Chelsea had a perfect set-up to keep Willian and Pedro sharp on the attack

Chelsea’s front three in the last two games has been the three oldest non-Willy Caballero players in the squad. By changing the pressing and attacking patterns, Frank Lampard had his offence attacking as quickly as ever.

The combined age of Chelsea’s starting forwards against Liverpool and Everton is 96. Four players who finished the game for Chelsea have a combined age of 54. Willian, Pedro and Olivier Giroud are as old as it gets for outfield players at Stamford Bridge, but Frank Lampard’s set-up against Everton helped turned back the clock for these three (not that the ultra-professional, ever-timeless Pedro needs it).

For most of the season Chelsea used a persistent press with as many as five players in the opponent’s half, with three of them closing down the defenders and goalkeeper. Once the Blues started pressing they would maintain it until they either forced a turnover, the opponent broke the press or the play moved far enough towards the midfield line that Chelsea’s forwards and pressing midfielders had to pull back.

The press usually kept Chelsea in a 4-3-3, with Jorginho normally staying deepest in midfield. Sometimes, though, he would join the action, which would bring Mateo Kovacic deeper.

Against Everton, Chelsea were in more of a 4-1-4-1 in transition to defence, with Billy Gilmour staying in the holding midfielder position and rarely joining the press.

Of the four players in the attacking midfield line, usually 2-3 would press upon Everton’s first attempt to play the ball upfield. If they were not able to force a quick turnover or a long ball from the Toffees, they would quickly drop back and use the line of four to contain and slow down Everton’s movement across midfield. Unlike in most other games, the press was one-and-done: the wingers and Mason Mount were not harrying Everton’s centrebacks and full-backs, Olivier Giroud and Pedro were not charging at Jordan Pickford after a series of sideways passes led to a Everton back pass. If the initial press did not produce an outcome, the press was over and the purpose shifted to containment.

This had two main effects on Chelsea’s front line.

First, it kept them fresh. Olivier Giroud has never been particularly fast, he is the oldest of the three and he was visibly exhausted by the 70′ against Liverpool. He went on to play a complete game in the FA Cup, and showed the after-effects against Everton.

Willian and Pedro are both fast and have a high repeated-sprint ability, but both are in their early 30s and they are playing a higher density of minutes than they have all season. By not having prolonged presses, Frank Lampard reduced the number of sprints his forwards had to make. This ensured that they were at their maximum readiness for the most important sprints of all: counter-attacks. Think of it as Chelsea’s version of Brendan Rodgers’ usage of Jamie Vardy.

Second, the truncated press created space in front of the wingers for them to attack. Willian and Pedro have their best moments attacking into space and taking on retreating defenders.

If they forced a turnover after a prolonged press, they would be working their way out of a somewhat congested situation, with little room to maneuver and set up their chance before encountering another defender; and they would be doing it on tired legs. By dropping the press into a midfield line of four, Chelsea shifted the main area for a turnover from the final third to the middle third. By forcing a turnover closer to midfield, Everton’s full-backs would be further up field. If Willian or Pedro won or received the ball in these areas, they had half the pitch guarded by only the two retreating centrebacks to attack, and they would be doing it on fresh legs. This is a much more promising scenario for creating a scoring chance from the counter and then retaining possession if the first chance doesn’t come off.

Chelsea had 60% possession against Everton, but the game felt like they were attacking – actually attacking, not just holding possession in the final third – throughout the 90 minutes from a large area of the pitch. This is in part because the Blues opened up the pitch in a way that lured Everton out so Willian and Pedro could rush in to the empty spaces.

Willian and Pedro looked like they had barely lost any speed from their earlier selves. They were always sharp and at top speed when they needed to be because they did not make any superfluous runs that would do little but sap their energy.

As a result, they each had a goal and an assist in the 4-0 win. Those top-line stats capped off a particularly rewarding week for Pedro. He not only returned to the XI with two top performances but led the team in tackles and interceptions against Liverpool and then was at the heart of the attack five days later against Everton.

Injuries may have forced the “youth revolution” into abeyance, but the performances of the older players sends a delightful message to the younger Blues about the standards they have to meet to do their jobs at a Chelsea level.

Frank Lampard is all about meritocracy, and his tactics against Everton made it possible for three of his four elders to claim their place in future XI’s, even when the kids are available again.