Chelsea v Fulham: Tactical Analysis

Central Progression

In the first game of the new year at home shortly after a defeat to Middlesbrough, Chelsea needed a lift, and this was the right opportunity, especially with their recent home form. Let’s see how it turned out…

Chelsea lined up in their usual 4231 with Enzo starting in the pivot and Conor at 10 (which has been happening recently again). Fulham lined up in their own 4231 as well.

Chelsea started with their usual 4-2 build-up shape we’ve seen all season, with Caicedo and Enzo ready to receive in the first phase and help us progress up the pitch. They didn’t need to do much heavy lifting because Chelsea were hardly pressed throughout the game.

In settled possession it became a 3-1/3-2 at times with Enzo shuttling in and out of the pivot; Enzo was the freer of the 2 and was gifted with the freedom of when to drop deep to receive, and when to go high into the left half space (space in between the opposition team fullback and CB on the left) which he only occupied at times.

The only issue with this is when Enzo left the LHS while dropping deep to control the game, it left Sterling isolated as no one was consistently there to provide a regular passing option. I thought Conor would provide this but it seems he was asked to play more on the right.

At times when Caciedo was alone in midfield, Gusto came closer to him by inverting into midfield which we’ve seen a lot of the time he can do very well.

An interesting move Chelsea kept on doing in this game to progress the ball was to progress it centrally more than they usually do especially in the first half and before the first goal. It started with Gallagher's positioning in between the lines to receive on the half-turn to progress the ball into the final third centrally.

Palmer, when Chelsea were settled in Fulham's half was also showing up in the pockets of space. Disasi deserves a special mention of praise too cause he kept finding them time and time again. Also Colwill (most progressive passes of the game with 10) and Silva did too. They were attempting more line-breaking passes than they normally do.

Enzo dropped deep to use his fantastic passing ability to progress the play, Fulham didn’t apply consistent pressure to Chelsea and it gave space for Enzo to dictate the flow of the game.

Enzo in general was outstanding especially at both progressing us into the final third of the pitch and also creating chances in the final third of the pitch. Enzo had 8 progressive passes completed, which was only bettered by Levi who had 10 (a top performance as well). 5 Passes into the penalty box, 2 crosses into the penalty box, 8/11 completed long balls. He can have more actions but this is around the territory he should be getting at least.

you can see by this image the central progression of Chelsea’s play, especially in the ”Positional Pass distribution” area.

Chelsea's press was very aggressive early on in the first half and also early in the 2nd half and as Fulham tried to play out, it was very effective. Chelsea used a 4-4-2 with Gallagher and Broja starting the press to stifle Palhinha and Cairney. Palmer's role was tricky as he had to choose a time to press Diop and Robinson.

Chelsea, for all the talk about the press not being “optimum“ and I can see some reasons why, had a good PPDA (Pass per defensive action), which is a good way to judge the press of teams, and we currently have the best PPDA in the league this season with 8.88. This means we averagely allow 8-9 passes before we disrupt the opposition's play.

Fulham however countered this by using Robinson as an out ball when trying to build up as Willian dropped into midfield when they were pressed, this created space for him to bomb up the left wing which was the only threat Fulham had throughout the game even though it was a credible one.

Poch noticed it and changed it a bit in the 2nd half to make Caicedo press up to Palhinha which would match up to Fulham 1v1 and allow Gusto to track Willian and Palmer to stay on Robinson. Fulham tried to use long balls to get out of the press but we won those balls in the air.

Chelsea's shape to immediately counter-press was also very good as we didn’t have those gaps in between the lines, so we could win the ball well immediately. With that we pinned Fulham a lot of the time barring late in the game when we didn’t have control.

In the first half, even though we had a lot of territorial advantage we hardly had enough shots to threaten the Gk as Fulham blocked their central zones well and the combination play we used to see often in preseason deserted us midseason. A moment of clever play in the final third from Palmer however won us a penalty. Palmer was getting into the game better when he came centrally in that RHS, and Gusto began to overlap him. It was a beautifully disguised pass from Palmer.

In the 2nd half, because of the goal, Chelsea got more space as Fulham tried to push for their equalizer. This played into Chelsea's hands as they are at their best in transition. We managed to create good openings but couldn’t add to the lead. That’s when you as a team need to learn to kill off games.

Fulham tried to use quick long balls for counterattacks but hardly got anything significant out of it in the first half. They created more dangerous moments in the 2nd half with the Willian and Robinson combination on the left, but Chelsea defenders and Petrovic handled most of them well, as Chelsea conceded zero big chances throughout the game.

Poch then brought on Noni to give Chelsea a direct threat on counters and someone to help Gusto defensively, but Fulham then started relying on long balls in behind Chelsea's defence and it brought them into dangerous positions.

Poch responded again by bringing on Chilwell to shore up the defence, but Chelsea's real threat after transitions was Madueke being direct and taking on defenders.

Another thing I noticed is Chelsea's use of Caicedo to escape pressure was more frequent than in previous games. Silva and Disasi especially started playing those little balls into him in midfield to evade pressure, and his understanding with Enzo is a beautiful sight to see and we need much more of it. It happens when you try to play centrally.

We just held on after showing some inexperience closing the game out in the final minutes. Even though it looked nervy, the finish and win would give the younger players and the young team more experience handling such situations in the future. In the end, it wasn't a top game but a decent performance and a deserved win. Good run at Stamford Bridge and 9th in the table. 9 points from Spurs in 5th.

Seun