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| Does Robbie Need To Rethink His Tactics? |
Yesterday, the club announced that we had agreed to sell Raul Meireles to Fenerbahce, a move that surprised most Chelsea fans considering how short of personnel we already were in the midfield. This sudden flurry of dealings mean that many fans began to question whether Robbie had the personnel to continue using his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation. Lets take a look.
As I have highlighted before, in the double pivot that Chelsea use, 2 different types of CM's are needed: one must be a passer, a player who has the ability to pull the strings from a deep-lying position. The other must be a defensive-minded player, a player who provides cover for the back four. The best example I could use would be of Real Madrid. They too use the same 4-2-3-1 formation, and their double pivot usually consists of Xabi Alonso & Sami Khedira. While Alonso controls the game from deep, Khedira provides that stability in midfield that is so necessary in modern football.
At Chelsea, the usual combination is Frank Lampard & Jon Obi Mikel. Lampard's job is to control the game, while Mikel sits back & defends. However, the combination is far from perfect. While Lampard sometimes lacks the ability to play that killer pass, Mikel's inconsistency can be worrying. Despite Mikel erratic form, my major concern is who Robbie uses as a playmaker. The defensive-midfield slot can be ably filled by both Oriol Romeu & Jon Obi Mikel. The other combinations we can use are:-
1) Oscar-Mikel/Romeu. Sounds good enough, doesn't it? We know that Oscar can play as a deep-lying playmaker & Mikel &/or Romeu won't have to worry about the passing aspect if Oscar is playing. Then again, it's an untried combination. Pre-season is gone, the time to experiment is over. Plus, it would be a bit unfair on Oscar if Robbie handed him such responsibility so early on in his Chelsea career. I don't doubt Oscar at all, but the way Robbie is integrating him into the team by regularly bringing him off the bench is best for both the player & the club in the long run.
2) Ramires-Mikel/Romeu. This combination looks good on paper. Unfortunately, it won't look so good if actually used. While Ramires does provide plenty of energy in the middle of the park, his passing isn't the strongest aspect of his game. As a result, Chelsea's midfield will look sluggish. A slow midfield is what prompted Robbie to change to a 4-2-3-1 in the first place. It would be silly to have to suffer the same problems again.
3) Romeu-Mikel. This combination might work ("might" being the key word here) but I don't really expect to see Romeu & Mikel line up together. While it's a known fact that Romeu is comfortable on the ball & can pass well, I don't expect him to be given the "passing" role considering that he provides plenty of stability when played as a proper DM. This combination will provide plenty of stability in midfield, but will most probably slow the game down. A lot.
So these are the options ahead for Chelsea. There's also the option of reverting back to the 4-3-3 formation, but I don't think Robbie will even consider that. My reasons for saying so can be found here. He still has the personnel to use the 4-2-3-1, but there's no doubt that he needs to go back to the drawing board, re-evaluate his options & pick the best one.
Shayne Dias
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i think oscar and romeu will be the best combination
ReplyDeleteThis might sound totally mad (it probably does) but I would love to see Chelsea trying 4-6-0. It would certainly get us a measure of control over the game that we have previously lacked and would pose a totally unique threat to opposing defences.
ReplyDeleteMy line-up would be: Cech; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Cole; Luiz, Ramires; Oscar; Mata, Hazard, Torres.
Although the line-up looks like it would be a 4-2-3-1 or maybe 4-3-3 or even a 3-4-3 when rearranged, the system would see Luiz and Ramires just in front of the back 4, seeing lots of the ball and controlling the pace of the game. In other words, the Alonso-and-Busquets role.
Oscar would be our Xavi, linking the deeper 2 with our front 3 and racking up huge passing numbers.
In the final third, we would have Mata, Hazard and Torres, none playing as a fixed striker, all dropping deep, creating lots of space to be exploited by the pace that all our 6 would have, while the creativity and vision of Luiz, Oscar, Mata and Hazard would be able to pick out the runs that all 6 will be more than happy to make.
The system would also suit Ashley Cole and Azpilicueta perfectly, as both love to make attacking runs and provide an out-ball for the midfielders.
My only slight concern would be that Terry and Cahill might not be quick enough to play the system. It would mean a very high line, and counter-attacks might be quite dangerous. However, I'd hope that opportunities to counter-attack would be very rare, and in any case we should be able to trust the pace of our wing-backs and midfielders to track back and cope with the danger.
I would be stunned if Chelsea actually do end up trying this particular system, but I honestly think our personnel is perfect to play the beautiful Spanish tiki-taka style.
What do you think? Please comment, I'll accept criticism. I'm on Twitter, @BKnight01CFC.
KTBFFH!
I have a few reasons why it won work. 1) the system was created to accommodate only midfielders because it requires constant passing and good first touches. 2) a striker will only play to his instinct to stay up front and typically looking for space. 3) Spain has 5 master passers(Xavi,Alonso,Silva,Iniesta,Fabregas) and that allows them to use the system to great effect. We only have 2 master passers. Mata and Oscar so the high line will suffer greatly because other teams will most likely intercept our passes often.
DeleteZane-(I was the one who came up with this 4-6-0 idea) Although I agree that Hazard, Torres and Luiz aren't midfielders of the type that Spain use, all of them are good enough on the ball to consistently keep possession and pick out a through ball.
DeleteAnd I would call Hazard and Luiz "master passers". Maybe not to the level of Xabi Alonso and Xavi, but certainly very able to play tiki-taka.
On the point of Torres-he would be playing a similar way to what Lionel Messi does for Barcelona. Constantly moving, dropping deep to pick up possession, creating space for others and latching on to the through-balls that Luiz, Oscar, Hazard and Mata are so good at providing, and clinically finishing them all in the way he used to, or how Messi does for Barca.
Furthermore, Hazard and Mata would both be playing the false-9 role as well. Using their great passing ability, speed and good finishing to terrorize defences. And Ramires, Luiz and Oscar are all more than than welcome to make attacking runs, being picked out by the perfect through-balls of our other midfielders.
I honestly feel that if Chelsea tried this, we would be able to annihilate almost every team we come up against. We would just be completely unplayable. Even the likes of Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona would have no answer to it.
I don't have a problem with the formation but I feel greatly that we don't have the players to make use of such a system. Luiz is one of our fastest Centre backs and will undoubtedly be needed in defence if we are going to play that because the opposition will definitely counter. Terry and Ivanovic is just to slow. We lack a playmaker that can play just infront of the defence like Xavi does alongside Bousquets. A player like that must be able to provide long passes out to the wings,especially the type of pass Xavi provided Jordi Alba with to score in the Euros.
DeleteOscar is almost like our Iniesta but still too raw to execute perfect dribbles and accurate passes infront of the deeper playmaker. The other problem in my opinion is the use of Torres in the system. He is a good team player and works hard but you simply can't ignore a striker's instinct. Torres is a finisher but wasn't at all used by Del Bousque in the system because he won't provide the needed assistance to constantly drop back. This system will obviously result in an overwhelming amount of possession but at the cost of an extremely high line. Pressing is key. Having a striker will result in the formation changing to a 4-5-1 most of the time-Torres making his obvious runs.
DeleteZane-(yes, me again) To put our players in comparison to those of Barcelona (the inventors of this style), it would be Luiz as our Busquets, Ramires as our Song, Oscar as our Xavi, Mata as our Iniesta, Hazard as our Alexis and Torres as our Messi. And OK, I accept that our midfielders aren't quite as good as Barca's. But they're good enough.
DeleteThe main difference between us and Barca would be that ALL SIX of our players would be using their pace and finishing to break through gaps in the defence and score goal after goal, whereas Barca only have Messi and occasionally Alexis. This is because our players are much quicker than Barca's, and better finishers.
And as I said earlier, the lack of speed of Cahill/Terry/Ivanovic (whichever two) wouldn't worry me because 1) the speed of our fullbacks should be able to bail them out and 2) counter-attacks should be very rare, given that we should have the vast majority of possession.
Which is why I think if Chelsea ever did try this system, we'd be consistently beating teams like Liverpool, Everton and Spurs by margins of 4-0 and 6-1. And against the likes of Norwich, Southampton and Reading, we could hit double figures.
Please RDM, read what I have said.
I think its easier for a DM to be converted to CB than for a CB to be converted to a DM. Luiz may not have a decent creativity level to operate in the midfield and the area usual covered consistently by a DM may test his stamina as well as his lack of positioning and ability to roam from position may be worse than Lampard. Even if he becomes decent, he's still classified as an inconsistent player.
ReplyDeleteI think 4.1.4.1 can be easy and relaible.
ReplyDeleteThat's the formation we turn into when Lampard leaves Mikel alone in midfield.
DeleteAnd it will be vulnerable for our defence. I wish Lampard should think about it, play deeply or sit on the bench. If he still wants to move forward, we can only win against weaker teams.
DeleteThis is a good article, and I personally think we're screwed in the DLP spot until january. Unless Lampard just catches form so fast(very very unlikely). I think mikel has done fine and once he has the right partner they'll be wonderful. Seems like our only options are either lamps should just sit back and do what he can, or give Oscar a shot. What else can RDM do now that Miereles is gone. What a stupid transfer.
ReplyDelete