Chelsea vs Burnley and 4-3-3 formation analysis

Chelsea had a good game against Burnley. Burnley are an astute defensive unit. They like stay narrow and compact. Lampard's primary challenge was to find ways to open up a low block set up and score goals, which he did. (1/16)

Up top, Lampard rightly played Tammy over Werner in the no9 position as Werner is better at playing off at target man’s movements than being a target man himself. Against low block, Werner/ Pulisic/Ziyech would operate in channels created by Tammy/Giroud's movement. (2/16)

Chelsea certainly look defensively stronger, albeit Zouma’s nervy moments throughout the game. But this game against Burnley was more of a physical battle than a tactical one for the defenders with Burnley attack providing no threat on their own. (3/16)

Lampard deployed a 4-3-3 formation on paper which wasn’t really a 4-3-3. Chelsea are not yet prepared to play in 4-3-3 as I have said numerous times before. The positions our players took up was a modified 4-2-3-1 with (4/16)

Mount staying back and sticking closer to Kante as Havertz was given the license to be a more attacking threat. The images here and above show positions of Mount and Havertz during the game. Mount plays closer to defense line while Havertz is closer to offense line. (5/16)

Without the ball Chelsea lined up in a 4-4-1-1 and with the ball in a 2-3-5 formation. Lampard went all guns blazing in this match and rightly so as we needed as many bodies as possible attacking to find a way inside the back of their net. (6/16)

When in attack, our fullbacks played as touchline hugging wingers. Our wide attackers played as inside forwards with Ziyech often switching positions with Havertz. The image shows switching positions between Havertz and Ziyech which will be used often in my opinion. (7/16)

Havertz played as a no10 who casually dropped deep to receive the ball while Mount played the role of a classic box-to-box no8. We can see how Mount arrives late as a box-to-box to take shot. Hence the formation we played was not exactly a 4-3-3 but really a 4-2-3-1. (8/16)

Our buildup from the back was poor as there was no outlet centrally. We used our fullbacks and switching wings to progress the ball forward. This was also possible because + (9/16)

our inside forwards used to drop deep and opposition fullbacks never covered them so the wingers moved inside which opened up space for our fullbacks to receive and take the ball forward. (10/16)

Going forward with this “formation” needs a lot of stability and balance than what was deployed against Burnley when we face tougher opponents. Our pressing and counter-pressing is still erratic. In simple words, we don’t hunt in packs. (11/16)

We need to organise our pressing structure and win the ball back better, have players in better positions to counter press. This is an area which seems to go unnoticed and Lampard needs to shift his focus on it. (12/16)

The distances between our lines, especially defense and midfield lines are still too long. If we want to play in the 2-3-5 formation in attack we need to put Kovacic/Gilmour in the box-to-box role against stronger teams which press high up to defend against transitions. (13/16)

Keeping possession or recycling possession will be difficult when we play tougher opponents who like to keep possession themselves. Kovacic/Gilmour/Jorginho will be needed for recycling tempo/possession in such occasions. (14/16)

PS- also wanted to appreciate Zouma’s goal. Reminded me of Terry’s goal against Burnley in 2010. Lampard took the corner and Terry smashed it home. 10 years later, Mount takes a corner and Zouma smashes it home. Same play different generation. (15/16)

@SeunMobolaji @MachiiavelliCFC @LampardsLegacy @Kunalwashere @chelsholic007 @cfc_Anurag @TOSOTC_CFC @Shrey765 @Okaraemmanuel @olliewiseman_ @AjayT_CFC @CFCsportmedia @PuliLover @RagingPhoneix @PotentPulisic

Criticisms/inputs/retweets are much, much appreciated. (16/16)