midfield and defensive lines, between their right back and right centreback. From there he entered the box, either via underlapping runs with Eden Hazard or runs off the ball to pull a defender away from the rest of the play. Alonso became a “false 3” with his control of the air and the additional attacking option he offered, even if it reinforced concerns about his defensive abilities.

After settling himself down after the half-hour mark against Newcastle, Alonso expanded his territory to be nearly the width of the entire pitch along Chelsea’s midfield line.

At least twice in the second half Alonso lingered on the right side of the pitch following a set play. This left Fikayo Tomori pushing up and towards the left with Mateo Kovacic covering a slight bit deeper from his usual position to put bodies into the space Alonso left. On the right, Azpilicueta would drop deep behind Alonso, forming an unusual triangle with Willian, but also setting up to play the ball off of Jorginho or Christian Pulisic.

Fikayo Tomori and Kurt Zouma would have had very boring afternoons if they did not take decisive steps to involve themselves in the play.

Both centrebacks are very adept at keeping Chelsea in possession in the final third by stepping up to send clearances straight back towards the Blues’ forwards and midfielders. Normally this involves a quick dash near midfield to win an aerial duel, with a few Chelsea players dropping deep to win the ball.

Against Newcastle, Tomori and Zouma tended to stay in the more advanced possession after putting the ball back in. Tomori, in particular, would take advantage of the opportunity to stay high up the pitch and join the full-backs and Jorginho on the midfield line.

Given the long spells of possession Chelsea had in the final third, sometimes one centreback would do this and the other would join him within a minute. Tomori and Zouma did not always communicate with each other about their intentions or when the other should drop back. It was sometimes unclear – if only because it was so unorthodox – if they knew that they were each so high up the pitch. This would force one of the full-backs or Jorginho to drop deep to cover any clearance that could turn into an outlet ball for Joelinton or Allan Saint-Maximin.

Such moments were significant vulnerabilities for the Blues. Alonso did not handle Saint-Maximin well one-on-one and Jorginho would not have won any physical battles with him. Likewise, Azpilicueta would not have been able to keep up with Joelinton, nor could Jorginho. Fortunately, Newcastle’s few out-balls coincided with Tomori and Zouma both pushing so high.

Of the four defenders, Azpilicueta held to his position the most closely. He supported the attack from his usual place on the right and the usual overlaps and one-two’s with Willian.

But even Azpilicueta found himself well ahead of his usual environs, most notably when Jorginho played him into the box with a perfectly weighted throughball. That pass sent Azpilicueta well inside and ahead of where he would normally line up a cross towards Tammy Abraham.

Chelsea’s defenders showed purposeful exploration against Newcastle. Had they stayed in their usual spots and stuck to their usual roles, the Blues would have had the usual product against a team like Newcastle.

Instead, their movement helped the team find ways to pull Newcastle from side to side and ultimately apart, as it was a right-sided build-up through Christian Pulisic that ended with Marcos Alonso open on the left in a place where one would normally not find a left-back, so he could take a shot one would normally not see from a left-back.

Beyond the range of the Newcastle fixture, the defenders learned new patterns for themselves and Frank Lampard to take into their planning for future games. Most teams will not cede such an open learning environment for Lampard’s Blues.

What they did against Newcastle for the first time may prove vital against teams where creative mistakes or uncreative monotony would be punished harshly.