Tactical Analysis: Chelsea FC vs Norwich City

Tactical Analysis: Chelsea FC vs Norwich City

Chelsea cruised past the Canaries by putting 4 goals past their keeper. Truly a splendid performance by the boys in blue and Roberto Di Matteo will definitely be proud of them.

Many points to pick out from this outing and I'll start of with the movement before Ramires, Romeu and Azpilicueta were substituted in .

# 1 - How did Lampard perform so well in the pivot role?

Lets face it. The Mikel - Lampard partnership was destined for disaster. People were happy to see Ramires play along with the Nigerian, but how did Chelsea put 4 past Norwich with Super Frank scoring one?

Well the main reason why Chelsea were stuttering when Lampard played deep was because he could not decide when to go front and when to come back. He misplaced his passes when pressure was applied. So what did RDM do?

Extra help was introduced. How was extra help introduced?

When we had Ramires, we had someone who could dart up the right flank and cover for Ivanovic. Lampard obviously had problems with this, as he poorly timed his runs. So RDM made Mata come back, along with Oscar. They both put in good defensive performances and Lampard also got some time to get forward.

Mata performed a similar defensive role against Barcelona at the Bridge last season and during this game he did well to cover for Ivanovic who just loved going forward. Very simillar to the role of Ramires in the pivot but with Mata doing Ramires's role and Lampard being more attack minded, we were always on the attack.

Oscar got in and applied good pressure and put in a good amount of decent tackles.

# 2 - It's impossible to man-mark our players

The front 4 of Chelsea are impossible to keep an eye on. Their movement is so fluid that one moment Torres is on the right and the other he is on the left.

During the days of Drogba, Chelsea's game was simple. The opposition man-marked our players and tried to keep it tight. In the end Drogba would use his strength to drag them out and open space for himself.

This system did not help Fernando Torres at all, who feeds on through balls and timing of runs. This is exactly why he had a good game against Norwich and headed in a great goal. With 3 players oozing creativeness and magic behind him, expect him to bag at least 20 goals. Stay optimistic.

#3 - Mata's still our No.10

Mata spent most of the game in the center. The fluid movement allowed Hazard and Oscar to stay on the flanks and Mata to put in good balls.

Lets analyze Hazard's goal.

We caught the ball back and initiated a counter-attack when the ball landed on Mata's holy feet. The moment he got it, he sprinted forward and then hesitated. He peeked back and saw Torres and Oscar running forward, with Ivan and Cole darting on the flanks. At the moment he looked back, he could have played the ball through to Hazard, who could go forward and finish.

Instead he went for the safe choice. He let Hazard time his run properly, kept an eye on the 3 defenders and played a ball right between them. Hazard neatly tucked the ball away. Such play is impossible to deal with and Mata's an absolute genius to do that.

#4 - Terry loves our fans and the club

Luiz went for the ball and kicked it away, just before the Norwich player could get to it. He kicked it right into the crowd and a fan got it right on his face. Terry went right up to him and I believe checked whether he was okay.

Not just that, he was found running up the left flank in place of Cole. He attempted a silly trick and ended up conceding a throw in. He laughed a bit, smiled and patted the Norwich defender.

The last incident happened during a corner. Mata took the corner but the referee whistled and wanted him to take it again. Chelsea at this point where 4-1 up. Terry knew the corner was cancelled and attempted a ridiculous bicycle. Ended up making a fool of himself and laughed it off. The fans instantly started singing, "John Terry's won the double !" .

Our captain thrives on pressure, whereas Cole looked rather serious throughout the game.

#5 - Oscar, Mata and Hazard are bound to be the face of European football 

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant their performance was. Even though we haven't faced tough opposition yet, we have to pick up all three points in these small games. It was impossible to knick the ball of their feet.

Oscar did a brilliant piece of skill on the edge of the box but did not connect well with the ball. He controlled the game well and defended when needed. 

Something that I noticed in him is that when all the players look at the ball and then spend some time to look and then hit the ball to pass, Oscar is different. He needs a split second to look up and hits the ball brilliantly.

Mata was brilliant and definitely the man of the match. Ambassador of the  tiki-taka that Chelsea played on the edge of their box. Did a brilliant heel pass for Ivanovic to volley towards the keeper.

Hazard had another brilliant game. There is a reason why he won the most penalties in Europe for the last 2 seasons. He deserve two today and the referee's are definitely biased to foreign players. Got himself a good goal and bowed down to Mata for the assist.

I'm loving the bromance !

It's good to celebrate a fine win but we have to be realistic at the same time. We now face Shakthar, Tottenham and United twice. Very tough fixtures and I believe this is where we can really prove our stature.

Even if we do lose, don't be disappointed. There are brighter times ahead.

Come on Chelsea ! Carefree since 1905.

Sherry Philips (@bluebloodSherry), Deputy Editor

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