Chelsea: Lessons learned about CHO, the No. 10 and Jorginho vs. Newcastle

3. There’s nothing wrong with launching the ball into orbit

If there’s one thing that seems to be plaguing every team in the Premier League this season, it’s the dogmatic insistence on playing out from the back. It has apparently become written in stone that the minute someone gains possession from the opponent, an overelaborate sequence of one-touch passing must ensue.

No matter the team, no matter the personnel, and no matter the situation (unless you’re Burnley).

Now, I’m always up for breathtaking team goals that involve every player touching the ball until someone eventually taps it into the back of the net. I’m also always up for a defender sending a hospital pass in the direction of his keeper and an opponent seizing the opportunity to capitalize on the stupidity.

As a Chelsea fan, however, there have been too many moments erring towards the latter this season, and each instance fills me with nausea.

Against Newcastle, however, we saw a rare moment or two of pragmatism creep into Chelsea’s game. On more than one occasion, a ball would bounce around in Chelsea’s box and, instead of trying to cutely play it to a teammate just outside the box, a Chelsea defender would smash the ball into the aether. Everyone could take a deep breath and reset. Myself included.

Perhaps more importantly, the ball was being cleared upfield, rather than straight out to the touchline or behind for a corner. An effective upfield clearance suggests that the defender had the chance to assess his surroundings, orient himself with the ball’s desired destination in mind, and take a premeditated whack at it when it arrived.

For teams that are fully married to playing out from the back, those pinball moments in the box often lead to disaster. Unfortunately, Chelsea have courted disaster an inordinate number of times already this season. On Saturday, however, Chelsea suddenly seemed to understand the value of launching the ball forward and living to fight another day.

If this was a concerted adjustment that Lampard and his staff are trying to enact, this might be an important moment in his development as a manager. Perhaps he’s starting to channel a bit of that Jose Mourinho DNA locked deep in the recesses of his brain. It’s just about the maximum amount of Mourinho I would be willing to tolerate.

On the other hand, if the clearances were just in-the-moment reactions by Chelsea’s defenders, there is still significance.

While he has plenty of positive qualities as a defender, Kurt Zouma will probably never be the world’s preeminent ball-playing center back. If he can use his freakish athleticism to win balls and smash them up into the sun, that’s great. Fikayo Tomori certainly has more ability on the ball, but knowing how and when to launch the ball towards the halfway line will make him an even more reliable defender going forward.

Will Chelsea continue to give up ridiculous goals due to lackadaisical passing at the back? Almost certainly. But if the defenders can feel comfortable occasionally putting their laces through the ball and sending it towards the opponent’s box, those types of goals should become less and less frequent.

Hopefully the clean sheet against Newcastle will show that there’s some merit in just putting the ball as far away from your own goal as possible.