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

The Mystery of Salomon Kalou

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Few Chelsea players in recent memory have polarized the opinions Chelsea fans like Salomon Kalou. One moment Kalou is the hero for scoring a goal in a big game and the next hordes of fans are looking to run him out of town for blasting one too many over the bar. Some fans think he has a bright future with the club if given a legitimate chance, others don’t want anything to do with him. So who is right? Let’s break down some stats in attempt to help solve the mystery of Salomon Kalou…

Chelsea have won the last 10 games Kalou has scored and Kalou holds the best goal to start ratio (5 goals in 8 starts, or 63%) of any Chelsea player this season.

Certainly Kalou has done well in his limited chances this season. In all competitions this season Chelsea are undefeated (10W 5D 0L) in matches Kalou has played in and have a +20 goal difference. While some of those victories and draws may have had little to do with Kalou as he came on as a substitute, it’s an interesting stat to note, even if it is somewhat coincidental.

Chelsea have won 58% of the games Kalou has played in over the past two seasons (55 appearances – 32 wins, 12 draws, 11 losses), a 13% increase over the games Kalou has not had any part in (45% win percentage – 44 games, 20 wins, 11 draws, 13 losses).

Giving Kalou a larger sample size of games due to his lack of selections this season I decided to compare results from both this season AND last season – taking away the games from this season (including the 10 out 15 wins when Kalou plays) the gap of games won with/without does narrow but is still in favor of Kalou (55% win percentage when he played, 50% win percentage when he didn’t).

I receive questions all the time on Twitter (@alrickbrown) on who should and shouldn’t start for Chelsea – one of more frequently asked questions over the past few weeks has been should Chelsea play Kalou or Sturridge on the wing…

Kalou has played 2695 minutes over the past two seasons and has averaged a goal (17 total) for every 159 minutes played, a per goal scoring rate 66 minutes better than Daniel Sturridge (11 goals in 2480 minutes this season – 225 minutes per goal). Kalou also averages an assist (6) every 171 minutes more than Sturridge (4).

If you’re going by goals and assists alone, given the poor form of Sturridge (no goals OR assists since December 2011) on paper Kalou should get the nod. Couple this with the undefeated record the team has when Kalou plays and the case for his spot in the starting 11 of Chelsea gets even stronger.

While I’m not saying Kalou is a must-start I feel some of his criticism isn’t always deserved and that given the poor form of the players he competes with for playing time (Malouda, Sturridge) I would not be opposed to see him play in more matches this season under Roberto Di Matteo. While Kalou’s contract does expire at the end of the year Chelsea should be focusing on the immediate right now given their record in the Premier League and less about the future.

Alrick

United – Chelsea stats recap

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A tough draw for Chelsea after having a 3-0 lead, here are some of the key stats from the United – Chelsea match…

Chelsea today against United: 20 shots (8 on target), 80% (274/344) passing, 8 crosses (22 attempted), 7 tackles, 27 interceptions.

It’s interesting to note the defensive styles: United had 21 tackles to Chelsea’s 7, but Chelsea had 28 interceptions to United’s 13. This was likely due to the fact that Chelsea did not have their two top tacklers (Ramires and Romeu) and had traditionally good anticipators of the game in Cahill, Ivanovic and Meireles on the pitch…

Cahill in his Chelsea debut against United: 1 shot, 82% (18/22) passing, 4 interceptions, 1 block, 2 clearances.

Meireles today against United: 3 shots, 89% (47/53) passing, 1 chance created, 2 crosses, 6 interceptions.

Ivanovic today against United: 82% (23/28) passing, 1 chance created, 1 tackle, 5 interceptions, 4 clearances, 4 fouls committed.

Some more player stats…

Torres today against United: 2 shots (both off target), 86% (18/21) passing, 1 assist, 3 chances created.

Mata today against United: 1 goal, 3 shots, 86% (38/44) passing, 3 chances created, 2 crosses, 2 interceptions.

David Luiz today against United: 1 goal, 67% (18/27) passing, 1 tackle, 1 interception, 5 clearances (4 headed).

Malouda today against Chelsea: 3 shots (0 on goal), 78% (28/36) passing, 4 chances created. A case where stats don’t tell it all.

Despite being critical of Torres recently I will say he played better against United and is still one of the better forwards in the game at creating chances for others. Mata and Luiz both had great goals and with Malouda it’s a case where stats don’t tell the whole story as the Chelsea attack slowed to a halt whenever he touched the ball.

Finally I will leave you with this tidbit about Howard Webb as the streak continues…

Chelsea are now winless in 7 matches Howard Webb has officiated against Manchester Clubs (0 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses).

The next Chelsea match will be on February 11th as they travel to Everton.

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

Chelsea – Norwich Stats Recap

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Many Chelsea fans thought the 0-0 draw against Norwich today was not a great result – while it certainly wasn’t ideal, Norwich has been playing well lately…

Norwich has lost only 1 of their last 9 matches and are 9th in the Premier League. A draw away isn’t as terrible as some fans may think.

The result today spoke more of the effort by Norwich, who played well defensively, and also Chelsea’s continued and consistent lack of finishing off scoring chances…

Norwich get their 1st clean sheet of the season against Chelsea, who have scored only 3 goals in their last 3 PL matches. Not enough goals.

Spurs and Arsenal beat Norwich at their place, Chelsea draw. Today was arguably the best result for Norwich all season.

Chelsea today against Norwich: 20 shots (6 on target), 85% (467/551) passing, 4 successful crosses (out of 39 attempts, yikes), 15 tackles.

This is a match teams “equal” to Chelsea are winning and clearly a team Chelsea should be putting goals in against, yet Chelsea had only 6 shots on target.

However outside of Juan Mata who has been fantastic this season and Frank Lampard (who went off injured in the first half), the rest of the Chelsea attacked continues its up-and-down season…

Mata today against Norwich: 5 shots (led the team), 81% (51/63) passing, 3 chances created, 3 successful crosses (10 attempted), 2 take-ons.

Outside of Mata, Chelsea completed only 1 of TWENTY NINE crosses today. Speaks volumes about the long passing and lack of aggressiveness.

1 for 29 on crosses – it’s simply not good enough. Leading the charge was Jose Bosingwa who continues to not only receive criticism for his defensive work rate but also his offensive contribution…

Bosingwa today against Norwich: 1 shot, 78% (42/54) passing, 2 chances created, 3 take-ons, 0 completed crosses (8 attempted), 4 tackles.

0 for 8 on crosses is not helping his cause. A great comment on Twitter pointed out what I’ve been saying for awhile now, it’s as if teams almost want Bosingwa to have the ball because of his poor decision making and defensive work rate.

Alrick

Malouda needs to play

“I am the kind of player who needs to play week in, week out and the manager knows that. I am expecting to start more games.” – Florent Malouda (Sunday Star)