Defensive Woes Hinder Both: Chelsea and City’s Tactical Battle

In the first round of the English Premier League, Chelsea faced Manchester City in a highly anticipated match, which turned out to be a fascinating tactical duel. Enzo Maresca made his debut as Chelsea’s new head coach but found himself grappling with the same defensive issues that plagued the team last season.

Meanwhile, Manchester City have not been in a rush to unleash their full strength, delivering average performances in the Community Shield and the first round of the Premier League. Despite this, they have managed to achieve positive results so far.

Why Did Chelsea’s Pressing Fail Against City?

In the first round of the Premier League, Enzo Maresca decided to use a 4-2-4/4-4-2 pressing scheme in which Palmer, Nkunku, Jackson, and Fernández were supposed to actively cover all passing lines from Manchester City’s central defenders.

However, it became clear from the beginning that Chelsea’s pressing lacked the necessary aggression and cohesion, with only Enzo Fernández trying to pressure the opponents and urge his teammates.

In the defensive phase, Chelsea’s attacking players did not act compact enough vertically, which put a lot of pressure on Roméo Lavia and Moisés Caicedo in the central zone of the field.

Playing positional attacks in a 3-1-3-3 formation, City easily gained a numerical advantage of 3v2 in the opponent’s holding area over Lavia and Caicedo. This allowed at least one of the trio, Rico Lewis, Bernardo Silva, and Kevin De Bruyne, to always find space and successfully progress the ball into the opponent’s final third.

If Chelsea had played more aggressively and compactly in the 4-2-4/4-4-2 formation, City would have faced greater difficulties in advancing the ball. However, surprisingly, the hosts were unable to change their defensive strategy during the match, allowing the guests to easily maintain ball possession until the final whistle.

Enzo Maresca had the opportunity to fully prepare the team for the start of the season, especially as most key players have been available since mid-July. However, so far, he has been unable to even slightly improve Chelsea’s defensive quality, and it’s unclear whether he will be able to solve this problem in the current season.

Guardiola’s Masterplan: Overcoming Chelsea’s Press

Pep Guardiola had repeatedly stated before the start of the season that his team would need time to reach peak condition, as most of their key players had only recently returned from vacation. Rodri, for instance, missed the first round of the Premier League as he had just resumed training after a month-long break.

All of this affected the speed at which Manchester City played in their first EPL game. Similar to their display in the Community Shield, City played with a noticeably subdued tempo, both in defense and attack.

Nevertheless, the 3-1-3-3 formation allowed them to easily overcome Chelsea’s high pressing line and dominate the central zone of the field and the flanks.

Throughout the match, the main sources of threat to the opponent were Jérémy Doku, Savinho, and Rico Lewis. Doku made six successful dribble attempts, but he frequently made inaccurate passes in the final third and ultimately only delivered one key pass. In comparison, Savinho had three successful dribbles and three key passes in the first half of the match.

Guardiola’s Puzzle Incomplete: Defensive Woes Hinder City

The 3-1-3-3 formation made it easy for the opposing team to advance the ball, but it also had some drawbacks. 

After losing possession, Guardiola’s team struggled to transition from 3-1-3-3 to 4-4-2 during the counter-press. As a result, Joško Gvardiol often found himself in a narrow position as the third center-back and couldn’t quickly switch to the full-back role to stop the runs of Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto on Chelsea’s right flank. 

Although Malo Gusto was unable to capitalize on the space he found, Palmer managed to execute several dangerous passes to his teammates, which could have easily led to a goal.

Furthermore, Manchester City adopted a passive 4-4-2 formation against the opponent’s 4-2-1-3, giving the hosts a numerical advantage of 3v2 in the center of the field and allowing Enzo Fernández more freedom. 

Despite being one of the most energetic players on the field, Fernández was unable to convert this space into tangible scoring opportunities, either through an assist or a goal.

It’s also important to note Jeremy Doku’s reluctance to defend against Malo Gusto, which gave the Frenchman a lot of freedom on the right flank. However, Gusto was unable to make the most of these opportunities.

In summary, the guests didn’t perform flawlessly in the defensive phase, giving Chelsea several opportunities to create dangerous moments and potentially compete for a draw in the match.

The Blues’ Big Flaw: Finishing

Chelsea had numerous matches in the previous season, during which the team created enough chances to achieve a positive result but failed to capitalize on them. This was also evident in the match against Manchester City. 

Much of this can be attributed to the fact that Chelsea still lacks a prolific striker who can effectively position himself in the penalty area and calmly convert chances. 

While players like Pedro Neto, Fernández, Nkunku, Palmer, and Jackson are adept at creating opportunities and attacking from deeper positions, they lack the clinical edge to convert these chances into goals.

For comparison, let’s consider the Liverpool team of the 2019-20 season. Roberto Firmino played as a false nine/playmaker while Salah and Mané made runs into the penalty area from the flanks and scored numerous goals. 

Jackson could potentially fulfil the role of a false nine for Chelsea, but he lacks consistent support from the wingers or midfielders who can finish these chances in the box.

On the other hand, in Manchester City’s current setup, players like Jérémy Doku and Savinho create threats from the flanks, while Erling Haaland occupies the central striking role, consistently converting chances into goals.

This well-balanced attack contrasts sharply with Chelsea’s current approach, which lacks any attacking model that consistently allows them to score goals against mid-table and top teams in the Premier League. 

With creating numerous dangerous moments in their last four matches against City, the Blues could have hoped for more than two draws and two defeats.

Lavia and Lewis Shine in Chelsea vs City Clash

Among all the players who made minutes in the Chelsea vs Manchester City match, we can definitely highlight Bernardo Silva, who delivered a high-quality performance, and Kevin De Bruyne, who recently returned from vacation and had an excellent game.

But most of all, I would like to emphasize the impressive displays of Roméo Lavia and Rico Lewis. Lavia demonstrated excellent pressing resistance and the ability to make quick and accurate passes in the attacking phase.

He also performed brilliantly in transitioning from attack to defense by swiftly regaining possession for his team through tackles and interceptions.

Lewis stood out with his smart attacking play, combining with teammates in the center of the field, in the right half-space, and on the right flank. He can quickly change positions and effectively advance the ball, making him an invaluable asset to Manchester City’s fluid attacking movements.

Conclusions

The match highlighted the ineffectiveness of both teams’ 4-4-2 pressing strategies, allowing Chelsea and Manchester City to easily penetrate the final third and potentially score more goals than they did. 

Despite Chelsea having most of their players back from vacation and fully prepared through pre-season training, they struggled to match the intensity and effectiveness of their opponents.

Manchester City, on the other hand, saw most of their players miss the pre-season preparation and operated at what appeared to be about 50% of their physical potential. Still, this was enough for them to confidently secure a 2-0 victory and prevent Chelsea from generating any significant chances after the 70th minute.