Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Sports

Mourinho’s Chelsea stick to the basics to down Spurs

While it would be ingenuous to classify the Portuguese manager as a ‘tactical genius,’ it’s undeniable that Mourinho sides of the past have benefited from his pragmatism. Mourinho’s team selection indicated that Chelsea’s performance would likely be a contrast of Spurs’ New Years Day victory at White Hart Lane. Then, the Blues were too adventurous in possession, and were left victims to a onslaught led by Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen.

Mourinho, though, was forced to reshuffle his midfield due to Nemanja Matic’s two-match ban, and John Obi Mikel’s injury. Therefore, Chelsea was aligned in a 4-3-3 with Cesc Fabregas and Ramires ahead of Kurt Zouma at the base of midfield. Chelsea were deprived of the physicality Mikel and Matic would offer, and here, Zouma’s presence was integral to avoiding a recurring debacle.

One of the factors to Chelsea’s downfall at White Hart Lane was Fabregas’ advanced positioning, as it left Matic with too much space to cover in central areas. At Wembley, there was more discipline and structure in Chelsea’s midfield. Ramires and Fabregas stepped forward and closed down Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason, whereas Zouma tracked Eriksen’s movement in the final third.

However, Chelsea’s midfield trio started the match slowly: Mason and Bentaleb were free to play passes from deep areas, and Zouma was caught jogging into his third to recover against Eriksen’s intelligent moving. Still, the pattern of the match favoured a Chelsea side that preferred to sit deep, and force Spurs to break them down. Apart from Eriksen, Spurs lack a player capable of unlocking organized defences, and with Nacer Chadli and Andros Townsend failing to outwit Chelsea’s fullbacks or combine with the Dane, Spurs’ threat in the final third was scarce.

Ultimately, Spurs’ best team move occurred in the 35th minute when Chadli combined with Danny Rose, before the latter cut the ball back to Eriksen, who fired a tame effort at Petr Cech. Spurs’ frustration was evident by the vast amount of wayward shots from distance, and with Zouma stifling Eriksen, Kane’s running from deep posed a few legitimate issues. On a few occasions, Kane picked up the ball from deep and ran past Chelsea’s immobile defenders – and Fabregas – with his best contributions leading to a first half free kick that saw Eriksen subsequently rattle the cross bar.

Nevertheless, Chelsea encountered difficulties playing through midfield without Matic, and often resorted to hitting long diagonals into the left channel for Hazard and Diego Costa. But although Hazard was unable to convert the chances he received throughout the match, Chelsea beat Hugo Lloris through fortuitous deflections. Pochettino turned to Erik Lamela and Moussa Dembele, before summoning Roberto Soldado and transitioning into a 4-4-2. Despite getting into key areas following Costa’s goal, Pochettino’s attackers failed to get on the end of crosses, while John Terry’s last-ditch block thwarted Spurs’ best goal opportunity.

“We played to win, they were the team they are and we were strategic. We were comfortable and found a solution to keep the stability after Matic’s suspension,” Mourinho said.

This was far from the perfect Chelsea performance: the Blues didn’t create many chances, whilst failing to offer the fluidity and silky passing they’ve been renowned for this season.

But this was ideal for Mourinho. Where Chelsea’s rivals are fixated with playing enthralling football in key matches, the Portuguese manager’s emphasis on defensive organization, along with executing via set pieces and transitional attacks has guided Chelsea to more silverware.

Written By

You may also like:

Life

Their stories are divided into before and after.

Social Media

Wanna buy some ignorance? You’re in luck.

Tech & Science

Under new legislation that passed the House of Representatives last week, TikTok could be banned in the United States.

Life

Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest often suggest travel destinations based on your likes and viewing habits.