Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Chelsea vs. Sunderland

I didn't watch this match, but I thought I'd comment on it briefly. The Guardian offers an amazing analytical tool called Chalkboards which track every bit of play during premiership matches. These allow you to truly understand tactically, what is happening out on the pitch after the fact, even without watching a match. I created this chalkboard this morning which compares Chelsea's passing during their 3-1 victory over Sunderland to Arsenal's during their 6-1 dismantling of Everton at the week-end.


by Guardian Chalkboards

Arsenal are obviously known for their slick passing movement, while Chelsea have garnered something of a different reputation, since they have often over-utilized the Route 1 approach to exploit Drogba's physical presence. That's what makes this chalkboard surprising - Ancelotti's Chelsea is clearly something different. Chelsea completed 495 of 557 passes (90%) compared to Arsenal's 345 of 415 (83%) again Everton. Compare the two team's passing in the final third, and you'll note the number of red arrows coming into the box in the final third of Chelsea's board. Obviously Chelsea still put in far more crosses than Arsenal, but they're coming in from more advanced areas. However, note the absence of long red arrows which would indicate speculative long passes from deeper areas.

The foundation of Chelsea's dominance, especially in the second half, was the interplay between Essien, at the base of a midfield diamond and the two fullbacks, Bosingwa and A. Cole. Essien completed 79 of 82 passes (96%), Cole completed 55 of 61 (90%) and Bosingwa 61 of 72 (85%). Of Cole and Bosingwa's unsuccessful passes, each had a single unsuccessful pass in the defensive half of the field. 11 of their 17 unsuccessful passes were attempted crosses. Essien played short and kept possession ticking over along with Ballack (49 of 54, 90%) to a lesser degree, relying on Lampard (43 of 55, 78%) and Deco (40 of 52, 77%) for more incisive passing in the final third. Essien and Ballack are certainly capable of playing more incisive passes but in this case, Ancelotti clearly instructed them not to. In this match, the midfield diamond often tilted onto it's side to form a square with Essien and Ballack at it's base, Lampard and Deco in more advanced positions.

I'm trying to put together a chalkboard comparing John Obi Mikel's static first half passing vs. Hull City to Michael Essien's dynamic second half vs. Sunderland. The Guardian's chalkboards seem to be having some trouble with player to player comparisons so I will post if I can get it to work. It shows Essien's wide range of movement and passing across the width of the entire pitch, and the creative use of short passes compared to Obi Mikel's tendency to repeatedly use the same passing routes from a much narrower range of positioning. I really think Ancelotti may be on to something with Essien playing in this position. Premier League, Europe, watch out for this Chelsea side.

The Guardian's match report is here.

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