***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

[KG]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

You could push Havertz back to the withdrawn playmaker role, as he did spend time there at Leverkusen, though it was in his younger days, and you'd really want a full defensive midfielder next to him to cover his attacking runs. Is Kante dead now? I feel like an interesting top half formation for you all would have Werner up top, Pulisic and Ziyech on the wings, Mount central and Havertz/Kante in the double pivot. You get Kante to clean up and break up the play in transition, and you basically add a second feeder to the attack in Havertz coming in from deep.


Ideally I suppose Mount is just dropped as he's not the best player in any position he could fill, but Lampard seems reluctant to do that.

Pushing Haveartz back negates his best skills which is why Leverkusen slowly started moving him more and more forward until finally they said "eff it" and put him at ST after the restart lol (although that was more because Volland was hurt).

Kante isn't dead by any means. He's def not the beast he was 3-4 years ago but that's mostly because of injuries due to overuse. He's still the best ball winner in the league, he just has difficulty with intense presses because he's not the best passer. He's a lowkey good dribbler though.

Kai can't play in a midfield of 2, especially not with Kante. Kai likes to drift and Kante chases which means that the 2nd midfielder has to be a rock positionally. That's why we pushed so hard for Rice. Both midfielders need mobility in the double-pivot which is why we get exposed with Kante-Jorginho. Kante will chase and Jorginho will be left exposed and because he's a poor athlete he'll either get dribbled around, passed around, or he has to commit a foul to break it up which gets him a yellow.

I'd imagine we change formations A LOT this year. Even some 3-5-2 sprinkled in with our 4-2-3-1.

[Suntan Superman]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

Pushing Haveartz back negates his best skills which is why Leverkusen slowly started moving him more and more forward until finally they said "eff it" and put him at ST after the restart lol (although that was more because Volland was hurt).

Kante isn't dead by any means. He's def not the beast he was 3-4 years ago but that's mostly because of injuries due to overuse. He's still the best ball winner in the league, he just has difficulty with intense presses because he's not the best passer. He's a lowkey good dribbler though.

Kai can't play in a midfield of 2, especially not with Kante. Kai likes to drift and Kante chases which means that the 2nd midfielder has to be a rock positionally. That's why we pushed so hard for Rice. Both midfielders need mobility in the double-pivot which is why we get exposed with Kante-Jorginho. Kante will chase and Jorginho will be left exposed and because he's a poor athlete he'll either get dribbled around, passed around, or he has to commit a foul to break it up which gets him a yellow.

I'd imagine we change formations A LOT this year. Even some 3-5-2 sprinkled in with our 4-2-3-1.

Yeah, I doubt Havertz will be lining up at ST with your depth, which is probably better. I don't think it should happen overall, but I like the idea of experimenting with Havertz in the midfield two, especially in games where you can assume Chelsea will be on the front foot. That said, because the rest of your defense is a bit suspect, and goalkeeping is.... well... not a forte, I can also understand not wanting to risk exposing your centrebacks and goalkeeper like that. Poor Jorginho is meant to be in a midfield 3 so his lack of athleticism gets less exposure, but with all of Chelsea's attacking options it does seem wholly incorrect to revert to a three-man midfield.



So to solve all of your "problems" we just have to move Mount to the bench, and just play Werner, Pulisic, Havertz, and Ziyech as the attackers. Mount, Abraham, CHO, and the lovely Giroud are rotational options.

[Brahvocado]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

The actual like tactical answer as far as I can tell is that both Pulisic and Werner naturally occupy similar spaces, and also because we have nobody we could put on the right side that would provide proper coverage to James, aside from Pulisic.

Werner is not a central-playing striker, he is that Auba(or Henry, if you like) profile where he likes to occupy the wide areas of the pitch pretty regularly. So with Pulisic on the left, you have two players regularly occupying the same areas, and since Mount isn't a winger he would naturally be drifting centrally and dropping deeper to help with the buildup, which leaves the right side very exposed and our shape becomes lopsided.

The current positions Lampard has people playing are probably more about maintaining shape than anything else. With Ziyech now fit, i could see us rotating more, but honestly I think a lot of our forward players will swap sides pretty regularly during matches, we've already seen them doing it.

The REAL hot take here imo, is that our best formation could very well be a midfield 3 of Mount, Havertz and a new pure DM. Havertz and Mount would complement each other perfectly in midfield, both of them are sort of a box-to-box 8 style player with lots of 10 qualities as well. I have become increasingly convinced that this is Lampard's ultimate plan and a huge part of why we are going after Rice specifically.

This would also theoretically give CHO more opportunities, since Mount would no longer need to be played as a winger.

[KG]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

It’s still tok risky to play Kai in a midfield of 2 vs teams that sit back. We did that vs West Brom & Soto with actual midfielders and we gave up goals. We’ll be much better defensively with Chillwell and Silva plus Mendy between the stick once they get settled. We don’t face many shots in comparison to a lot of teams but we give up high quality chances which makes it even more important to have a shot stopping keeper. Mendy was really good yesterday so hopefully that continues.

Yeah that’s most likely our attacking pecking order but we decided to keep a large squad this year for injuries/COVID. Frank’s gonna have to man-manage his *** off this year. A lot of people to keep happy and match fit.


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[Suntan Superman]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

The actual like tactical answer as far as I can tell is that both Pulisic and Werner naturally occupy similar spaces, and also because we have nobody we could put on the right side that would provide proper coverage to James, aside from Pulisic.

That seems fair, is CHO just not trusted on the right as a right-footed player?

Werner is not a central-playing striker, he is that Auba(or Henry, if you like) profile where he likes to occupy the wide areas of the pitch pretty regularly. So with Pulisic on the left, you have two players regularly occupying the same areas, and since Mount isn't a winger he would naturally be drifting centrally and dropping deeper to help with the buildup, which leaves the right side very exposed and our shape becomes lopsided.

Also fair, Werner seemed like an all-over striker at Leipzig, so I'm certainly aware of his sometimes maddening likelihood to crowd space.

The current positions Lampard has people playing are probably more about maintaining shape than anything else. With Ziyech now fit, i could see us rotating more, but honestly I think a lot of our forward players will swap sides pretty regularly during matches, we've already seen them doing it.

A fully healthy Chelsea side with swapping wingers is basically a nut high for me. I've spent the last few months studying Italy of the 90's and the players remarkable versatility and ability to play just about anywhere is something I'd love to see make it's way back into the modern game, and it starts (kind of?) with swapping wingers. With Werner as well, you could have some real nice fluidity going forward.

The REAL hot take here imo, is that our best formation could very well be a midfield 3 of Mount, Havertz and a new pure DM. Havertz and Mount would complement each other perfectly in midfield, both of them are sort of a box-to-box 8 style player with lots of 10 qualities as well. I have become increasingly convinced that this is Lampard's ultimate plan and a huge part of why we are going after Rice specifically.

I'm a firm believer in the 3-man midfield still, even though I admit it seems that much like the 4-4-2, the game has negated some of the advantage the 3-man midfield used to have. It does make sense ultimately, I also think with the added depth of a true DM, you'll have more options to impact the game off of the bench.

This would also theoretically give CHO more opportunities, since Mount would no longer need to be played as a winger.

Are you still directing the hype train?

[Brahvocado]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

CHO just does not seem to be trusted at the moment for whatever reason. My theory is that it isn't because of his defensive liabilities that people keep pointing out, it's that he is struggling to make a comeback from his injury.

Since coming back, he hasn't looked even remotely like himself. Less pace, afraid to take people on 1v1, constantly stopping play to pass backwards etc., all of the things that made him dangerous and unpredictable just don't seem to be there at the moment. I'm wondering if the cub thinks he isn't going to make a full return

[KG]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

CHO just does not seem to be trusted at the moment for whatever reason. My theory is that it isn't because of his defensive liabilities that people keep pointing out, it's that he is struggling to make a comeback from his injury.

Since coming back, he hasn't looked even remotely like himself. Less pace, afraid to take people on 1v1, constantly stopping play to pass backwards etc., all of the things that made him dangerous and unpredictable just don't seem to be there at the moment. I'm wondering if the cub thinks he isn't going to make a full return

Hopefully the club thinks long term with CHO and realizes that he's 19 and coming off a MAJOR injury. All of those things you mentioned Brahv come with the territory. We just have to be patient with CHO. He also has to do the same with the club.

[Brahvocado]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

Can I just how much I love Mason Mount?

Kid’s got everything, so annoying some of our own fans can’t see it.

[KG]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

Can I just how much I love Mason Mount?

Kid’s got everything, so annoying some of our own fans can’t see it.

I think a lot of fans, including myself, were more upset with Frank playing him on the wing which made him look much worse than when he's in the midfield.

Now that Ziyech is healthy and CHO is slowly getting his confidence back I doubt we'll see him there too. How about those balls Ziyech was whipping in with his left. Tasty!

[Brahvocado]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

Hoping that goal gives him some confidence, but tbh CHO was not very good today lol.

That whole game got turned on its head as soon as Mount and Pulisic came on.

[KG]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

Starting to string together good performances. The defense looks miles ahead and folks are settling into their roles.

A good showing vs Sheffield this weekend is a must. Hate having 2 weeks to stew over a crappy performance.


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[KG]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

Hakim had himself a day

https://www.reddit.com/r/chelseafc/c...tm_name=iossmf


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[Brahvocado]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

He just makes everything so dangerous it’s nuts

[KG]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

We need to sell Ross ASAP while his value is high lol


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[KG]

Re: ***The Official Chelsea FC Thread***

One of our best performances to date. A lil wasteful in the first half and perhaps selfish at times, especially Pulisic, but just free flowing and menacing going forward.

Loved seeing how direct Pulisic and CHO were. Their first touches were almost always directly towards goal. Good to see that confidence even if Pulisic’s fitness isn’t quite there.

Kova has been really good these past few games and looks like his legs are fresh. Just dribbling by guys at will.

Oli, what can you say about him. Just a total pro and the fact that France’s #9 is our 3rd striker speaks to the depth we have. Really hope we don’t lose him this January.

Leeds on Saturday should be fun. 2000 fans let back into the Bridge too.


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