Alrick

What is the Identity of Chelsea?

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Chelsea’s pre-season is finally over. With a record of 1 win, 1 draw, and 3 losses (goal difference of -2) it would be impossible to say the pre-season went as planned. But honestly, it’s not the results that has Chelsea supporters concerned, it’s how the club has looked in these matches.

Looking at the roster of Chelsea the club should be even better than the Champions League winning side of last season. Gone of course are Drogba, Kalou, and Bosingwa but with additions such as Eden Hazard, Marko Marin, and Oscar there’s simply no excuse for a lack of talent. However, given the departure of Drogba and Kalou for smaller and less imposing attacking options Chelsea need to redefine who they are as a team – a task they struggled with immensely this pre-season and it’s been reflected in the results.

Playing to the strengths of the current Chelsea roster it’s easy to look and see how the blueprint for the “new” Chelsea attack is to feature quick, accurate short passes between playmakers and the striker, similar to a Barcelona/Spain style of play. Yet Chelsea continued to constantly revert back to their old ways, even when Romelu Lukaku (a good young striker who doesn’t fit this system) was on the bench.

Just look at their crossing totals from their first four pre-season matches…

Opponent Number of Crosses
Seattle 4
PSG 23
MLS Stars 20
Milan 7

That’s two matches with over 20 crosses (not including the Brighton match where crossing was also prominent) with both of those matches being arguably the worst performances by Chelsea on their pre-season tour. Although the average of roughly 14 crosses a game is in-line with Barcelona, the large discrepancy of crosses attempted (from 4 to 23 after just one match) is worrying and one could conclude that when things don’t go right for Chelsea, they go back to the “old ways” regardless of personnel – hence the struggle some fans have for trying to understand the current identity of the team without the direct ways of Didier Drogba.

The attacking identity crisis has also impacted the defense, who failed to keep a clean sheet in all 5 pre-season matches and allowed an average of two goals per game. The defensive mistakes made in pre-season reminded me of when Andre Villas-Boas was in charge and tried to implement his “new” offense – there was a lack of communication in the midfield and defenders were caught out on the counter-attack. The match against Brighton today and the goal scored by Milan are perfect examples of how the defense struggled with more of a “side-to-side” style of play and compared to the direct style with Drogba. Chelsea had more possession in all of their pre-season matches (two with over 60% possession) yet allowed several easy goals in transition as deeper midfield players pushed forward to reinforce possession and defenders failed to close down opponents.

It is only pre-season so it’s difficult to draw concrete conclusions from the past three weeks but it’s clear Chelsea are having issues figuring out who they are without Didier Drogba and the direct style of play that accompanies him. We saw this last season under Andre Villas-Boas at times and it’s already starting to loom before this season starts. Fans can hope Juan Mata and Oscar will help solidify the short passing style which best suits the attacking personnel of Chelsea, however what effect this style has on the same defense as last season (which failed Villas-Boas who attempted to use similar tactics) remains to be seen. Rival fans and pundits have mocked the direct style which Chelsea won the Champions League with but it takes a club with an identity and a purpose to win such an esteemed trophy – right now I’m not sure Chelsea has either of those.

Alrick

How Roberto Di Matteo Revived Fernando Torres

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Fernando Torres is in the best form of his Chelsea career. The magnifying glass has been squarely on Torres since he made the record £50 million switch from Liverpool to Chelsea, mainly due to his lack of goals at Chelsea and in particular his streak of over 1,000 minutes without scoring for the London club (which some may argue had a hand in the demise of AVB). While I have done some analysis of the impact of Torres in the past it’s clear to me there has been a change in Fernando Torres since Roberto Di Matteo has become the manager of Chelsea. Let’s see the effect Di Matteo has had on Torres…

In his 14 appearances under Roberto Di Matteo, Torres has played 882 minutes contributing 7 goals and 4 assists (a goal OR assist every 80 minutes)

In his 31 appearances under Andre Villas-Boas, Torres played 1946 minutes contributing 4 goals and 8 assists (a goal OR assist every 162 minutes)

In his 18 appearances under Carlo Ancelotti, Torres played 1012 minutes contributing 1 goal and 2 assists (a goal OR assist every 337 minutes)

The level of performance Di Matteo has been able to get out of Torres (and the whole Chelsea team) has been astonishing. Here are a couple key changes Di Matteo has implemented which have given Torres life once again…

  • The 4-2-3-1 formation – Although Chelsea do revert back to 4-3-3 or other formations occasionally this has been Di Matteo’s main tactic. Coincidentally or not on his part, it’s the exact same formation which made Torres into the star he is today at Liverpool. Similar to the Liverpool of old, Di Matteo has his Mascherano (Mikel) and has somehow morphed Frank Lampard into the playmaking deep midfield player that Xabi Alonso was. While Mata isn’t as physical as Gerrard, his passing is superb just like the Gerrard of years past. With familiarity brings comfort and Torres has looked calm and relaxed playing for Di Matteo, knowing his role and finding himself out of position less and less.
  • Less Malouda, More Kalou – AVB clearly favored Malouda, a player criticized by Chelsea fans for not passing the ball to Torres altogether (untrue) or in places where he has a chance to score (true). Kalou although a forward converted into a winger often looks to cross less (a strength of Malouda-Drogba combination but not Malouda-Torres) and instead looks for the low through ball behind the defense that Torres prefers. In fact, Di Matteo has almost fully removed Malouda from the more attacking positions AVB placed him in and has pushed him either more central or to the bench altogether (he’s only started two matches under Di Matteo).

Although the majority of Chelsea fans have backed Torres from the start it’s nice to see him do well with the club and it makes the moments he scores even sweeter for the fans who have supported him from the beginning. Predicting the future of Torres at Chelsea is difficult given the uncertainty of the Chelsea managerial position but one thing is appearing more and more likely – Chelsea fans will be able to watch Fernando Torres play competitive football in June, wearing a Spanish kit.

Alrick

Florent Malouda: Past and Present

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Go on, ask any Chelsea fan, last season Florent Malouda was an indispensable part of the Chelsea first team. Jose Mourinho’s last purchase at the club thrived under former manager Carlo Ancelotti but has seen his first team chances decrease significantly this season with Andre Villas-Boas and Roberto Di Matteo in charge. Can a player really fall from being one of the best left footed players in the Premier League to a fringe substitute in less than 12 months? Let’s look at the numbers and find out…

*Premier League and Champions League only, per minute stats have been rounded

A huge factor in Malouda’s lack of playing time has been his inability to score goals this season – with only 1 in over 1300 minutes played it’s at a rate six times worse than last year. To compensate for his goal drought his assists per minute have been cut in half, a change likely due to the tactics of AVB earlier in the season which forced him into wider positions.

Malouda’s biggest strength last season was his ability to create chances for others. He led the entire Premier League in the stat with 114 created in the league, 23 more than the next highest player (Kevin Davies, 91). Surely he has to still be performing well in this area, right?

*Premier League and Champions League only, per minute stats have been rounded

Wrong. Last year’s average of a chance created every 25 minutes was better than Juan Mata this season (one chance every 26 minutes). The drop-off to 34 minutes is is a 36% increase in the duration of time Malouda has between the chances he creates.

While some of his decline this year could be attributed to the AVB era or being forced to play as a wide facilitator most of the time, my final stat could be one that may spell the end of his career at Chelsea…

This season Chelsea have a +1 goal difference in the 1768 minutes Florent Malouda has played. In the 2912 minutes Chelsea have played without Malouda on the pitch they have a goal difference of +38.

This has to be one of the most shocking Chelsea stats I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot). For there to be such a huge disparity in goal difference when Malouda is and is not playing surely implies his presence on the pitch is hurting the team. This stat doesn’t even take into account some of the opposition Malouda has played against, such as the 5-0 win against Genk where he played the full 90 minutes.

Florent Malouda has been public about his frustrations with his role at Chelsea but looking at the numbers the decision to play him sparingly has been merited. It’s amazing how the level of his performances with Chelsea have changed in such a short period of time.

What do you think of Malouda’s future with the club? If he leaves who would be a viable replacement? Feel free to leave a comment below!

Alrick

Di Matteo on AVB Sacking

“Andre (Villas-Boas) has brought some very good, positive ideas and changes to this football club and we will benefit from his changes. I enjoyed very much working with him and we will remain friends for the rest of our lives, but I will have to move on for this club and try my best with the players we have here.” – Roberto Di Matteo (Official CFC)

Alrick

Ferguson believes in AVB

“I hope (AVB) does well because he has got the potential. His work at Porto can’t be ignored and I hope he comes back soon.” – Alex Ferguson (Sky Sports)

Alrick

The Demise of Andre Villas-Boas

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Andre Villas-Boas was sacked earlier today, the 5th manager to leave the club since Jose Mourinho was axed on September 19th, 2007 (not including Ray Wilkins who managed 1 game). Of these managers, AVB had the worst winning percentage…

…and it wasn’t even close. A full 10% separated AVB from the last Chelsea manager who didn’t make it a full season, Phil Scolari. (stats courtesy of thechels.co.uk)

Another shocking stat is the goal difference per game of Chelsea under AVB – a meager 0.63 which is less than half of the difference under Ancelotti and 75% less than the next worse Chelsea manager (Hiddink – 1.09). The stats are clear even though some may disagree with the decision – AVB did not have Chelsea playing anywhere close to the same level as his predecessors.

So how exactly did the demise of AVB happen? Let’s recap his time at the club…

June 22, 2011 – Chelsea pay Porto £13.3m in compensation to land AVB, fans rejoice. Some are hopeful he can have a 20 year run at the club – he didn’t last 20 months or even half of that.

August 2011 – AVB, unlike some managers before him, attempts to plan for the long-term future of Chelsea by signing the likes of Juan Mata, Oriol Romeu, and Romelu Lukaku – the first 2 have been solid first-team players, the latter still only 18 with the physique and upside to be one of the best strikers in the world.

September 2011 – After going undefeated in the first 5 matches under AVB, Chelsea lost 3-1 to United on September 18th. It was their only loss of the month.

October 2011 – Chelsea lose only once in the month of October (against QPR with 9 men) until October 29th, when they lose to Arsenal 5-3.

November 2011 – Anelka starts his last “real” game for Chelsea in a 1-1 draw against Genk on November 1st, Alex on November 5th against Blackburn. This is where I think AVB really started to lose the locker room after he froze out two players who were not only key members of the club’s success in the past but also highly respected by senior players. Chelsea won only 39% (9 wins, 7 draws, 7 losses) of their matches after the win against Blackburn, down from 59% (10 wins, 4 draws, 3 losses) before this date.

December 2011 – After a 2-0 defeat on November 29th to Liverpool, Chelsea replace Fernando Torres with Didier Drogba who rejuvenates Chelsea, guiding them to convincing wins against Newcastle (3-0), Valencia (3-0), and Manchester City (2-1). Drogba scored 3 goals combined in these matches. After a shock draw to Wigan and a respectable draw to Spurs, Drogba left for the Africa Cup of Nations and Chelsea lost all momentum, losing 3-1 against Aston Villa at the end of the month.

Alrick

AVB praises Mourinho and Madrid

“At the moment, there is not a vacancy at (Chelsea), that is the most important thing. And (Jose Mourinho) is not available at the moment. He’s tied to the best club in the world.” – AVB (Eurosport)

Alrick

Chelsea – Swansea stats recap

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Chelsea played Swansea yesterday and it was far from a convincing performance, especially in the first half…

Chelsea’s first half against Swansea: 10 shots (3 on target), 86% (160/187) passing, 43.9% possession, 3 successful crosses.

Chelsea have completed only 160 passes in the first half compared to Swansea’s 208.

The side looked flat and lacked any sort of a creative spark – to be quite honest Chelsea were totally outplayed by Swansea. The second half was better, especially when Florent Malouda was subbed out for Romelu Lukaku. I’m saying this not because Lukaku made an impact, but because Malouda simply didn’t…

Malouda today against Swansea: 0 shots, 84% (38/45) passing, 1 chance created, 1 successful cross (7 attempted), 1 tackle, 1 interception.

I’m not one to question the manager’s every decision, but AVB playing Malouda in the middle isn’t working. Chelsea have “scored” just 2 goals in their last 3 matches – a penalty and an own goal. It’s not all Malouda’s fault but in my opinion it’s no coincidence. When Malouda went off, Juan Mata was able to get more involved in the game…

Mata today against Swansea: 2 shots, 88% (42/48) passing, 4 chances created, 4 successful crosses (out of 14).

Chelsea were lucky to get a goal gifted to them at the end of the game to get a vital point from a Swansea team which has impressed this year. I will take 4 out of 6 points from Swansea this season given their current form. Final team stats…

Chelsea today against Swansea: 19 shots (4 on goal), 84% (412/490) passing, 53.7% possession, 10 completed crosses (FOURTY THREE attempted).

Comparing these stats to the first half really emphasizes the difference between the two halves…

Alrick

AVB continues Torres support

“Torres helped the team (against Swansea) with his movement, lay-offs and passing, but we need to create more opportunities for him.” – AVB (CFC Official)

Alrick

AVB on QPR injury status

“Lampard trained with the team today and we are looking at Swansea for him, Mikel is still out, and Ivanovic is fully recovered.” – AVB (Pre-match presser before QPR)