Tactics and Transfers: Same old, new Chelsea and some stars

The Blues made some of that progress against Southampton, which was good to see, even if it was an imperfect performance. That’s why it’s no wonder that Timo Werner was all of a sudden much more like the version that Chelsea bought from RB Leipzig. They played to their strengths as opposed to their fears. Speed, bravery and confidence showed their heads and they played a more fluid and ambitious style of football. The Bundesliga gunman who Chelsea bought was back. He had shots on goal, he scored twice (though one was ruled out) and stretched and pulled the defense in every single direction. Werner was magnificent.

The same credit should be given to Callum Hudson-Odoi. Here, here for the young man.

The young English attacker does seem to have buried some early worries about attitude, professionalism and entitlement. He has been nothing other than a good soldier this season and he has needed to be. The player who made his name coming in from the left like a homegrown, right-footed Arjen Robben and was considered better than Manchester United’s Jadon Sancho has been forced to play in defense most of his time under Tuchel. He has played as a left wingback and a right one and he has done a serviceable job for a player who never played their at any point in his career until he played at the top level. Finally, mercifully, he was played in a position at least similar to the one he trained and showed such promise in. What do you know? He was great! Hudson-Odoi was strong and incisive; he was thrilling, dangerous and creative.

Why is all this so shocking? It shouldn’t be.

It’s a generally accepted falsehood that Chelsea has been getting credit for attacking play under Tuchel. The Blues may possess the ball with discipline and authority in the opposition’s half, but they certainly do not attack with rigor or ambition. Tuchel, though, is smart enough to know that we live in a soundbite world. The German simply says his side is playing attacking football before Chelsea plays static and defensively in order to maximize results. It’s rather hilarious actually.

The truth is it’s the same old, same old. The Blues have a fantastic array of talent managed by someone who I believe might be an actual genius and they’re not making the most of it. It’s not injuries, it’s not that the opponents are more talented. It’s that Chelsea is letting itself down and that’s the tragedy here.