Chelsea beat Bournemouth 2-0 on Tuesday night in their first game after the World Cup break. It was a much-needed victory and a clean sheet after the stumbles and poor performances before the break.
There was one key element for me that I noticed that really helped Chelsea get the upper hand over Bournemouth and make it a pretty straightforward game for them in the end, and that was the shape shift in the game.
We’re starting to see elements in our game that have clearly been implemented by Graham Potter and his team, and form is one of them.
I also counted about four moves in the first half that Chelsea made that were quick one-touch passes that set us up for an attack in seconds. We have rarely seen this at Chelsea in recent seasons as our possession game is often too slow and laborious.
It was refreshing to see some quick moves and players also making those more difficult and risky passes; that’s what we need to look at a lot more, worry less about keeping possession and focus more on our fast break when we lose that possession.
But as I say, it was the change of form in the game that I really noticed as the key to victory. Potter is clearly looking to play a defense four as the mainstay going forward, and in this game we line up in a 4-3-3.
The midfield was fairly staggered, with Jorginho at base, Denis Zakaria slightly forward on the right and Mason Mount again ahead on the left, having the most attacking role of the three. It worked great and provided a nice balance.
Out of possession we looked a bit like this:
But in possession we looked more like this:
As you can see, it looked more like a back three. Reece James almost plays as a right midfielder, and Marc Cucurella falls deeper as a central defender or narrow winger. Mount was heavily involved in the attack, and Zakaria and Jorgi went down slightly.
Another key element was the roaming of Kai Havertz in a free role. He played like a 9, but kept dropping deep to get the ball and get involved in building the game, and this took defenders out of position and allowed Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic to often operate in open space. James joining the attack often helped this a lot as well, and most of our attack threat came from that side.
It’s good to see ‘Potter-ball’, if you will, start to take shape. The form change is just one of the many things he and his coaching staff have been working on in training. And it’s apparent that they also now have a real emphasis on moving the ball forward much quicker and taking up less time with the mundane possession game going back and sideways. There’s a time and place for both types of play, of course, and so, as always, balance is key, as is decision-making.
It’s all about getting numbers in attacking positions to penetrate, and the 4-3-3 allows for that much better than other formations. However, midfield is key to this, and I wouldn’t be as confident without Zakaria’s energetic and physical presence there, bringing more defensive awareness.
