Chelsea on Monday night, opened their title bid with a dominant 3-1 win against Burnley at Turf Moor. It was a match that Chelsea won with relative ease, something that will make the fans very happy as this is a match that they would have struggled to get anything out of last season. The game did not start the way Chelsea had planned though as they were on the back foot for most of the opening minutes, and the Burnley pressure finally paid off when Scott Arfield volleyed in from just inside the box after some sketchy set-piece defending. The goal seemed to spur Chelsea and they proceeded to score three goals to put the game beyond the Clarets by halftime. Diego Costa fired home from close range to equalize, Schurrle finished well from a sublime Fabregas pass and Branislav Ivanovic ended the scoring. In a game that presented Chelsea a chance to test themselves against the kind of team that gave them problems last season, it will be interesting to see how they won.
Burnley didn't allow Chelsea to settle
Before the match started, I was expecting Burnley to be deep and compact as I was curious to see how the team will play with the addition of Costa and Fabregas, but Burnley had other ideas. They started the game with a high intensity; pressing Chelsea as high as they could and not giving the midfielders time and space on the ball. The plan worked wonders for them as only the defenders could really have space and time on the ball. This showed in the stats as Chelsea’s top 4 pass combinations in the game were Cahill to Terry, Azpilicueta to Terry, Terry to Azpilicueta, and Terry to Cahill. Ivanovic wasn’t part of the defensive combinations as he was high up trying to win headers during goal-kicks.
As you can see in the picture above Ings and Jutkeiwicz are in front of the defense blocking all passing lanes into Fabregas and Matic making the Chelsea defense settle for sideways passes or punting the ball upfield. During this period (as Chelsea couldn’t bring the ball down and play), Chelsea only looked dangerous when accurate long balls were played from deep.
(Pic shows Costa keeping Burnley’s defense deep and occupied)
This happened only twice and it lead to Chelsea’s only chance for Schurrle in on the third minute. When the Burnley midfield pressed high, the defense could not afford to follow them as they were being pegged back by Diego Costa who will get in behind (FINALLY A STRIKER THAT KNOWS WHERE TO BE!). This opened up space between the Burnley back line and midfield which meant that a long ball to Costa could be headed down and passed into this space by him to any of the attacking midfielders who could not be found in dangerous positions otherwise. That was how the Shurrle chance came about.
Burnley scores, Chelsea change
The Burnley pressure tells, after 13 minutes and Scott Arfield scored with a beautiful volley just inside the area. The truth is (in hindsight) this was the best thing that could have happened to Chelsea during the game. Because as Chelsea kicked off Burnley seemed to have backed off their initial high press and looked to defend their lead in a more deep and compact shape.
A sensible plan, but one that was ultimately their undoing. The deepness of their press meant that Matic and Fabregas were suddenly in space and Chelsea’s attacking midfielders could drop deep and combine with them. Dropping deep was something Oscar was already doing when Burnley were pressing high. The difference here is that Oscar was dropping deep into Chelsea’s third to play long balls forward. But in this scenario, he is in Burnley’s half and is combining with a liberated Fabregas and Matic. These combinations were key to breaking Burley’s resistance. As with the defense focused on Costa and the midfield line were on Fabregas, Matic and Oscar, Hazard and Schurrle had space and time to move freely and put themselves in good positions to hurt Burnley. This was not an aimless period of possession it was decent circulation and movement probing for an opening to capitalise on. The movement in particular dragged the Burnley players out of their positions creating spaces for Chelsea players to receive the ball in those positions and create chances. The patient probing would continue until a Chelsea player (Fabregas mostly), saw an opening to attack and in an instant, Chelsea would transition from possession to attack. This was how Chelsea’s first and second goals were scored.
On the first goal the ball was passed by Chelsea 15 times, during which it went from right to the left and back to the right with Matic and Fabregas probing and Chelsea’s attacking midfielder’s moving and creating space. The space and chance finally came when Schurrle (brown pointer) got the ball from Fabregas and started running down the right taking the attention of 2 defenders (blue pointers) with him, only to give it to Ivanovic and continuing his run. Ivanovic then gave the ball to Fabregas (Green pointer) who at this point was in space. With the whole Burnley midfield’s (red pointers) attention on him, Fabregas played it long to Costa, but he was beaten in the air. The gap (red square) created by the midfield’s attention on Fabregas though meant that the ball fell to Hazard (he ran into the space), who’s 1-2 with Oscar was dealt with but the ball was still loose and fell to Oscar because at this time the Burnley defenders had followed Hazard. Oscar gave the ball to Fabregas and one backheel and cross from Ivanovic later, Costa scored.
The second goal was also very similar, passing combinations from Oscar, Matic and Fabregas kept the midfield occupied and Costa’s movement kept the defense at bay. They made the transition to attack when Fabregas saw Schurrle in space and he touched it to an accelerating Hazard’s path who went on to destroy Burnley’s midfield organisation this a brilliant run. Hazard then went on to give the ball to Ivanovic, at which point, Schurrle saw the chance to run in behind Burnley without anyone noticing. By the time Ivanovic chipped the ball to Fabregas, Schurrle was almost in, and one wonderful pass later, he had the ball in the net.
Fabergas' Role
Fabregas had a brilliant game, he was the one charged with finding holes in the Burnley team from deep and he did so brilliantly as the first two goals showed. He is the player Chelsea have been looking for to identify when and how to suddenly change tempo on opponents and actually go about doing it. He was also very crucial to the patient probing that we did before the goals. He lead the team with passes and pass accuracy. It was a truly refreshing performance.
Oscar
The Brazilian also had a decent game, although he wasn’t directly involved in the goals, he played an important role. The people that slag Oscar off for not scoring enough goals or bagging enough assists for a “number 10” really don’t understand the kind of player he is or the job he is asked to do. Oscar may be a 10 from the team sheet, but his movement and positioning show that he is a quite closer to a third midfielder. What he does is aid the team during transitions and keep the ball circulating and moving while taking the attention of defenders. This gives the people actually charged with hurting defenses time and space to do their jobs. He is not a goal or assist machine (those hoping for that may be dissappointed), but he will provide every one around him with the support in both offensive and defensive capacities.
Finally, a striker
Costa may have scored on his debut, but what struck many about him was his performance in other areas. It seems Chelsea have found the perfect striker for their system. His link up play was fantastic as he had a great understanding of when to drop deep or drift wide and his touches were quick and decisive. He did not stop moving after passing, instead he makes runs to make himself a passing option or take the defenders off the player on the ball. He also made good runs through the Channels and in behind the defense. His positioning was also good as evidenced by the fact that he was at the right place for his well taken goal.
Ivanovic isn't that bad
Over the course of last season, a lot of fans were critical of Branislav Ivanovic’s ability on the attack. After Monday’s match, it seems that the criticism was a bit exaggerated. Although he is no Dani Alvez, he provided decent support for the attack down the right and it goes to show how much a player’s crossing and passing ability depends on the positioning and movement of his team mates. His cross for Costa’s goal was dangerous and his pass to Fabregas for the Schurrle goal was a brilliant surprise (who knew he had that in him?). Kind of makes you wonder how Torres would look in this team doesn’t it?
Hazard
Eden Hazard did not have the best of games by any stretch of the imagination, but he was an influential part of Chelsea’s play and was very involved in the second goal. He did enough to show that despite having a subpar perfomance by his standards and despite Chelsea’s new signings, he is still the club’s most important player. Fabregas may be the most creative and Costa maybe the biggest direct threat to goal, but nothing causes havoc in an opposition defense like Hazard at full speed. The additions of Costa and Fabregas just give him more dangerous spaces with which to operate and someone willing to find him in those dangerous spaces. The run leading to the Schurrle goal confirms this. It will be interesting to see the effect Felipe Luis will have on him as his marauding runs forward will only create more space for the Belgian.
The Concerns
While it was a brilliant performance once Cheslea were allowed to settle, before the Burnley goal, Chelsea were certainly second best in the game. The high pressing from Burnley meant the midfielders had little time on the ball and the ball was mostly in the hands of Terry and Cahill. With Costa up front Chelsea finally had a target to play the ball long to. But it seemed this was not an option they were willing to exercise. Terry and Cahill both solid defenders are not the type you expect to give you raking forward passes from the back. This would have been a brilliant avenue for Chelsea to bypass the Burnley midfield press and put their defense under serious pressure. The ball could have been either knocked down to an attacking midfielder or maybe in behind the defense. The only times a long ball was attempted was when Oscar dropped all the way back to right-back and his ball to Costa was controlled by him and given to Fabregas, who gave Schurrle to have a shot. All of this before the midfield finished retreating. And also when Fabregas was in a bit of space and found Schurrle in behind the Burnley backline.
The same was the situation for Chelsea when Burnley play the ball up and Matic is high up. As the picture above suggests, the space (black trapezium) between the defense and midfield was too much and Burnley had a few chances to score. A defender willing to break the line, step up and intercept these balls will be of good use to the team in this situation. Perhaps it would be wise to invest in a defender that will give them these features.
Conclusion
It was refreshing to see a Chelsea team pressing on against a deep team and come out with three goals. If today was an indication of the future, Chelsea’s biggest weaknesses last season has become a strength this year. And Mourinho will be hoping his team can gain some consistent momentum.