was going to ask why Antonio wasn't on penalties before remembering...Mark Noble sucks so much.
this is a Nuno overload speciality. He does it a lot. Royal almost acts like a back 3 with Reguillon getting forward.Spurs seem really reluctant to move down the right. I can’t remember a pass to Royal.
But … when introduced that’s what VAR was supposed to be … clear and obvious … and it was reiterated before the season started.Don’t agree at all with this. I’d really want them using the pitch side monitors for incidents like this. Right now it feels like a return to a lot of arbitrary applications of rules that just drives everyone insane
Chelsea do look a lot better having brought Kante on.Chelsea aren’t the same team without Kante and it looks to me like Nuno has deployed the Xmas tree formation on them. Somebody needs to figure out the weakness of this back 5 looks like Spurs want to send Son behind while having two forwards coming deeper
the depressing part is Nuno will now go back to a completely defensive stance moving forward because of a set piece and a complete kick goal.Maybe it's a fitness thing, but I do not feel good about Nuno pulling off N'dombele and Lo Celso at same time.
because he’s a time-waster?How does a goal keeper get cramp????
That’s interesting … against Liverpool I thought Liverpool exposed some weaknesses before the red card changed the game. Right now, Chelsea is near unbeatable with a lead.I think it’s probably going to have to be a counter attacking side who shows the path against Chelsea. You can’t ply possession against them because the back 5 hardly need to move — you can switch play endlessly without tiring them or making any real space to attack. You almost need to invite them forward and commit their wingbacks to change their shape. They’re happy to sit in that 5-2-x or now with a lead a 5-3-2 as long as they need to in order to frustrate you into a mistake they can use as a platform. I think Nuno had it backwards today in that he seemed to want Son to run behind centrally but surely you need width to run that channel behind the wingbacks and start to drag the CMs or CBs wider. I wonder if Liverpool will expose them better with both Salah and Mane but Liverpool tend to have a lot of the ball and may run into the same brick wall
When City played with Sane left and Sterling right I’m fairly confident City would have the speed to damage Chelsea in wider areas but these days there aren’t a ton of burner wingers in the league and certainly City is playing wingers who cut inside which run right into Chelsea’s central trap. Maybe United still wants to play outside you a bit with speed and with Ronaldo can try to go outside the 5 and head the ball in but it feels like much of the league has transitioned into much more of Peps style with a lot of possession and fewer pacy wingers hitting on the counter so they seem so well setup right nowThat’s interesting … against Liverpool I thought Liverpool exposed some weaknesses before the red card changed the game. Right now, Chelsea is near unbeatable with a lead.
So, yeah:Maybe it's a fitness thing, but I do not feel good about Nuno pulling off N'dombele and Lo Celso at same time.
QFT. A Spurs goal in the first half would've made it more interesting, but that would've been against type for Spurs. Hence, 3-0.I thought this was a very impressive game by Chelsea. It felt like Spurs basically gave them their best shot - probably their most positive possible starting XI, playing in front of the home fans, and a tactical tweak by Nuno that had Chelsea genuinely a bit confused for a while and struggling to move the ball through midfield - and all it really meant was that the game was roughly stalemated for a half until Tuchel got Kante on, made some tactical adjustments of his own, and then it was just a 45 minute curbstomping. Spurs haven't been good this year in general but are still one of the better teams in the league, especially with a full strength starting lineup.
Great article in the Athletic on the tactical battle between the two coaches, including how Nuno’s initial plans gave Chelsea trouble, and how Tuchel changed shape to counter.I thought this was a very impressive game by Chelsea. It felt like Spurs basically gave them their best shot - probably their most positive possible starting XI, playing in front of the home fans, and a tactical tweak by Nuno that had Chelsea genuinely a bit confused for a while and struggling to move the ball through midfield - and all it really meant was that the game was roughly stalemated for a half until Tuchel got Kante on, made some tactical adjustments of his own, and then it was just a 45 minute curbstomping. Spurs haven't been good this year in general but are still one of the better teams in the league, especially with a full strength starting lineup.
Rather than using Harry Kane through the middle against Thiago Silva, Nuno played him in an unusual inside-left role. Spurs attempted to play long balls downfield towards him, probably suspecting he could dominate Andreas Christensen more than Silva. The Brazilian centre-back was instead targeted with Son Heung-min’s pace. The 36-year-old coped well but Son’s movement was dangerous.
Giovani Lo Celso, meanwhile, played on the right, attempting to drag Antonio Rudiger out of position. It was, for a start, a big improvement over the static diamond Nuno deployed last weekend in a 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace, a system that could have been replicated with this weekend’s starting XI.
Tuchel countered his midfielders getting overloaded by pulling Mount back from winger to midfielder, going from their usual 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2, and then replacing Mount with Kante after halftime to get the most out of the new formation:Pressing energetically in the opening stages is one thing, but causing Chelsea problems in possession is another. Spurs did this effectively, largely because they exploited the space around Chelsea’s two-man midfield. Tuchel usually wants to defend in a 5-2-3 system, which has worked excellently but encountered some problems here.
The first problem was Kane’s movement. Although he remains goalless this season and found himself positioned deep here, this was effective in opening up Chelsea. He would often make this movement, towards the ball from that inside-left position, which dragged Jorginho up the pitch to shut him down, desperate to prevent him from turning.
And when play restarts, Mason Mount has now altered his position — having previously been part of the front three, he’s now part of a midfield trio, with Jorginho in the holding role and Kovacic becoming a No 8. Chelsea have moved from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2 in possession, or 5-2-3 to 5-3-2 out of possession.
Here, Mount indicates that he’s concentrating on tracking Dele, and although Ndombele has time on the ball here, at least the space is in front of Chelsea’s midfield, rather than in behind it.
Now, Chelsea were competing properly in midfield and started to get the upper hand. Here’s a three against three in that zone, with Hojbjerg unable to get up the pitch quickly enough to shut down Jorginho, and Kante sneaking in behind Dele to receive the ball between the lines. This was the attack that ended with Chelsea winning a corner, from which Silva headed home the opener.
Question will be how other teams can build off Nuno’s plan and find other ways to attack Tuchel’s 3-4-3:And now it was Chelsea finding space on either side of Tottenham’s midfield. For their second goal, Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic worked the ball across the midfield neatly, and the attack ended with Kante finding oceans of space. Dier, highlighted, knows someone has to shut him down — but it’s Dier who ends up deflecting the ball past his own goalkeeper, effectively ending the contest.
Lots more, including great visual breakdowns, in the article.Tuchel fixed the problem with a change of system, but with his wealth of attacking options, he’ll be reluctant to be forced into a 5-3-2 every week. Opponents have spent much of 2021 wondering precisely where you find space against Tuchel’s 3-4-3. Tottenham might have found the answer.
If they could hold off until after the 29th, that would be great.Koeman really living on borrowed time I don’t know if he survives another week