This is a good representation of what I saw. Really should have the melters read this, dipped into a couple of the player threads, the usual people going in on the usual suspects, whilst having what would be absolutely zero appreciation of the roles being carried out. (they will not read this because it breaks down what actually happens during a football match, best scream and shout at the moon because that makes more sense.
Cox: How Nuno’s tactics created space against Chelsea’s 3-4-3 before Tuchel fixed the problem
By
Michael Cox 4h ago
46
Chelsea’s 3-0 victory over
Tottenham on Sunday afternoon was a rare match where both managers should emerge from the game with credit. Nuno Espirito Santo’s starting approach caused Chelsea problems and allowed Spurs to dominate the opening proceedings, but Thomas Tuchel’s change of system stabilised the away side and helped them dominate the second half.
Tottenham fans can be cheered by two parts of Nuno’s approach.
First, it was novel and intelligent. Rather than using
Harry Kane through the middle against Thiago Silva, Nuno played him in an unusual inside-left role. Spurs attempted to play long balls downfield towards him, probably suspecting he could dominate
Andreas Christensen more than Silva. The Brazilian centre-back was instead targeted with Son Heung-min’s pace. The 36-year-old coped well but Son’s movement was dangerous.
Giovani Lo Celso, meanwhile, played on the right, attempting to drag
Antonio Rudiger out of position. It was, for a start, a big improvement over the static diamond Nuno deployed last weekend in a 3-0 loss to
Crystal Palace, a system that could have been replicated with this weekend’s starting XI.
Second, Spurs were positive. In the opening half-hour, they used an approach that was
more Mauricio Pochettino than Jose Mourinho, pressing high and constantly winning the ball inside the Chelsea half. Here’s an example of how the forwards pressed Chelsea’s centre-backs, with
Dele Alli and
Tanguy Ndombele pushing up to shut down
Jorginho and
Mateo Kovacic.
And although Chelsea’s out-ball was to the wing-backs, Spurs were occasionally brave enough to close them down, too.
Pressing energetically in the opening stages is one thing, but causing Chelsea problems in possession is another. Spurs did this effectively, largely because they exploited the space around Chelsea’s two-man midfield. Tuchel usually wants to defend in a 5-2-3 system, which has worked excellently but encountered some problems here.
The first problem was Kane’s movement. Although he remains goalless this season and found himself positioned deep here, this was effective in opening up Chelsea. He would often make this movement, towards the ball from that inside-left position, which dragged Jorginho up the pitch to shut him down, desperate to prevent him from turning.
This created Spurs’ first good opportunity. Kane received a ball from
Sergio Reguilon and attracted Jorginho, took the ball backwards and then laid it back to his defence.
That meant Jorginho found himself way out of position, and Dele was free to receive a forward pass from
Eric Dier. The responsibility for closing down Dele then fell to Christensen, who was too far away to make a tackle here and found himself bypassed.
Dele knocked the ball into Son, who turned Silva impressively. And then, because Jorginho has gone haring up the pitch to follow Kane, and because Christensen has abandoned his position to close down Dele, Chelsea are entirely exposed down the near side. Reguilon is free to sprint into space, and should have done better with his final ball — a properly weighted pass would have meant a tap-in for Lo Celso. This all stemmed from Kane’s movement deep.
Chelsea’s second problem was the pockets on either side of Kovacic and Jorginho. Here’s an example of
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg being able to poke a simple pass through to Ndombele, receiving the ball in precisely the position he likes and on the turn.
That came when Chelsea’s midfielders were side by side, but it wasn’t unusual to see them on the same vertical line after one had gone chasing the ball higher up. Here’s an example of that, offering Chelsea’s centre-backs little protection.
And Tottenham’s second golden opportunity stemmed from this problem.
Lo Celso has dropped inside to help overload Chelsea’s two central midfielders, with Jorginho almost directly ahead of Kovacic here. This leaves Ndombele unmarked for an easy pass, and with Lo Celso having wandered elsewhere, Rudiger considers it his job to step out and shut down Ndombele.
But Ndombele has an easy pass to Lo Celso, penetrating Chelsea’s midfield, and Son can arc his run into the space vacated by Rudiger.
Lo Celso slips in Son, who takes the ball in his stride nicely, but a combination of
Kepa Arrizabalaga and
Marcos Alonso squeeze him out, and he can’t generate a shot of any real power.
