It’s safe to say Chelsea has found Kai Havertz’s best position

The reason for the newfound success is Havertz forcing the issue of movement. Romelu Lukaku has been so uninvolved recently because he’s afraid to move out of an occupying position. Lukaku stays pinned against the opposition’s back line for long periods of time so that he can drag the centerbacks out of position. His Chelsea teammates have largely failed him by not sliding into the pockets of space left by Lukaku’s decoy. Further, he is hesitant to move out of this position because whenever he does drop deep to pick up possession, the wingers largely fail to move into the middle and create an opening for the Belgian to run into. It’s not known why this is the case, Havertz does not sit around and wait for an answer to the question when he plays though.

The way Havertz plays, he will start central and gradually drift to either wide area (traditionally the right side). This forces some action as the wingers—regardless of whether or not they’re on the ball at the time—no longer have a viable area to run into. As a result, they move into a central area. The German is much more comfortable playing out wide than his Belgian counterpart, which is perhaps why this method of play is so impactful. Havertz can distribute the ball to, or create chances for, his fellow forwards when they dart into these dangerous spaces.

Fluid movement in and around the 18-yard-box creates chaos and that’s where the Blues’ best chances come from. These opportunities don’t magically appear as a result of kicking the ball around from defender to defender outside the box as they switch play and wait for a run to penetrate the low block. Pep Guardiola’s famous Tiki-taka style has some elements of this build-up play, but Chelsea simply does not play the ball around fast enough, nor is the players’ movement creative enough, for this to work in Tuchel’s system.