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| Shakhtar 2 - 1 Chelsea : Tactical Analysis |
Chelsea were in a roll as they entered he Donbass Arena. They are comfortably atop the English Premier League table after a convincing 4-2 win at White Hart Lane.
After going down in the first 5 minutes, Chelsea failed to grab their chances. When Shakthar scored against them in the second half, it all looked over for Chelsea. Oscar scored in the dying minutes to make the score line look less embarrassing.
Tactically, Shakhtar deserved 3 points. If it was not for Cech, the scoreline would easily have been more embarrassing. The transition of attack from defense is very poor for Chelsea whereas the Ukrainians were brilliant at it. The game had a lot of pace with Shakhtar combining very well upfront.
The combination of Oscar, Mata and Hazard (who came on for Lampard) left way too much space behind them as they went galloping forward.
This was Shakhtar's overall movement -
Note - I didn't show the movements of Chelsea as they were the same as the game against Tottenham. Plus I have included Eden Hazard who had more game time after coming on for Frank.
Oscar was assigned the task of closing in on Buschman and Fernandinho. Buschman cleverly stayed back. Mkhitarayan was expected to cover for Ramires but he opted to stay out in attack. This gave him the chance of dragging Terry out of the way. With Terry gone, Teixeira , Adriano and Willian piled on the pressure on the back 4 very quickly.
Srna was also very attackive, which forced Cole to not putting in a single cross. Hazard who came on for Lampard was working hard to get away from the right-back.
They key battle was in the center, where Fernandinho came out on top against Oscar, Mikel and Ramires. His effectiveness in transitioning plays was pivotal in their success. The game was very open and Chelsea will have to make some amends.
Cahill and Terry have to start in European games. Luiz looked off-beat in Ukraine and this can be very negative for the rich vein of form the team is in at the moment.
Torres had an okay game for me. He did well in drifting to the flanks and in the center as instructed by Di Matteo. But when on the ball, he was very poor.
Shakhtar are a hard team to analyze and you could say that they are exactly like Chelsea. Nordjaelland have held Juventus to draw, which is very good news for the blue boys from West London. This also means that Chelsea will have to win their next two European games out of three.
Come on Chelsea ! Carefree since 1905.
Sherry Philips (@bluebloodSherry), Deputy Editor
Torres had an okay game for me. He did well in drifting to the flanks and in the center as instructed by Di Matteo.
ReplyDeletewhat does the author wants to say here???? has di matteo told torres or instructed torres to not shoot or score...
as far as how i saw the game i again saw a shite torres, and that is what he will be for ever now. we have had enough of him. in addition to this his attitude is also not helping.
You don't understand. This is not Drogba. Torres feeds on through balls whereas Drogba powers past defenses. Chelsea are playing the kind off football where all players score and take up attacking positions. There is a reason why Chelsea have had 14 different scorers so far.
DeleteYou saw a shite Torres cause you neglected the technical aspect of the game. I'm not defending him as he had a poor game but Di Matteo wants him to play as a team member where he drifts and moves defenders away from their position. Why do you think Oscar could score? It might as well have been Torres who scored ! That was Drogba who powered past defenses with his strength and created goals. Torres CANNOT do that. You would not have said you had enough of him when he scored against Barcelona.
His attitude is bad? As of now, he has one of the best in the game. NEVER complains. Ronaldo complained about money, Messi called Chelsea lucky. If his attitude was bad, he would have given up playing football right after his howler against United.
Moreover I want Sturridge to start but completely neglecting him for all he has done for Chelsea just because of a few games is very bad on your point. Why not bash Eden Hazard? His mistake led to Shakhtar's second goal. If it was Mikel or Torres, they would have been racially abused by now !
Open your eyes ! It's blue tinted !
Lol you sound just like me now Sherry. Relax. It isn't worth arguing with people who has no tacticle sense/awareness. Like I said in a previous post,you get thinkers and non-thinkers. The non-thinkers in football just see men in kits running around on the pitch chasing a ball.
DeleteFunny how people try to hold on to their beliefs even though proven wrong. How can one employ a tactics whereby your supposed best finisher won't be able to score? Not in real life and not in simulation either. Cech has to make saves irrespective of the defensive lapses, Torres on the other hand has to score irrespective of the midfield lapses. There is no tactical explanation for a striker to be played through on goal and not be able to test a keeper. I knew Turnbull was good before, but right now u won't be too confident having him in the goal. That's what Torres has turned into. Not for the sake of the fans but for the sake of the team, her striker has to be goal reliable.
DeleteIt's not a belief. You're looking only in the goals counter, but you don't realise that he indirectly scores most of Chelsea's goals. He hasn't been played through. In the Tottenham game he looked for a pass and by the time he could.
DeleteExample would be Cahill's goals. His movement affected Gallas. Cahill volleys and scores.
Actually I would like to see Falcao join us. When people realize he can't fit into Di Matteo's current tactics, I'll just sit and laugh :)
Anon. Does messi play as a direct striker for Barcelona? He is their most prolific threat right? Sherry just wants you to understand the style Chelsea wants to play. Let's look at Barcelona. They don't play as direct as José Mourinho's Chelsea and Real Madrid teams. Playing soley to a striker means you play direct and he will have about 10+ chances when his team is dominating. Tiki-taka or pass-and- move play requires possession,patience and alot of dynamic running. Chelsea wants to play the latter style now and that means no more playing it to the striker. Barcelona has many goal scoring options like Iniesta,Pedro,Villa,Sanchez,Tello and ofcourse Messi. We have Oscar,Hazard,Mata,Ramires and Torres as the obvious natural striker. The whole point is to play the ball into the box and not try to be wasteful with possession but if RDM tells Torres to shoot at goal more,even from outside the box then I think he will.
DeleteWhen you talk about movement and marking, you should know that we have more than one player on the field. If u were 2 play against Chelsea, would u let Oscar and Mata run free and then mark Torres wit 2 players? Its obvious that u can take a risk with Torres by not even marking him at all.
DeleteWhat do you mean when you said Torres had an okay game?
DeleteWho ask him to drift into the flanks?
For cryin out loud you guys have to stop sayin he his good.
Torres is killing our team. The boys are complaining dont mean they are happy with him. Torres is not a blue material and we must offload him by january and give our young players chance if playing, I am not in support of us buying a big name or player in january.
My hat off for oscar...
Cani from Nigeria
only gloryhunters like you think offloading Torres will solve all our problems in the world... nuff said
DeleteWhen Drogba was younger, he probably could make the movements Torres is making now but he always contributes to the team. Drogba can play as a target man to nod down for others, he could hold up the ball, he could cross, he was good at defending set pieces and scoring them including PK's. So mind how u down rate Drogba just to justify Torres.
ReplyDeleteI didn't downgrade him in any manner. I'm not justifying Torres either. Torres has been contributing so much to the team at the moment, that people are just picking out the negatives. You wouldn't find Drogba picking up 15-16 assists.
DeleteAgree, Sherry. I still believe in Torres. Hope he does a good game against Man.
DeleteThe whole Team played bad and Torres is the only one who people blame, this is a shame! I hope he scores against United to silence all of you. He only needs to get more confidence and shoot more and quick when he has the chances. He'll do it, I'm sure. I said that before and I'll repeat: Chelsea lost a game, if we buy Falcao it doesn't mean we will never ever lose a game again.
ReplyDeleteAnother point: If Di Matteo drops Torres on Sunday and we lose the game against Manchester, who would you blame?
The problem with Torres is that his match ratings are even better than his overall ratings. This means that it is easier for the team to come back from a bad performance than Torres.
DeleteSherry, i know what you re saying is right about Torres but what we re saying is that there re situations he needs to lift our spirit up with goals. As in the team play and assist, he is at the top. But the game is all about goal goal. From Arthur Osadebe
ReplyDeleteFor the love of football, we need Falcao. Torres does not fit into Chelsea at all. Falcao would be given the same tactical instructions and we would get better results. Falcao! :)
ReplyDeleteIt was the wrong team selection by RDM. how can you play the same team for last 3 crucial matches within 10 days? (including Man U match).Players look tired and toothless. RDM should rotate squad quite often. Players like Romeu, Marin, Moses should get the chances.
ReplyDeleteFor me, RDM should be blamed for this defeat.
It seems that RDM does not have Plan B when Plan A is failing.
DeleteFinally I see something that makes sense !
DeleteThanks Sherry. do you think RDM's team selection is based on sentiments? Why did he pick 34 years old Lampard (who came after injury) over 20 years old Romeu? We all know that Ramires is a waste on the right. I was hoping for Moses to start this match but he was not on bench. :/
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