Chelsea is going to Wembley! The Blues are through to the Carabao Cup final after an emphatic two-legged semifinal victory over rivals Tottenham. Thomas Tuchel’s men did enough in the first leg to head into the away tie with a comfortable lead, one in which they would never surrender. The boss retains his perfect career record in semifinals as he leads his side into yet another cup final. This is the German’s third in all competitions since taking over in west London a year ago.
The visitors outclassed Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the second leg, despite only winning 1-0 on the day. Antonio Rudiger’s headed goal from Mason Mount’s corner was the difference in the end. Surprisingly, three overturned VAR decisions—two suspected penalties to Tottenham and an offside goal for the hosts—went Chelsea’s way. All three were clear-cut according to the rules though, so there was really not much in the claims. There was little statistical dominance when things were said and done, but there didn’t need to be. The 3-0 aggregate scoreline was the only thing that mattered to the Blues as they look ahead to an important Premier League trip to Manchester City at the weekend.
Here are three lessons we learnt in Chelsea’s trip to Tottenham:
1. Formational flexibility
It’s not unusual for supporters to take to Twitter to debate the formation each time the official Chelsea account sends out the starting line-up prior to contests. This is a tradition as old as time itself and it dates back to the days of Frank Lampard’s managerial stint. Lampard did well to build a team that was incredibly versatile and while that may not have mattered so much at the time, it’s been a huge help to Tuchel throughout the last year. That may sound like an odd statement considering the manager changed formations just once during his first six months in charge. Tactical rotation has become more commonplace in SW6 nowadays though.
The Blues played four-at-the-back for the first time all season in the first leg against Spurs at Stamford Bridge. They controlled the game from start to finish and that was no coincidence. It goes without saying there is a huge talent gap between the two sides (more on that later), the tactical smokescreen cannot be discounted though. Antonio Conte likely prepared his side for any variation of three-at-the-back. Regardless of whether it was the 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 is not important. Tuchel lined his side up in a back four largely due to the lack of healthy wingbacks in his side. On a much more grand scale though, he knew exactly what he was doing when he changed shape. This created uncertainty heading into the second leg—this much was true.
When the teamsheet was released prior to kickoff at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the debates once again occurred on social media. The same sort of discussions were likely also taking place in the home dressing room. Tuchel lined his side up in a flexible 4-2-2-2 to begin the match. As the Blues grew into the game, it slowly became a 3-5-2 both in and out of possession. This allowed Chelsea to overload certain areas of the pitch and draw Tottenham out. The Blues continued in this shape until the middle of the second half when it became increasingly obvious that Spurs were finally going to try and take matters into their own hands. Tuchel brought on Marcos Alonso, Thiago Silva and Hakim Ziyech to steady the ship and the 3-4-3 was reintroduced.
All of this goes to show that Chelsea can be flexible in its formation. This applies to both the long and short-term. The Blues have already played a number of formations throughout the year and now they have shown they have the ability to play numerous shapes in a single match. Supporters haven’t yet been treated to the brilliantly-adaptable, tactical mind of Tuchel that he displayed at Paris Saint-Germain, Dortmund and Mainz. There’s a growing sense that won’t be the case for much longer given the recent showing at Spurs.
2. There is a place for Malang Sarr
A lot has been made about Chelsea signing a centerback—be it last summer, this January or the upcoming summer. The Blues are in a precarious position right now with the contracts of their defenders in the sense that three are free agents in six months’ time. Trevoh Chalobah and Thiago Silva have already extended, leaving Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger’s futures up in the air. The club has reportedly held talks with all three in recent weeks and both sides in every case have shown interest in an extension. Nevertheless, as each day goes by, it becomes increasingly apparent that Chelsea could lose one or all of its soon-to-be out-of-contract centerbacks sooner rather than later.
All of that being said, not enough credit is being given to Malang Sarr. The Frenchman came into the month as the subject of speculation. There were rumors he would be sent out on loan having only played in five games all season up to that point, despite having started and gone the distance in every one, four of which were wins for the Blues. His name was called though after a couple of injuries at the back and a positive COVID-19 test from Silva. Sarr has now played in three consecutive games and looked comfortable in each, even though he played in ‘different’ positions (LCB vs Spurs; CB vs Chesterfield; LB at Spurs) in all three contests.
The 22-year-old was brought in under Lampard as a free agent, low-risk signing. He immediately went out on loan to Porto where he failed to have much of an impact. His relegation to the Porto B side by the end of the season did a lot to convince Blues fans he wasn’t quite ready for the big stage yet. Regardless, Tuchel kept him around for the year for one reason or another. Sarr may not have played in a ton of games thus far—12 less than his young counterpart, Chalobah—but he’s not played poorly in any of his outings. The Frenchman’s Man of the Match-worthy performance at Tottenham on Wednesday went a long way in proving that he does in fact have an important role to play at any given point in this Chelsea side.
He came out looking confident and like he had a point to prove. The fans have certainly started to listen to what Sarr has to say as he’s now put in three performances that are mature beyond his years. Therefore, the next time you have a conversation about the Blues’ depth at centerback, make sure to include Sarr as an important piece to the current Chelsea defensive puzzle.
3. Chelsea is a class or three above Tottenham
Tuchel is one of the best—if not the best—coaches in the world at handling a tournament tie. To put it lightly, Chelsea dog-walked Spurs in this game. The Blues’ approach in this one was always going to be something to watch for considering they had a 2-0 advantage. It was never a secret.
The German’s team was comfortable throughout as it finished with a majority of the possession, keeping in mind that Conte wanted Chelsea to take risks so that his men could catch their visitors out of position. The Blues practically toyed with Tottenham throughout the entire first half. They were just begging Spurs to come out as they passed the ball back and fourth effortlessly between the centerbacks and midfield pairing of Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho. When the plan worked and Chelsea was able to drag Tottenham out of its low block, one of the aforementioned individuals would play a long ball over the top into space where it would inevitably find the feet of either Romelu Lukaku or Timo Werner. This strategy allowed the Blues to still take chances whenever they were given to them, just without too many risks on the defensive end of the pitch.
Overall, it was a gameplan that won Chelsea the game and the tie. The stat-sheet will show that Spurs did have more shots than their west London rivals, however, that was always going to happen given they were chasing their opponents even before the opening kickoff. It was another tactical masterclass from Tuchel, but more than that, it was a total dominance from the Blues. The two games certainly looked like a tie being played between the reigning Champions League winners and a team that struggled in the Conference League. There are no two ways about it.
Chelsea is simply a class—or three—above Tottenham right now. The players know it, the supporters know it and even Conte knows it. There was an obvious gap in talent on the bench with the Blues’ reserves being worth north of £200 million, but value doesn’t always determine skills. In this case though, it was apparent that Spurs had no business being on the same playing field as their visitors in either leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal tie. The better team is on to Wembley.
What did you make of Chelsea’s performance? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!