The victory over West Bromwich Albion wasn't as inspiring or entertaining as the victories Chelsea recorded over Everton and Manchester United some weeks ago but what stood out in this fixture is the patience shown by the London club and the tactical flexibility demonstrated by Conte in the latter part of the second half.
In truth, this might be the most impressive victory of the nine consecutive matches Chelsea have won since their Italian manager implemented the 3-4-3 formation to his side.
One of the hallmarks of Champions is being able to grind results when things don't seem to go their way. In this fixture, Tony Pulis did his homework on the blues and for more than an hour, Chelsea laboured to no avail in breaking the deadlock.
Then came the first substitution which showed Antonio Conte's tactical flexibility, he brought on Willian for Pedro, with Victor Moses moving from the right wing-back to the left flank while Willian occupied the right flank with both Azipilicueta and Alonso switching to full-backs role. Hazard just played slightly behind Diego Costa. It seemed like a 4-2-4 formation.
With the tactical switch not yielding any incisiveness in Chelsea's attack, the second substitution was made with the introduction of Cesc Fabregas for Moses. It seems Conte switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Hazard moving to the left flank and Willian on the right flank while Fabregas played the central attacking role.
Perhaps, these change of formations during the second half may have discombobulated Tony Pulis and his lads as they were hit on a counter. A long punt of the ball by Cesc Fabregas in the path of Gareth McAuley on the right flank who seemed to have the ball under control only to be nudged off the ball by the Diego Costa who then strode towards the goal and delivered an emphatic finish pass Ben Foster.
From then on, it was solidarity in defending. Conte made his final substitution bringing on Branislav Ivanovic for Hazard. Chelsea reverted back to their familiar three at the back with Ivanovic and Alonso playing the wing-back roles albeit the formation was altered to 3-5-2.
Such tactical flexibility and patience will certainly be needed in Chelsea's quest of becoming Champions again as they can't consistently serve up the thrashing of their opponents.
With those two qualities in hand, it looks like Chelsea and Antonio Conte are primed to become Champions come May 2017.
0 comments:
Post a Comment