ziyech scored a worldie but look at how the players created space for him to shoot, overloading on the right. It was 6 v 7 with 3 in the box and one more threatening. I think the line dropped too fast and accomodated Chelsea too much. Can't blame Sess for this one - look he is surrounded.
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same tactic soon after, ziyech all the time to strike, 6 v 7, loris alert for the save.
The still only tells half the story. Our left side were torn to shreds time and time again due to the combinations Ziyech, Azpilicueta and Mount set up out there, and we failed to find a counterstroke to that over three games. We knew about it, we tried to counter it, but we could not. The reason Sess is so far away from Ziyech is because he is first dragged towards one run, then the other, and by the time Ziyech receives the ball he is lost.
Now, if anyone, just anyone, could look at that picture alone, and with some mumbo-jumbo magic drag all the players into the correct positions to cover that play without compromising any other position, I'd love to see it.
We're 7 vs 6, reasonably well organised for a cross, and I recon if Ziyech had played Azpilicueta through to cross I think we would have defended that quite ok. Instead, due to the extra half yard or so he is given as Sess is pulled out of ideal position, he manages to get off a world beater of a shot. And I don't think there is a goalkeeper in the world that would have saved that particular shot.
I hate to see those goals go against us, as I hate any goals against us, but as far as goals go, that was a very good one. Better teams then ours would struggle against that play.
A more experienced player would perhaps not have been pulled that far out of position, or made a quicker, better judgement of which situation were more dangerous of Ziyech and Azpi, but I doubt it.
If we were to stop this play it had to be stopped further up the pitch. Once we allow those three players to combine 3v2 out there we're inviting trouble. Problem is, it is just not that easy to counter it. You can't just snap fingers and say "I won't allow it!"
With a fully fit first 11 of our current squad, we would perhaps have been able to set a team that would allow us to be more imposing, to focus a bit more on how we turn them, cause them problems. Because that is how you stop this. Keep Azpilicueta occupied in the other end of the pitch, drag Mount further infield, and make Ziyech go wide. Not easy, not done without risk. And probably still a bit beyond our current first 11 to do on a regular basis.
It pains me to do so, but you have to acknowledge that this Chelsea-team is actually rather good. Full of punchable clams, yes. But first and foremost a very good team, with a very good setup.
Tuchel is 12 months into his Chelsea tenure. Conte is 10 weeks into his at Spurs. Tuchel started with a youth-loaded, talented but ill-managed squad. Conte has started with a unbalanced, disjointed and aging squad in dire need of depth and quality improvements.
Let's do a more fair comparison january next year.
