With Adebayo Olodan
Finally, the English Premier League resumed last weekend with some interesting ties.
In a perplexing contest, Manchester United blitzed Chelsea with an impressive, albeit somewhat misleading scoreline of 4-0.
Though Chelsea enjoyed more possession and shots, it was United who possessed the necessary clinical finishing in front of goal to come away the victors.
The reason for Chelsea’s domination of possession had to do with both Frank Lampard and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tactical approaches. Lampard’s 4-2-3-1 allowed his fullbacks to get forward and his wide attackers to tuck inside. This allowed them to create 2 v 1 situations against Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw, creating defensive issues for United.
With Chelsea’s wide players tucking inside, the fullbacks were forced inward as well, creating space out wide for the fullbacks to exploit. If the United fullback marked the opposition fullback and one of United’s center backs or midfielders moved across to cover the winger, this left vacant space in the middle. This allowed Chelsea to consistently create chances, and nearly led to them scoring when a scorching strike from Tammy Abraham was denied by the woodwork.
One could easily characterise this as a tactical mistake from Solskjaer, but there’s evidence to suggest that this was deliberate. Against Spurs in the league and Chelsea and Arsenal in the FA Cup, Solskjaer employed the same tactic of leaving his fullbacks with greater defensive responsibility in order to allow his attacking players to stay further up the pitch.
The reason for Solskjaer doing this was that by leaving his wide men forward, United’s forward players could counter-attack effectively even if his side conceded more chances. With the passing of Pogba and the pace of the attacking players, it makes sense that Solskjaer would look to play to United’s strengths. It worked superbly in the second half, but one is left to wonder how that would have changed if Palmieri and Abraham weren’t denied by the woodwork.
It’s difficult to read too much into a game this early into the season, particularly one with two sides as unsettled as Manchester United and Chelsea. Yet there are elements to each of their performances that could indicate how they might change aspects of their play throughout the course of the season.
Chelsea can be hopeful about their attacking line. Christian Pulisic may be the so-called replacement for Eden Hazard, but only a few individuals in world football can reproduce the level of attacking excellence Hazard produced for Chelsea. Pulisic isn’t one of them, but he is a young, promising player like so many other Blues players.
The way to replace the attacking productivity of a player like Hazard is not to swap him with another individual, but to reinvent the attack so it can systematically produce chances. Lampard has a wide array of attacking options, and while he will have to find the right balance and ensure his players are more clinical, there’s enough talent in the squad to suggest the rookie coach can construct an exciting attacking line.
Lampard’s midfield let him down against United, with Jorginho and Kovacic seemingly unable to protect the backline despite giving Chelsea a solid foundation to build attacks from. N’golo Kante should help alleviate their defensive woes, so Lampard need not concern himself too much over his midfield as of now. His defense, on the other hand, is a different matter.
Lampard will need to tinker with his defense given that his options aren’t all that stellar. Emerson impressed at left back, but hasn’t shown he can consistently perform at this level. Marcos Alonso is excellent going forward but is defensively suspect. Cesar Azpiluceta certainly didn’t cover himself in glory with his performance at Old Trafford, and calls for Reece James to start are justified given the 19-year old’s impressive displays in the Championship last campaign. Kurt Zouma looked unassured in a team that dominated possession, so whether he is a viable option remains uncertain. Ultimately, Lampard will have to experiment to find a combination of players that can form a serviceable defense.
This is certainly not doomsday for Chelsea. They have a young squad and a young coach, and throughout the course of the season they will need to develop their philosophy and relationships on the pitch. It may be uncharacteristic for Chelsea, but they need to be patient.
On the flip side, Manchester United fans cannot be overzealous. Their strategy could have easily backfired on them, and there is no way they can maintain anything like a ratio of four goals per five shots on target.
United’s midfield was the primary concern throughout the game. Scott McTominay was mostly solid as the anchor of the midfield. Although his passing was wayward at times, his physicality and mobility make him a suitable option in the defensive midfield role and a more preferable option to Nemanja Matic, who generally unimpressed last campaign.
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