Tactical Analysis: Southampton vs Chelsea Marescas calculated game plan dismantled the Saints! Why did Chelsea struggle in the first 15 minutes? Enzo's recent form? Etc.. A Thread!
It was an intriguing XI from Maresca. One would expect he would rotate the squad, but he made 7 changes compared to the XI against Villa. A few got their first/second PL start(s) and a line up that lacked physicality in the front line. As we go through the thread, we understand his rationale.
Maresca mentions the plan being to go man2man from the get go, but it wasn't fulfilled by the players. Often we would see scenarios in the picture below. In this instance Noni goes to press(with man2man in mind), but there is no cover behind him.
In this video, we see it once again. Nkunku is ready to press and everyone except Felix is lethargic. In the image, when Enzo decides to step up Disasi does not follow, leaving Caicedo exposed in the midfield. https://x.com/CFCNewsJJ/status...
This results in frustration as the players know they aren't executing what they set out to do. Noni looks behind to question the FB. Nkunku questions Felix while Felix cant jump because Cucu isn't high. It was due to these circumstances that Soton managed to constantly play through us and had too much of the ball.
However, everything changes after the 2nd goal. It could be, seeing Noni press result in a goal removed doubts from the players mind or Maresca used that interval to speak to them. As we can see in the video, Felix is inside, Cucu/Caicedo high, etc.
We still got bypassed in a few moments due to Enzo getting beat in the midfield, poor pressing from our forwards and poor dueling. This comes as no surprise given the team we put out there. Nkunku isn't the best presser. Palmer and Caicedo were leggy. Disasi, etc.
Soton pressed in an aggressive 5-4-1/5-2-3 shape. To combat this Maresca moved to a 2-2-6 structure. A very interesting choice given his usual diamond midfield would have worked just fine. In this structure, we had the 2 CBs and Gusto inverted into midfield with Caicedo. The aim was for the 4 players to invite pressure and play it directly to our 6 forwards. Tosin was particularly excellent at finding those players. Enzo/Felix were tasked with dropping into midfield to help progress play situationally turning it into a 2-3-5.
One of the reasons I believe Maresca opted for this set-up rather than a diamond which also overloads a back 5 is the fluidity. He knew Soton would go man2man from back to front, but ultimately lacked the quality to do so. Some of the DFs weren't comfortable stepping up, they didn't know who to pick up when our players rotated, etc. By manipulating the pivot(wide, narrow) you could invite as many as 4 Soton players and simply play through or beside the pivot. We consistently progressed the ball CENTRALLY this way. When we did this, it was a transitional chance given how much space Soton left behind as well. What Maresca wanted worked well. Soton aren't as bad defensively as we made them look even pre-red card. The set-up exploited their OOP set up impeccably.
https://twitter.com/CFCNewsJJ/... The downside of this set-up is two-fold. Its a very direct set up. It often leaves you with no option but to go long when pressured due to lack of numbers in the backline. It also makes it hard to build up when you go back to the GK as the distancing is big between the back 4 and the rest. Filip was excellent with the ball as always. His pausa, quick release and disguises is really good. Always finds his man when he goes long and also made some crucial saves.
It leaves you exposed on rest defense. Most often you would see us have only 4 players when defending transitions which is why Soton consistently managed to get into our final third on any transition they had. Cucu was holding width so Felix/Enzo/Palmer were the closest to making recovery runs. But this was a calculated "downside". Maresca knew they lacked any attacking threat due to suspensions/injuries. Personally I believe this is the biggest reason he opted for this set up. Soton posed no real attacking threat, so decided to go full on direct/attack to spank them.
In the second half Soton switched to a back 4. This meant overloading the backline with 6 players was unnecessary, thus we switched to a 3-2-5. This subsequently helped us be more stable in possession. Enzo would often leave the midfield to join the backline once we progressed the ball into the final third when they formed a back 5.
Enzo has recently found form and one of the reasons for that is due to the allowance to be the main 3rd receiver. Palmer had more touches compared to Enzo prior to the last 5/6 games. That's changed as Enzo has been the one dropping into midfield as the 3rd man more which has allowed his touches go up. This and many other reasons(half space game, better physically, better mental attitude, etc) is why Enzo has been playing well recently.
Sancho is already an important player for us, but he can take his game to another lvl if he's pushed. In the past few games, I have seen him try to score more(he's one of our best finishers). If he can find the balance between creation and goals. Wow. . https://x.com/NewsJeffJ1/statu...
Overall, it was a game Chelsea should have scored 10. We missed too many opportunities, but this another new experience for our young team and they will surely learn from it. Lets get all 3 points from Spurs next!