Chelsea defeated Charlton 5-1 at The Valley in Liam Rosenior’s debut and advanced in the FA Cup.
The Liam Rosenior Era at Chelsea is off to a winning start. It’s hard to use anything out of this game to project what his tenure is going to be like. Out of the main first-option starters, only Moises Caicedo featured in today’s starting XI.
A few more well-established names came off the bench in the second half, such as Enzo Fernandez, Estevao, Pedro Neto, Wesley Fofana and Liam Delap. Still, there were signs of what to expect from the former Strasbourg manager and how he will adapt to a more demanding context.
How did Chelsea beat Charlton?
Liam Rosenior’s fingerprints
The young English manager immediately went to his preferred three-at-the-back system and 3+2 build-up shape in-possession.
Chelsea lined up in what became known as the 3-box-3 formation and emphasized working the ball down the middle. At Strasbourg, he used this strategy especially when Blues loanee Julio Enciso would play. The idea was to get him in central spaces to receive, turn and run forward.
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Today, it was Facundo Buonanotte and Jorrel Hato who were in this role. The latter benefitted from having more freedom to go forward as he scored a screamer to break the deadlock.
Chelsea’s performance in the first half was actually familiar – one you would expect under Enzo Maresca. Lots of possession, not too much risk and the structure intact. Patient play and no sense of urgency, making for a rather dull initial 45 minutes despite the lead.
However, the goal came in a scenario that Rosenior seemed to chase from the start: crosses. And considering the level of dominance they had, pushing Charlton back, it made it easier for them to win second balls after the initial clearance. It didn’t actually generate clear-cut goalscoring opportunities, but it was in this context that Hato scored.
| First half stats | Charlton | Chelsea |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 22% | 78% |
| Shots (from inside the box) | 4 (3) | 11 (5) |
| Big chances | 0 | 2 |
Progressive exposure
Rosenior started the game in the 3-box-3 trying not to force too much. Eventually, little by little, he allowed more freedom and exposure from his players.
Buonanotte and Jamie Gittens in particular started risking more individual play and taking defenders on. Gittens’ movements were actually surprising, considering that managers with more positional ideas like their wingers to hold width and that the 21-year-old is right-footed. He often brought the ball inside while Josh Acheampong overlapped next to him.
At times, the in-possession shape changed to a 1-4-5 of sorts, with Tosin Adarabioyo as the sole man back. Wide centre-backs Benoit Badiashile and Acheampong would take a step forward and join the attack almost as wing-backs, aligning with defensive midfielders Caicedo and Andrey.
The second half was more chaotic and Rosenior embraced the chaos. Charlton got one back shortly after Tosin made it 2-0 and exposed themselves, leaving a lot of space at the back.
Alejandro Garnacho in particular thrived in that context and his run enabled Marc Guiu’s goal to make it 3-1. After Estevao and Enzo Fernandez came on, they owned the right side of attack and created chance after chance after chance.
What was shaping up to be a controlled 2-0 win became a 5-1 thrashing full of goalscoring opportunities.
| Second half stats | Charlton | Chelsea |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 32% | 68% |
| Shots (from inside the box) | 7 (5) | 19 (13) |
| Big chances | 1 | 7 |
Worrying signs?
Worrying might be too strong, but there were a few moments in which Chelsea were caught napping at the back. Most of them in the left side of defence.
They were often exposed as Charlton looked to connect target-man Miles Leaburn with long balls and run off of them. Badiashile had to stop two promising runs – and he received a yellow card on the first foul.
Maybe a collective of Badiashile, Hato, Andrey and Garnacho won’t be so common once Rosenior starts playing his main players. But there was potential for bad things happening down that side at The Valley.
The other possible cause for concern was headers and set pieces. Out of Charlton’s 11 attempts, seven were either headers and/or in set piece situations. That’s how they got one back when it was 2-0 in favour of the Blues and how they managed to harm the guests.
Still, in the Premier League, Chelsea have defended set piece and aerial situations relatively safely – excluding throw-ins, at least. So it could be nothing to worry about long-term, but it did manifest negatively this Saturday.