Fahd

I've been wanting to write a thread for a while about this but haven't found a slot to get it done. Ideally, I'd have illustrations and examples to show you what I mean, but for now, let me just explain what I've observed. (Hopefully I'll be able to do a part 2 of this soon with examples from the many games that I've spot this issue in)

In the middle and defensive thirds, Chelsea lack a clear OOP structure. Against Bournemouth, there was at least a general 4-4-2 shape that I could see. However, it was not executed consistently.

Nonetheless, over the past weeks and months even, this has been apparent. Maresca does not adopt a fixed structure. If anything, I struggled to figure out what the plan was.

So, I thought about it for a while, and here's what I believe is happening.

Since Chelsea are still a developing team and it's Maresca's first season at the club, he's employing principles that are easy to understand. From an out-of-possession (OOP) and in-possession (IP) perspective.

Hence, Maresca has created basic structures as foundational principles from which he hopes to build on and make them more complex and cohesive.

We've seen Maresca himself talk about this as he's mentioned that IP-wise, Chelsea have a general structure. Let's for now just refer to it as a 3-2-5, with specific roles and functions. However, depending on the opponent or game state, he is willing to tweak a few areas whilst maintaining the overriding principles that are consistently implemented.

From an OOP perspective, Chelsea have adopted a high press in the opposition's defensive third whilst having a mid-block (kind of but not really) in the middle third. And in the defensive third, it can look like a 5-4-1 often.

However, the issue has been that when Chelsea have defended their middle and defensive thirds, there often isn't a consistent structure. It always seems disorganized. It's as if the frontline have an instruction to press m2m whilst the rest of the team defends zonally.

This disconnect can leave acres of space between the lines. Quite simply, it's just easy to play through Chelsea.

This lack of structure also means that there are huge distances and gaps between the players. A simple dribble past one of them will open more space, again.

Additionally, it's also easy to manipulate Chelsea's shape this way. You can simply drag the frontline pressers away before attacking Chelsea's midfield and defensive line.

On another note, in the middle and defensive thirds, in some games, they regularly try and press the opponents m2m. Which to me doesn't make sense for one main reasons: fatigue. Always looking to transition the press from zonal to m2m causes fatigue. And that's what we saw against Fulham and Ipswich.

So, the question is: why does Maresca deploy such a system? Or, why hasn't it been corrected yet?

I think it's down to the fact that it's his first season and therefore difficult to address all phases of Chelsea's game. Sure, I get that. However, I disagree with the plan he's employing right now.

I admittedly may be incorrect here because the counter argument is that Chelsea's players are not yet well-drilled and having spatial understanding to carry out a rigid zonal mid-block.

But my disagreement with Maresca's current OOP approach comes from the fact that Chelsea have been exposed too many times now. When we can't outscore the opponent, we're likely to lose or draw.

That being said, the OOP structure against Bournemouth was better and I have a feeling that Maresca is trying to build that zonal OOP structure now. But it's very imperfect and we still have the tendencies of the frontline to jump and press m2m (maybe because they don't know how to time it properly)

This isn't a thread as a reaction to the draw against Bournemouth, by the way. It's been on my mind for a while. That's because it's been a consistent issue for weeks now.

I'd like to hear the thoughts of others on this topic as well - @MobyChe @NewsJeffJ1 @Jon_Mackenzie @Tactx_ @TalkinTactics @EBL2017 @JohyanCruyff @ConnorHolden00 @CFCCentral3 @SS____899 @InvertTheWing