Chelsea haven’t had the greatest start to pre-season with regards to results.
The Blues have lost their past two matches, beaten by Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus. Xabi Alonso is in a race against them to get his side ready for the season ahead, as they look to climb up the table.
Chelsea started life under Alonso with two behind-closed-doors friendlies, before travelling to Australia on tour. They started the tour with a 6-4 win against Western Sydney Wanderers, only really taking control of the match once first-team players entered the pitch.
The Blues were then beaten 2-1 by Tottenham, conceding an injury-time winner from Richarlison. And they continued their Asian tour with a 1-0 defeat to Juventus in Hong Kong. AC Milan are up on Saturday, and Chelsea fans will be hoping for a win.
Altough pre-season is much more about process than results, the two often have a direct relationship.
In this article, we’ll cover
Building from the back
Alonso wants his side to build from the back. He often sets up in an initial 4-2-4 or 4-3-3, with the goalkeeper involved and the centre-backs split.
By connecting passes and working through the pitch as a unit, Alonso wants his side to establish control. That’s something that hasn’t been easy to do on the surfaces during pre-season so far.
Both Robert Sanchez and Teddy Sharman-Lowe have also looked uncomfortable in those first phases of buildup, opting for longer balls into the front four.
Now this is clearly something Alonso is willing to exploit. Man-to-man pressing is becoming a constant in the Premier League, especially from goal kicks.
This can lead to four-on-four situations in the last line, with the front four matched up against the opposition back four.
That being said, the decision making on when to go long and exploit the four-on-four and when to build through to establish settled possession hasn’t been up to scratch so far.
Settled possession phase
When Chelsea do find themselves in more settled phases of possession, you begin to see the positional fluidity of Alonso’s side.
Right-back Marco Palestra will often advance to provide width/join the attacking line down the right. Meanwhile, the left-back is more passive, often forming an asymmetric back three.
The more defensive-minded midfielder will then act as the focal point in the buildup, while the secondary pivot player will vary between high and low positions to aid the build up or provide an option between the lines.
The No.10 then has the freedom to drift to either side, or drop low (more right-sided) to get touches in the build up phase. Joao Pedro filled that role against Juventus, but it has been Cole Palmer in previous matches.
Tactical understanding is paramount to what Alonso is trying to build. Each player is trusted to make decisions in the moment with their positioning/movement.
While the left-back is more passive, they can still make a dynamic forward run to offer support. The left-sided No.8 can shift between roles depending what the game needs. And Palestra has to understand when he has to be more reserved if someone else attacks down the opposite side.
There are countless examples of this and that is because Alonso wants to build a team that understands different roles and can shift between shapes as the game demands it.
Defensive scheme
One of Chelsea’s biggest issues over the past few seasons has been their defensive resolve. The Blues have often felt very one-dimensional out of possession.
However, this is something Alonso is actively looking to address. It’s been seen by the hybrid approach he has utilised in recent pre-season games.
Chelsea have been setting up in a 4-4-2, looking to press more aggressively man-for-man from restarts, before dropping into a more zonal approach.
The idea from within this more passive and zonal block is to force play down one side. The Blues set traps against the sideline and lock on more aggressively to regain possession.
When Chelsea are unable to put pressure on the ball, the idea is to keep the spaces between the lines compact, sitting in that 4-4-2 shape.
Jumps can be triggered to get out from this zonal block into a man-to-man press, often led by the front two. The midfield then squeeze behind and the defensive line step up to pick up any spare players between the lines.
Player profling
Some of Alonso’s profiling has been clear and distinct since the opening match against Western Sydney Wanderers.
One of the most noticable is his usage of Palestra down the right side. The full-back is making relentless runs in behind and creating tension on the opposition backline.
His ability to link play and combine with his winger, make dynamic runs on the overlap or underlap to drag the opposition backline away and create space for others is key to Alonso’s attacking dynamics.
This helps to platform and profile others players down on the right in the best possible way, with Estevao able to drift inside and combine centrally.
Palestra’s attacking runs creates the space for Estevao to receive the ball in space, engage defenders one-on-one and look to arrive in dangerous areas.
Palmer is another example of perfect platforming down that right side. The Englishman is given freedom to roam between the lines, but also drop deep to get touches and find forward passes to penetrate.
Pedro is also given freedom to roam towards the left from the striker position. Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli drifts between high and low midfield positions to offer support in both phases, while the left-back will often be more reserved due to the attacking instincts of Palestra down the right.
It is clear Alonso is already learning a lot about his players, trying to use different stimulus to create a tactically-aware side that plays to its players’ strengths. In time, this could see them become a very difficult team to stop.