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Chelsea vs Burnley - Tactical analysis.
Our 4-3-3 vs a low block, new transitions in attack, why Tammy could be integral and Mount's resurgence at #8.
Disclaimer: The footage used is for educational purposes only. All copyrights belong to Premier League/Chelsea FC.
Our 4-3-3 vs a low block, new transitions in attack, why Tammy could be integral and Mount's resurgence at #8.
Disclaimer: The footage used is for educational purposes only. All copyrights belong to Premier League/Chelsea FC.
The game vs Burnley was our first look at our fluid 4-3-3. Lampard's 4-3-3 borrows from both Klopp's and Pep's 4-3-3 philosophies. Lampard understands that not only do we have excellent attackers, our FBs Chilly/James/Azpi are potent weapons too, which he wants to use in attack.
You can see here how Chilly and Reece up high causes problems. Because they are wide, Mount has a pass through at all times. As Mount progresses, the Burnley FB has a catch-22. If he keeps marking James, Mount becomes more dangerous. If he presses Mount, he leaves James free.
City uses this 3-2 shape a lot. Note how Chilwell has tucked in as the 3rd CB to make sure we have 3 against Burnley's two up front. Reece moves to DM next to Kante. Kai and Mount join the front 3 to make it 5 vs a back 4. We have a numerical advantage in defence and attack.
This is a 2-3, a slight alteration of the 3-2 Liverpool uses. Note that Reece and Chilly are both out of frame, just like TAA and Robertson go high. Kai and Mount drop in next to Kante. This forces Burnley to press high (six in our half) leaving a back four against our 5 again.
In the last picture, Liverpool uses a 3-2 instead of our 2-3. This happens as their DM, Fabinho, is comfortable playing as a CB, which Kante is not. Fernandinho/Rodri also drop in between the two CBs to allow Walker/Mendy/Cancelo to stretch play high. Our 2-3 is slightly riskier.
Here is a transition in action. Burnley rely on their front two to win aerial duels for their dangerous wide players. Here, Zouma and Thiago pick up the front two, while Reece and Chilly mark the space out wide for the 2nd ball (3atb). When ball is won, 2-3, with full backs.
Here's our 2-3 when our 8s come into play (Henderson/Keita for Liverpool) because Kai drops this deep, his marker is reluctant to leave the 4-4-2 def. shape. Kai is lethal in space; and he plays a 1-2 with Reece (who is a winger now) and moves into the space between their lines.
Our other 8, meanwhile, is offering a different threat. Again 2-3, Kai and Mount are next to Kante. Because Reece is allowed to play as a winger in this transition, Mount's excellent diagonal gives us a chance to use his dangerous crossing. Mount got 7/7 long passes right.
Last season, we went side to side vs defences that kept a low block. Here, Burnley are supremely well organized with two banks of four. However, Mason in his preferred role as an 8, has all the right ingredients to offer a vertical solution.
We have 3 who can play at #10 (Kai, Ziyech, Mount) and 2 who can play RW (Kai, Ziyech). So Lampard wants his players to interchange fluidly instead of having a fixed #10.
Start of move - Mount (CM), Havertz (CM), Ziyech (RW).
End of move - Mount (IF), Havertz (RW), Ziyech (CM).
Start of move - Mount (CM), Havertz (CM), Ziyech (RW).
End of move - Mount (IF), Havertz (RW), Ziyech (CM).
In the last move, Havertz moved into the central zone to pick a pass. This time, Mount finds a gap between the midfield line and plays in a clever pass to Tammy. The creative onus is shared in our 4-3-3, and players are encouraged to go vertical and above the defence if needed.
Excellent attacking prowess aside, our two 8s HAVE to be excellent in defensive transitions too. The key to this is pressing and reducing time any midfielder has on the ball. When the ball is lost, it has to be chased down and won as high as possible. Here Kai shows his mettle.
And here is Mount showing how good he is. When the 8s are hungry to win the ball back, Kanye's job becomes infinitely easier to handle.
A lot of qualities make Ziyech fantastic, one is his vision. Here, he is RIF out of our 5 in attack, and he uses Reece and Havertz as decoys to make space. This is his favorite pass – a fizzed diagonal for the LB/LW. Promes, Tagliafico took a few months before to make this work.
This is to illustrate our 4-3-3's effectiveness in attack. In the first frame, Burnley's back is 4 struggling to cope with our 5 (Chilwell out of frame). When Ziyech gets the ball, Abraham is marked out by 2 CBs but Ziyech still has Chilwell (LW) and Werner, unmarked #10.
Tammy could be absolutely vital in the wake of Pulisic's injury. He has already got two goals and 5 assist (goal involvement every 58 minutes), and now he is diversifying his forward play too. Here, he drops deep into CM, almost as a false 9 to create an opening.
Fantastic again from Tammy. Last season, he was sometimes too static as a forward, which made him easier to marshal. The free #10 zone allows him to drop deep, drag out his marker, spread play; after which he can run into the box to choose his space. Crucial.
This fluid interchanging, overload in attack, Tammy's willingness to help in build up, is what brings us our first goal. As the ball is in Kai's half, he becomes the more advanced 8, and Mason takes a deeper role as Chilwell is high. This also makes 5 in attack.
More excellent play all around. When the ball is lost, Kante wins it back, and Havertz goes from LCM to RW to #10 in the same move while Ziyech goes from CM to RW. Mount arrives late as a supporting 8 should. Tammy also dropping in deep to build the attack. Positive signs.
Werner showing how effective he is when allowed to drift left. With Tammy out of position, Werner has every chance to occupy the center but he keeps the width. This leaves both of Burnley's CBs no one to mark, and they try and close Ziyech. Werner picks the perfect moment.
The lack of a #10 occupying the zone at all times benefits Werner too. Whe he dropped into the zone, the Burnley defence were reluctant about being dragged out. Here Werner has so much time and space, and he spreads the ball wide to James, whose width is causing severe problems.
The only negative I saw was Kai losing the ball in crucial positions. Given his elegant, calm demeanor, he sometimes appears too casual in dangerous zones. Here, Tammy is deep; Kai should be recycling possession until Tammy gets back. Instead he chooses poorly and Burnley counter
Here it's even worse. He tries to dribble his way out of trouble instead of slowing the pace down. Barnes gets a whizzing shot away which is just wide. Not good. He lost the ball 12 times vs Burnley. Has to be more careful.
Other than that, a very aesthetically pleasing performance. Timo and Kai could have done with a rest after our second goal, instead Timo played the whole 90 because of Pulisic's injury. Kai was also on until late, and with muscle injuries up 57% in the PL, we have to be careful.
Hakim Ziyech could be the shrewdest acquisition of this season. Against Burnley, he pressured 20 times (Mount is top with 24). With 2 goals in 2 and MoTMs in two, he will only get better as he learns to anticipate movement patterns of our attackers.
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