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Frank Lampard’s 4-3-3 at Chelsea, tactical analysis
| A THREAD |
RTs Appreciated
| A THREAD |
RTs Appreciated
The aim of this thread is to analyse Lampard’s 4-3-3 at Chelsea. Having mainly used a 4-2-3-1 in 19/20, Lampard has stuck to a 4-3-3 since Halloween when Chelsea beat Burnley 3-0 at Turf Moor.
Lampard has had mixed results with the formation however despite that in this thread I’ll be analysing:
• The Build-Up
• the defence and pressing
• the attacking patterns/ methods of breaking down opponents
• The Build-Up
• the defence and pressing
• the attacking patterns/ methods of breaking down opponents
Starting off with how Chelsea tend to line up:
Changes and mostly made in the RCM position and front 3. With Kovacic and Havertz rotating after Havertz’s momentum was shot down by COVID and the front 3 having injuries and general rewarding of players being the reason behind its rotation.
However Lampard hardly ever deviates from the back 4. Kanté has started every game in the PL for Chelsea this season at 6, his form has dropped due to probably being overplayed, and of course being Frank Lampard Mason Mount is ever-present at LCM.
BUILD-UP
Starting off with playing out of the back, Chelsea are very good at this, as they barely lose possession in dangerous areas, and tend to find ways to play through opponents’ press.
Starting off with playing out of the back, Chelsea are very good at this, as they barely lose possession in dangerous areas, and tend to find ways to play through opponents’ press.
Lampard sets his team up when playing out in a 2-3-2-3. The full backs advanced to form a 3 across the pitch with the DM central & the full backs providing width, and the 2 advanced midfielders ahead of them in the vertical channel between the Dm & the full back. As seen below.
If teams press high with a man marking or effective zonal marking structure that doesn’t allow Chelsea to play out easily in this shape, they’ve several ways of breaking through and getting it into the opponent's half/ final third.
1. A winger will drop deep bringing his man with him, leaving an empty space out wide. The 8 on his side will sprint into this vacated zone where the full back will play a pass into for the 8 to receive, Chelsea can build on from here.
As we see below Pulisic has dropped deep and Mount has sprinted into the space he has vacated to receive the long ball from Chilwell.
2. An 8 or Kanté will move wide, this can have two effects.
1. They’re followed by an opponent, opening up space centrally for a forward to drop deep and receive the ball from the centre backs, and is then able to turn and attack.
1. They’re followed by an opponent, opening up space centrally for a forward to drop deep and receive the ball from the centre backs, and is then able to turn and attack.
Below we see Silva playing a pass into Timo Werner. Silva is Able to play the pass through that zone as Mount has dragged his man somewhere else, and Werner was able to receive the ball free of pressure and play a pass to Chilwell, and gain a foothold in Leeds’ final third.
2. They aren’t followed and they create a 2v1 against the opposition winger on the Chelsea full back. Forcing the opponent to mark one of them and leave the other free to receive the ball. This doesn’t happen much though.
Use a classic target man strategy, and hoof it up to Giroud or Tammy. This tends to only be used if Chelsea are forced into an uncomfortable situation at the back by the opposition press or when Chelsea are yet to find a sustainable way to build out against the opponents’ press
4. Overload one side of the pitch, making the opponents focus their efforts there, while the Chelsea full back and winger stay wide on the opposite side. Using usually Rudiger or Silva’s passing range, they switch it to the under loaded side where there is space to attack.
As we see below the left side has more players on it then the right. Rudiger switches it to CHO, who with Azpi and Kai exploit the large amount of space and create an opportunity.
Defending and Pressing:
Lampard’s side settle in either a 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 when out of possession. They can sometimes press too high in the midfield areas and Lampard should probably be more compact against top sides until pre-season when he can coach in a pressing structure.
Lampard’s side settle in either a 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 when out of possession. They can sometimes press too high in the midfield areas and Lampard should probably be more compact against top sides until pre-season when he can coach in a pressing structure.
The 4-5-1 tends to direct opponents down the middle, while the 4-4-2 down the flanks. With the front 2 often blocking off any passes into the midfield and putting heavy pressure on the centre backs to move the ball quickly, with space intentionally left out wide.
As we can see below Chelsea are settle in a 4-4-2. Pulisic and Giroud are blocking off the passes into the DMs and Sevilla’s full backs are left open. Chelsea are intentionally leaving the full backs open as CHO and Kovacic are ready to press once they get the ball.
In the 4-5-1 opponents are more invited more to go down the middle but aren’t as encouraged as to go down the flanks in a 4-5-1. In this shape the 2 no.8s are pressing extremely high and putting pressure on the opponents’s deep midfielders trying to receive the ball from the CBs.
The striker presses the centre back, the wingers are wide ready to press and force the full backs backwards if they receive the ball and Kanté is either hovering in between the lines waiting for trouble or marking a no.10. It can often be made to look like a 4-1-4-1.
The 4-5-1 can often turn into an unorganised, ragged press, and this needs to be fixed if Lampard is afforded a pre-season this year. Man City exploited this very well when they beat Chelsea 3-1 last weekend.
Below against Leeds Chelsea aren’t in this case pressing high but you are able to see their 4-5-1 shape. With the single striker, 5 across the middle and out of the picture there is the back 4.
Chelsea have been better defensively this year, however not as much as people make out. Chelsea conceded .76 xG against from OPEN PLAY per 90 this season, the same as last season. The difference has been Mendy who has been a massive improvement on Kepa.
Mendy has conceded 1 more goal than his post shot xG, while not Alison levels he’s prime Petr Cech compared to Kepa last season. Kepa nearly conceded 10 more goals than his post shot xG and is the reason Chelsea didn’t comfortably get 3rd.
Another key improvement by Lampard which I assume was his focus in pre season are set pieces. Last season Chelsea conceded 13 times from set pieces, so far this season that’s dropped to 4, Chelsea are on course to concede around 40% less goals from set pieces.
Overall Chelsea do have a very good defensive structure in terms of limiting the opposition to only .75 xG against them per 90. However implementing an effective high press should be on the top of Lampard’s to-do list, as well Chelsea should definitely take a punt at Donnarumma.
ATTACKING:
Lampard sets his team up with the objective of creating 2v1s in their favour in the wide areas when attacking, and cross into the box. Chelsea attack with their wingers narrow(except CHO) and their full backs overlapping.
Lampard sets his team up with the objective of creating 2v1s in their favour in the wide areas when attacking, and cross into the box. Chelsea attack with their wingers narrow(except CHO) and their full backs overlapping.
When teams such as Man United and Wolves’ wingers don’t track back it is fairly easy for Chelsea to create 2v1s out wide, with nobody tracking the overlapping James or Chilwell, a 2v1 is easily created against the opponents full back with the Chelsea winger.
Against Wolves, Neto and Podence didn’t track back and as we see here, nobody is marking Chilwell and he is easily able to get in behind and play in a cross for Giroud to score.
Chelsea however do have other ways of creating 2v1s or getting a player with time and space on the ball to cross when the opponents don’t simply allow a full back to overlap unmarked.
1. Overloading one side of the pitch and switching it to the other side for the wide players to go 1v1 or create 2v1s. With there being large amounts of space for Chelsea to exploit and less defenders to beat.
As we see here Chelsea and Sevilla have most of their players on the left side of the pitch, rudiger siwtches it to the right where there is plenty of space to attack, and it results in a shot.
Again Kovacic switches it the less congested right side where CHO can receive out wide under no pressure. He is able to draw two players in who’ve rushed over and left space for Azpi to receive and play an unpressured pass into Pulisic.
2. Stretching the opponents defence to create gaps for midfielders to exploit.
As we saw earlier Chelsea were able to stretch the Sevilla backline and pull out the Sevilla left back to create space for Havertz to run into and get a shot off
Here again we see Ziyech and James pull out several Sheffield defenders to create space for Kovacic to sprint in behind and cut it back for Abraham to score. Kovacic thus only had one defender to deal with and not 2 or 3 closing him down and cutting off the angle to cut it back.
3. The Chelsea wingers will move narrow to create space out wide for the full back to run onto a pass in behind.
We see here Ziyech has moved narrow, and dragged two players with him. Reece’s run was unexpected by the Rennes defenders and Thiago Silva plays a stunning pass over the top for Reece James to run onto and nearly gets an assist.
4. A winger drops deep and a midfielder sprints into the space he left. Once again a move Chelsea use to play out from the back as well.
Pulisic has dropped deep here but Havertz has sprinted into the space that Pulisic has left. Puli plays him in and Havertz is able to send in a cross for CHO to score.
As you can see some of Chelsea’s build-up play can be the same as their methods of creating opportunities in attack, as it all links together. Chelsea definitely do well in creating these overloads and we’ve yet to see full fit and sharp Havertz who will add more threat from mid
Despite the addition of Werner, Ziyech and Havertz however a third of Chelsea’s non-pen goals have come from attacking set pieces in the PL. The deliveries of Chilwell, Ziyech and Mount have helped Zouma and Silva score a combined 6 goals from set pieces.
This improvement adds a consistent and impossible to prevent outlet of goals for Chelsea. Who now can score from their many set pieces, unlike last season where Chelsea only scored 9 all season, their entire total so far this season.
Lampard and Anthony Barry needs to be given heavy praise for Chelsea’s overall set piece improvement considering how woeful Chelsea were at defending and attacking them last season.
CONCLUSION:
Lampard’s 4-3-3 from the outset is a solid and well drilled formation, with Chelsea only achieving less than 1 xG twice while using the formation, and those were against Spurs and Man City.
Lampard’s 4-3-3 from the outset is a solid and well drilled formation, with Chelsea only achieving less than 1 xG twice while using the formation, and those were against Spurs and Man City.
Werner’s poor form should hopefully only be temporary and with the return of Ziyech and Havertz slowly recovering from severe symptoms of COVID, as well as the rise in form of CHO, Chelsea’s attack should be up and running sooner rather than later.
The midfield is clearly in need of a Matic/Makelele type player who sits deep can spring and prevent attacks, and I never thought I’d say this, but Declan Rice seems the perfect option. As well Billy Gilmour is returning who offers a hybrid of Kovacic and Jorginho to the team.
Defensively Chelsea aren’t underperforming massively like last season due to Mendy’s arrival. As well Thiago Silva offers reliability off the ball and quality on it unlike Christensen and Rudiger who could often be shaky defenders but superb passers.
Whatever you say about him Lampard has got this Chelsea team on the right track to becoming a progressive, high energy, fast, attacking, top-European team. However whether he will be the Mourinho, who wins the trophies or the Ranieri, who makes way, is still yet to be seen.
