[THREAD] Analysis on Chelsea's defensive structure during transitions and how this exposes the defensive midfielder

Part 1: Context
This is Chelsea's offensive structure in a 4-3-3. The two 8s push up almost high enough to be considered 10s. Chelsea don't use the center of the field to advance even when given the freedom to do so, the goal is to get the ball to the wings

Here is an example: Mount (19) and Barkley (8) push up, wingers tuck in and full backs overlap.

When Kovacic plays, the DM has assistance as Kovacic likes to play deeper than Barkley and Mount. Chelsea's best run of games have come when Kovacic and Jorginho have played together in a midfield pivot, this has still left Chelsea vulnerable at times.

Part 2: The Problem
The two 8s pushing forward leaves space in midfield that the DM has to cover by himself. When the ball is overturned Chelsea are forced to defend a lot of space with 3 players.

Chelsea lost the ball a second earlier. The DM (Gilmour) closes down the opponent due to the lack of personnel at the back and he leaves space behind him. Zaha easily takes a long shot without anyone closing him down

The same problem occurs when Chelsea press high with all their players and the opponent beat their press

This one happened in a 3-4-3 so it's slightly different but it's the same scenario. Zouma steps out to cover the space left by the DM and Jimenez runs behind him

Part 3: Solution
Many Chelsea fans think a fast DM will solve this problem. As you saw in the previous video Zouma's pace allowed him to recover and intercept the pass from Jimenez. Yes, pace sometimes helps but it's not always the case especially when you're outnumbered

The solution would be pushing the defence line up so that the few players at the back can close down space faster and create compactness around the man with the ball. Here's a snippet of Chelsea pressing last season under Sarri and the CBs are past the midfield line

The other solution would be too play the two 8s closer to the DM. This is how most teams play in the first place. Here's the average positioning of the two 8s last season. The team are more compact as a whole

A temporary solution that's working for Lampard right now is the 3-4-3 formation. The formations is very compact and an extra center back provides more cover during transitions. Here's Jorginho's last performance in a 3-4-3 https://twitter.com/SamardzicFlair/status/1287816206146138112?s=19

Chelsea only conceded 1 counter attack goal last season. This season they conceded 7. Proof that Jorginho is not the problem and the examples I showed of Sarri's defensive setup work.

Thank you for reading

Frank Lampard's Derby County were also vulnerable to counterattacks and it was labelled a structural problem https://twitter.com/EdenAlphaHazard/status/1287857285797158915?s=19