Graham Potter’s first game in charge of ChelseaAnyone who has ever watched him closely will feel curiously familiar. Brighton side.
There were elements of the Brighton that have been evident over the past two seasons. They won but lost. And there were bits of the Brighton from the start of this season: the highly unusual shape, where Potter’s side defended with a three-man defence, but without proper wing-backs protecting the wide areas.
On paper, Potter’s side could either have been a back four — with Cesar AzpilicuetaPartnering Thiago SilvaIn the centre of defense, Reece James Marc Cucurella on either side — or a back three featuring Azpilicueta, Silva and Cucurella. It was the latter with James moving forward to become a full-back. This left Raheem SterlingIn theory, it is the wingback on the opposite flank.
In reality, Sterling was not a wingback. For example, this is what it looks like after a throw from the far side. Cucurella is in a position that suggests he’s responsible for covering the entire left side of the defence…
…and it’s only once Red Bull Salzburg definitively win possession from the throw that Sterling comes ambling inside from a very wide position. This, clearly, is not a proper “wing-back” — but, in the absence of a proper term, let’s stick with that for now.
It felt at times like Sterling was part of a front three, rather than a standalone. Kai Havertz Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Midway through the first half, he’d raced in behind to collect a Havertz lofted pass over the top of the Salzburg defence…
…and, in this position, feels like more of an inside-left.
Sterling’s only real defensive contribution was when he rushed back to help dispossess Salzburg by the touchline, but the more notable feature of this move was how Cucurella had moved out from a left-sided centre-back position, and how JorginhoTo maintain the three-man defense effectively, had been called in.
And the main feature of Sterling’s game was not really hugging the touchline and dribbling forward directly but instead waiting at the far post to collect crosses. Ten minutes in, James’ deep cross to the far post…
…was miscontrolled slightly by Sterling, but he did well to recover…
…and slip in Cucurella on the overlap.
Eight minutes later, it’s the same thing — this time James gets to the byline…
…and plays a deep cross over to Sterling at the far post to bring the ball down, and try to make space for a shot.
The next situation came after a wonderful turn from James — and, spotting Sterling all alone at the far post, he tried to fire in a powerful low cross…
…but it was played beyond Sterling and Aubameyang.
And then there was some variation — James knocking the ball back to Azpilicueta, whose deep cross…
…invited Sterling to volley towards goal, with his shot blocked.
But, in Chelsea’s first move of the second half, the plan finally paid off. This time it was successful. Mason MountJames was ahead of him and he received the ball on the run.
It’s tough to know whether this slightly miscued cross, which somehow evaded four players in the middle, was actually intended to reach Sterling. But, from the aforementioned deep crosses in the first half, it feels like there’s a good chance this was the idea…
…Sterling took a touch to set himself, and then curled the ball perfectly into the far corner. 1-0.
And, by this point, Chelsea hadn’t encountered too many defensive problems.
But suddenly, Salzburg entered the game. Perhaps because their pressing had dropped a bit. And Chelsea’s defensive shape started to look slightly crazy — this is essentially how they were playing, with something approaching a five-man midfield but the notional wing-backs actually in front of the midfield.
Maybe this is a completely wrong interpretation of the system, and it’s actually a 3-3-2-2. However, Chelsea is allowing Lucas Gourna Douath to have the ball in their midfield and are lacking width in their defensive position.
Gourna Douath manages to get the ball through to Maurits Kjaergaard. Here, it feels like it’s actually Mount and Mateo Kovacic who have the responsibility to defend the wide areas, but Mount isn’t in a position to stop this pass.
Salzburg have easily found space on the outside of Chelsea’s defence.
Nine minutes later, Chelsea have possession and it’s worth assessing the positions of the two “wing-backs”— James and Sterling are both high and, in Sterling’s case, astonishingly wide. Azpilicueta on the near side, right-sided centreback, is another notable player in this picture.
James and Sterling can’t help but to help Chelsea when they lose possession. Azpilicueta isn’t able to defend the right of the pitch. Salzburg got men to the side from the near, which could have helped this situation.
Two minutes later, it’s the goal. Again, Sterling and James aren’t in a position to support the defence — they’re on the halfway line — although perhaps they’re simply not supposed to be supporting the defence. Still, this again means that Chelsea are exposed down one side when a wide centre-back — this time Cucurella — gets sucked up the pitch…
…and after Silva misses a tackle on the far side and Azpilicueta gets caught out by the movement of Noah Okafor, Salzburg snatch an equaliser, which leaves Chelsea bottom of group E.
It felt like the goals stemmed directly from Chelsea’s approach — extremely high wing-backs (or wingers) in combination with a three-man defence meant Sterling continually received deep crosses on the outside, but also meant Chelsea simply couldn’t cover the width of the pitch at the back.
This is evidently what Potter wanted based on how his Brighton side played this year and how Chelsea were positioned throughout the match. It’s too soon to make judgements on whether Potter’s approach will prove successful at Chelsea, but either way, it’s unlikely to be dull.
