Chelsea’s 1-0 victory against Palace all about width and taking chances

For much of Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea tenure, the Blues have stuck with three at the back. Whether it be a 3-4-3, 3-5-2, or a variant of either, the wingbacks create most if not all the width in those formations. With Ben Chilwell and Reece James both out, Tuchel had to find new solutions. He tried Marcos Alonso, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Christian Pulisic amongst others in those roles but it was never quite enough.

So he started playing around with the idea of four at the back. The most successful iteration of that came with a 4-1-4-1 with Hakim Ziyech stretching play one way and Hudson-Odoi stretching it the other. This allowed Tuchel a work around to lacking fullbacks and wingbacks that he could trust.

That wasn’t really the case for most of the match against Crystal Palace though. Hakim Ziyech started on one flank with Kai Havertz on the other and it simply did not work very well for Chelsea ahead of a flat back four. What’s worse is that Malang Sarr and Andreas Christensen were seemingly instructed to overlap, something neither player is suited for at all.

To add to that was Christian Pulisic playing centrally. Now, Pulisic has his moments of brilliance, but overall he is not a particularly tidy player. Heavy touches and sloppy moves can be minimized on the wing, but when playing centrally, there is no escape. Havertz, meanwhile, was stuck out hiding on the wing where his tidiness was of much less use and where he could be out of the game more than in it.

Overall, the effect was Chelsea having little to no width other than on the right with Ziyech. But that wasn’t the only issue. The other issue was just how shot shy this team is.

N’Golo Kante, Christian Pulisic, and others all had moments where they could have just ripped away. Instead, they frequently opted to lay it off to someone else. That isn’t new at Chelsea unfortunately. Since Maurizio Sarri’s tenure, keeping the ball has remained paramount over taking a risk. But every chance created without a shot is a waste of time. The only way to score is to roll the dice.

Tuchel saw the first roll of the dice right after making a very rare triple sub. Substitute Mateo Kovacic sent the ball through to a Romelu Lukaku run. Lukaku, finally brought into the game by someone, rolled the dice. The shot did not go in the net, but it bobbled over to the on rushing Ziyech who slammed it home. Unfortunately, Lukaku had been just offside. But the gamble woke Chelsea up to the possibilities.

Marcos Alonso had replaced Sarr and he quickly showed why Tuchel brought him on. Comfortable stretching the play, Alonso played a cross into a heavily occupied center. Ziyech, rolling the dice, made the run and scored the match winner. It was just that simple. Width created a chance and a player will to take a risk converted it.

Chelsea struggled most of the match because they lacked width and because they lacked risk taking. As soon as both issues were alleviated, they scored (arguably twice depending on how you feel about the offside). It’s a lesson the club should learn and solidify now. Yes, things are tricky with Chilwell and James out. But the Blues have to find a way to stretch the field flank to flank. And when the chance does come, they have to actually take it instead of waiting for someone else to play hero.