CHELSEA 3-1 LIVERPOOL, PREMIER LEAGUE: TACTICAL ANALYSIS

I mentioned in the comments of my last article that I thought it was imperative to win every Premier League match through the month of April because our test would get much tougher in May (against Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United, and finally Nottingham Forest.) While the results were positive against Tottenham Hotspur cold spell, Fulham, and Everton, neither the performances nor the results were what we would have desired against Brentford or Ipswich Town, thus making these matches in May all the more meaningful.

Look, just about every manager in the past twenty years has had a falling out with our fanbase, ownership, or both - many for worse reasons than Maresca. Regardless of our feelings about Maresca, rigid adherence to an ideology hasn’t worked persistently for those considered masters of their own protocol, particularly in the Premier League (think current Pep Guardiola, recently departed Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool, or even a few of Chelsea’s last PL winners in Antonio Conte or Jose Mourinho.) Nearly always, flexibility in a programme is the best approach. Our goals in this match essentially came from quick transitional play, as did many of our goals earlier this season, and that isn’t exactly the deliberate style that Maresca prefers, but it is not entirely dissimilar either. Our play was built from the back via controlled possession, it was just quicker than normal. Perhaps Maresca should rethink his approach, but I digress.

For the first time since November, we were able to start the same lineup in two consecutive Premier League matches. Playing time management is a priority in Maresca’s and the trainers’ minds, so that likely is why Roméo Lavia was subbed before the end of the match and why we may well see quite a few changes midweek, especially considering the development squad and youth teams are all done for the season. While points in the table are the single priority for all of us as fans, especially knowing that we have such an easy route to the UEFA Conference League final and we all want to be in the Champions League next season, the goal differential against Djurgårdens IF should be cushion enough to bring along quite a bit of youth and rest the starters for the pending game against Newcastle.

Much of the tactics in this game boil down to what Liverpool did and how we responded than anything else. After all, we only had 36% possession and yet ended up with 3.13 xG and 5 big chances created while they had a lion’s share of the ball (64%) but finished with only 1.05 xG. To be fair, they did miss a few glaringly easy headers and were repeatedly threatening on their crosses and corner kicks, particularly to the back post, which is certainly something that needs to be addressed moving forward for Chelsea (while also being relatively poor at creating chances from set pieces and corners ourselves, begging the question why we were so eager to hire Bernardo Cueva in the summer.) Overall, they attempted 22 crosses/corners during the match and a they created most of their xG through them before eventually scoring on one.

There is no denying that, if we continue to insist on inverting a fullback, Moisés Caicedo playing on the right is the ideal lineup to partner Roméo Lavia and release Enzo Fernández to play higher and alongside Cole Palmer in essentially a box midfield (sorry Reece James.) In fact, equally key to that whole setup is certainly having Roméo Lavia back, and even against Everton we were a much sharper unit while he was on the pitch than after he was withdrawn. His ball retention and distribution skills are to be admired, finishing without being dispossessed once and with 96% pass accuracy, including the pass that broke their lines for our first goal.

The 3-2-2-3 formation when we were in possession was thoroughly effective, with Cole Palmer in the right half-space and Enzo Fernández in the left half-space and both linking well with their respective wingers, who stayed wide near the touchline, particularly Palmer with Pedro Neto. Noni Madueke again started on the left and has shown dynamism in that position, plus his aggressive willingness to take players on has cemented him in that position for me, as he has been much more effective than Jadon Sancho after being moved there. Nico Jackson did a great job, once again, of both dropping into midfield and dragging their defenders out of position, but also stretching their line when needed to keep those pockets open for our midfielders. He showed exactly why he is important in his off-the-ball work to the shape and structure of this team.

But, as mentioned, their higher and aggressive pressing in a 4-2-4 shape left gaps in the midfield that were exploited by our superior numbers in that area once we inverted. They wanted to stay a man up in defense while marking us man-to-man but also pressed heavily, which usually opened up at least one of the midfield pivot players, with Harvey Elliot trying to cover both Enzo Fernández and Roméo Lavia. Cody Gakpo started trying to assist in picking up the pivot when we were on the ball and Wataru Endo eventually started helping out in that role rather than shielding the defensive line, but he was almost always starting from a deeper position and that allowed Palmer to pick up the pockets of space that he vacated. That almost played right into our hand, and as a result Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernández flourished with the space with which they were left, the former having one of his more influential games of late.

Our press was essentially a 4-4-2 with Palmer and Nico Jackson trying to force the angles to where they would be able to pass. Especially with Trent Alexander-Arnold pushing so high up the pitch, whenever Allison was on the ball they would try to force his pass to Jarell Quansah rather than Virgil van Dijk, who was being covered by Cole Palmer more tightly than Quansah by Jackson.

On the ball, we were making some decisions that seemed unlike us, especially with the amount of times Robert Sánchez went to play the ball long. This was certainly to circumvent their high press, and they started man-marking during goal kicks because of his notoriously weaker passing skills. Not only that, but they certainly had an advantage on those aerial challenges with their height, therefore forcing immediate turnovers. Sánchez was 3/3 and 12/12 on his short and medium passes, but 5/18 (27.8%) on his long passes.

While we did lose quite a few of the crosses, once again due to their advantage in height, the back line did very well to cover the most potent offense in the league, averaging 2.3 goals per game and having scored in every match this season. Their diligence would not be rewarded with a clean sheet, but Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill did a great job of managing the back line and defending the penalty area while Marc Cucurella showed again how he can be one of the most restrictive man-marking defenders in the league. Mohamed Salah was very minimally effective throughout the match.

It was a comprehensive performance against a Liverpool side that did not field their strongest possible starting XI, but it was a demonstration of what Chelsea is capable of with the right tactics employed. This team is not mature enough yet to dictate tempo against a top side but can be ruthless on the counter. Maresca may not want to play basketball matches - however, until there can be more cohesion between all those on the squad, he might be better suited to embracing it.

KTBFFH.

2025-05-08T02:51:36Z