Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 2-0 in the Premier League on Sunday, Pride of London discusses three talking points from another Blues win.
Yes, another CFC victory is turning the non-Graham Potter believers into devotees. The former Swansea City and Brighton & Hove Albion head coach is doing a stellar job on Fulham Road and beyond so far since taking over from Thomas Tuchel.
A fifth successive win and fourth consecutive clean sheet has given Potter a wonderful foundation. So, what three things did PoL learn from the latest Chelsea contest?
Marc Cucurella is not a centreback
Just an acknowledgement, first of all, that I am a fan of Cucurella. He is definitely a good signing, one whom can vie with the also talented Ben Chilwell. Whilst pushing one another to perform exceptionally, the left-sided pair both covet a starting role. But that is just it: the two should be vying for the same role, and arguably not played out of position.
Around three Chelsea players, or senior starters, have had their positions altered. More accurately, they have been moved into different spots within the side. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is doing OK as a makeshift right wingback on occasion. While Raheem Sterling and the Spaniard have struggled slightly with fresh remits.
Raheem Sterling is not a wingback
Cucurella’s 91.8 per cent pass success rate and his one unsuccessful touch statistics from the Villa game are deceiving. Essentially two or three of his passes put himself, teammates or the team as a whole under immense pressure in the Midlands. A 45 minutes to forget for the sometimes leftback, but definitely specialist wingback. You can’t really blame him for being uneasy when incongruous, either.
Similarly, as previously mentioned, Sterling is also playing in a new area. I don’t believe Reece James’s absence justifies the 27-year-old covering. And this is a capacity is fairly drastically separated from Sterling’s typical role: he now has defensive responsibilities. The initial time the boss decided to begin a match with the England international as a left wingback was versus RB Salzburg. Don’t get me wrong, the latter was a real threat on the attack, with a delicate left-foot cross that I don’t think many of us knew about. Yet his defensive lapse led to another error and ultimately conceding.
Sterling’s best attributes are drawing fullbacks and the like away from their own duties and consequently opening up pockets of space for other forwards. In addition, he can dribble well now and again, but can be devastating when using the quick one-two pass and creating or finishing goals himself. He is never going to be an elite defender or one who can justifiably deliver at this level in attempting to stop great top-flight wingers.
If I were Potter, I would concentrate on Sterling’s confidence on the wing with no responsibility other than to perform in the opposition box. This way, more of the ex-Manchester City man’s energy can be concentrated on pressing, too.
I love Graham Potter’s Chelsea adaptability, but
To get the best showings from the aforementioned stars, it is best to utilise them where they are most suited. This will also alleviate the problems being created by moving personnel, arguably unnecessarily. These athletes mostly know their craft, have worked to strengthen it for years, or for more than a decade. They should only be doing other jobs in a stopgap sense, when the scenario necessitates.
Potter’s tactic are rightly being praised for being particularly flexible and able to adapt to each of the competitors who face them. He did it at Brighton and is doing the same successfully at Stamford Bridge. However, the acclaim as well as admiration derived from this is really aimed at the adaptive hybrid formations; the system changed at lease three times vs the Villans. General repositioning is also cited, as opposed to actually changing a player’s main specialty.
The 47-year-old must be heralded for the beginning to his CFC career, it has been almost perfect. As good as any gaffer could hope for, surely. Though you can’t say wholly perfect – but what is? There haven’t been many mistakes, even the more radical strategies appear to be working for Potter. As such, my highlighted points about altering tasks may already be revised by he and his capable staff.