Chelsea: Playing direct and fast can’t come at the cost of control

Chelsea played very direct against Brighton but had little control over the match. The former can’t come at the cost of the latter this season.

Possession does not equal control over a match. It often does, especially for someone like Pep Guardiola, but others like Jose Mourinho can control a match just as much with 40 percent of the ball as 70 percent. Control is much more complicated than possession. It is about forcing the opponent to adapt rather than adapting to the opponent.

It is not a big deal that Chelsea did not have possession against a team like Brighton. It is an issue that they did not have control over the Seagulls. Chelsea left 3-1 winners but claims of Brighton being unlucky did not fall completely on deaf ears.

Part of the issue seemed tactical. Chelsea opted to play direct to Timo Werner or Ruben Loftus-Cheek far more often than they attempted to play out of the back. The formation, a 4-2-3-1 (by Frank Lampard’s admission of Loftus-Cheek playing as a 10) was also part of the issue given the personnel and the placement therein. Regardless, playing direct cannot come at the cost of control over the match.

This is where that tid bit on control not equaling possession comes back. Many will say that a team cannot play direct and maintain control in a match. After all, playing direct is just a nicer way of saying long ball football, hoof it and hope, route one or whatever else, right? Well, the likely inspiration for Frank Lampard in this match, Julian Nagelsmann, would say no.

Even going back to his Hoffenheim days, Nagelsmann’s teams played a very direct style of football. His teams often form a sort of attacking “box” made of two strikers and two attacking midfielders. The ball will be played long to the strikers who will then either find themselves on a run in behind or they will flick it on to one of the advancing midfielders.

Having recently acquired one of Nagelsmann’s strikers, it appears as though Lampard decided to try out some of those ideas himself (which, honestly, aren’t not too divorced from Lampard’s own anyways). Werner took up his usual role with Loftus-Cheek playing as a sort of target man next to him. Mason Mount and Kai Havertz lurked behind them waiting for flick ons or open space to run into.

Chelsea’s issue, however, is taking the direct part of that style a bit too literally. Kepa Arrizabalaga often punted the ball forward hoping Werner would snatch on to it. The defense did the same. A double pivot makes it difficult to play out of through midfield so Jorginho and N’Golo Kante often found themselves as passengers until the ball progressed backwards to them.

The Blues looked to play direct, but they didn’t look for the ways a Nagelsmann side controls a match. Leipzig never immediately won the ball back to bang it forward again. Instead, they would often times slow down possession and settle the tempo. Once the players had a moment to think, then the ball could be launched much more successfully.

Another issue was the press. It is very common of German managers like Nagelsmann (or even Jurgen Klopp for that matter) to allow their teams to try riskier passes and almost court dispossession. That is simply because when they do lose the ball, they will immediately hound the opponent to get it back. Either they do regain the ball or the opponent is forced into a faster decision than many players are willing to make.

Chelsea was able to press Brighton, but it didn’t have the required ferocity to really make a chance out of it. Overall, that probably is the main reason why the Blues looked more defensively solid but it also further stagnated their possession.

Managers like Klopp and Nagelsmann have both shown it is possible to play direct and maintain control. Even Pep Guardiola, patron saint of possession himself, has noticeably allowed his team to play more direct since he arrived in England. It is all about finding the right moments, not just launching it forward and hoping the superiority of a striker can make the difference.

It is why a team like Brighton, rising stars though they may be, was able to put Chelsea on the back foot. Lampard won’t get the most out of his players if they don’t look to settle the game before finding Werner’s runs. Playing direct and fast can be extremely effective, but it can’t come at the cost of control of the match. If that is the case, Chelsea will be better off doing what they did last season and building their way forward more methodically while hoping someone can figure out how to crack open the opponent.