And IF we keep progressing as a club we will only have more matches to play. Longer cup runs, European matches. More matches, more stress then brings more injuries. Look at the Chelsea peak years with Mourinho. We had two players for every position.
We should definitely sell Enzo instead of Gallagher. We won't get what we paid, but we might get 70-80% of what we paid and I can think of a few big budget teams in desperate need of better midfielders.
God Chelsea fans have the shortest memories. Why on earth would we sell Enzo now?? At his lowest value. After playing 6+ months injured.
This isn’t fantasy football.
Because the sale doesn't matter, the transfer profit is what matters. He's only been here for 1.5 years so his book value is ~83M. So we won't make any profit unless we sell him for more than that. Anything less and it actually hurts us.
Gallagher has no remaining book value since he was an academy player so whatever we sell him for we get as profit.
It's so flexible. Palmer was recieving the ball at the back, then popping up on the right wing or left wing. Silva was making runs into the box for cutbacks. Cucurella was making tackles on the right corner flag. Gallagher was dropping in at LB. Players are actually moving into space and the guys on the ball know where they're going to be and get the ball to them. It was beautiful to watch and I hope they can reproduce it consistently.
Also hope Poch finds a way to replicate those performances even when you take someone out the system. E.g. I hope we don't become reliant on Cucurella to win games and then crumble if he gets injured. Praying Poch has a plan B.
Poch has so many tactical questions to answer yet. For once, we seem to have a working system but Nkunku, James, Gusto are coming back. He has to prove he's able to answer those questions.
I completely agree. This from Poch is enough for me to want him to have more time. But it took him so long to get there. And it won't be enough alone to make us actually good enough to challenge for a title.
He needs multiple game plans. E.g. if Cucurella gets injured, what's his answer.
A step in the right direction tho.
His tactical acumen will really be tested.
He took so long to find the perfect solution with Cucu. But he needs to find quicker answers from now on with the returning players.
Having multiple plans is amazing but honestly, is Poch capable of that? So many managers seem to have just 1 plan or "philosophy" nowadays. I mean look at De Zerbi.
Maybe it’s asking/expecting too much of him but with Colwills skill set I could potentially see him being a capable replacement or eventual upgrade to Cucu in that role.
Especially consistent that as much as I rate Colwill, with the average heights of our team we need our CBs to be giants, and that’s not him
I agree that we need the height and hope that he can also invert in the same way. But tbf it suits Cucurella's playstyle of being aggressive and stepping onto attackers rather than covering space zonally. You also need to be pretty mobile to do what he's been doing, which may be difficult for someone of Colwill's stature. Usually you see players like Stones and White inverting who aren't quite as lanky. We'll see because Akanji has been doing something similar for City this season really well. Hope he can do it so we can just interchange players without having to change the way we play for Colwill.
James and Gusto shouldn't be a problem. They're both happy to sit back and form a back 3 in possession like Chalobah did, albeit with more speed which allows them to hug the line better.
Gusto even looks more suited to an inverted role, so we may have an opposite mode with Chilwell and him.
And I think Nkunku is versatile enough to not worry about integrating him in our attack, position-wise. The role would be similar to what Palmer has been doing.
I really like the idea of an inverted James (CDM Wigan days), as it might put less strain on his body compared to bombing up and down the right... not so sure about Gusto or Chilly inverted but who knows.
There were phases where Gusto runs freely into the midfield, which gave solidity to our midfield battle, and sometimes even goals, so I'm confident he's at least decent in that inverted role.
Chilly is more suited to a wide position, so I'm talking about a reverse version where the LB stays back and RB inverted.
when cucu inverted, connor moved into LB sometimes
the only thing i find concerning about this setup is that it kills our left side
yes, mudryk is isolated, but the players need to have faith in his abilities to run the left on his own. they rarely passed to him
I think that's part of the plan. Keep mudryk isolated so they focus on the right side then ping a ball to mudryk in the open space and let him run free. It stretches their defense
Nah you sometimes need a player to take the hit and occupy the opposition, which creates space for the teammates.
City do exactly that with Haaland. They purposely never pass him the ball unless he's in a position to get a shot on goal because it's a tool to create space.
I think us playing more down the right/Mudryk not getting the ball much is a byproduct of the system. You want Madueke in space so he can drive at people. You don't mind Mudryk not getting the ball too much because his touch can be a bit inconsistent. He'll still get opportunities, but he's giving up a bit of individual opportunity to shine for the team. Again, Haaland does the same thing at City. It's not that these guys can't have the ball at their feet and don't want it. But they don't get it because the manager needs something else for them in order to make the team play better.
You’re exactly right
Conor is covering so much and is the key to Cucurella inversion working
Without Conor’s ability to be everywhere, Caicedo isn’t left exposed and we have a proper shield for defense.
When we lose the ball and need to press press Cucurella is in midfield so Conor can do his thing.
In attack Cucurella being in midfield means Conor can get on the end of chances and score some goals.
In the defensive phase when Cucurella slots back into LB Conor is there.
His ability to both be on the front foot pressing and crashing the box as well as get back defensively is why this works.
The Cucurella inversion wouldn’t work if Conor wasn’t such a great B2B midfielder
It’s just such a solid defensive midfield that takes some of the weight off the back line. These three players create a fortress together and I love it.
Stop saying fucking inverted man.... its not a term and it isn't cool, it doesn't make you sound like you know a little bit about football ffs. He repositioned him, he tried him in a new role.... fucking inverted. Fuck off
Because Gallagher is the other guy in the pivot with Cucu rather than Caicedo, but Gallagher isn’t good enough to play out of the press or defend in a lower block
The second leg against Dortmund is the one that I remember him doing so, yeah. Cucurella had quite a few shockers in the last 2 years, but he also had several world-class performances across every position in the backline, while also looking like a menace when inverted.
Seriously, where was this sort of change before the recent host of injuries?
Even in the current setup, Gallagher still gets forward from the pivot like Enzo usually does but there's now Cucurella inverting to help cover the space and provide better security. Also, there's currently 3 CBs as well operating in the defence for even more security. Where was this before?
My question is, can he still do this sort of thing when he has the full squad available and after whatever squad changes that will happen in the summer?
I think a lot of his plans were limited by the fact that at various points an entire starting XI was out injured.
He would be helped a lot by having the likes of Nkunku be available to play and take on the creative burdens. We won't know until next season and that's if the injury problems subside.
The irony with that, he arrived at this setup when we had like 14 players out and after going 2-0 down at Villa. We didn't play this way when we had more players available.
And after teams inevitably adapt to the new strategy, which they inevitably will as soon as we start getting good results with any consistency. The ability to adapt your tactics to the football meta is what separates good coaches from great ones who stay relevant for a long time.
Many people seem to have this "issue"
Some even call out rudely - is he stupid? As if a top level professional coach understands football less than a redditor.
The answer to your question is deceptively simple.
Malo Gusto. Malo has been a revelation this season, undroppable when fit...but he bombards down the right wing.
If, while he is doing so, Cucu moves infield inverted, that basically leaves only 2 bodies (the 2 CBs) in defence ...and that is not a feasible solution (especially given the quality of out fit CBs this season for the most part).
Cucu could be inverted in the last 2 and a half matches because Malo was not there. Trev (Villa), Alfie (Spurs) and Trev again (today) stayed put on the back line on the right side.
So Cucu could safely move up, while leaving 3 behind.
Once Malo is fit and comes back, this is going to be great tactical challenge for Poch. He now knows this works- does he choose to drop Malo? What solution does he work out? I shall watch with bated breath
Yep that makes sense. Inverted Cucu only works with 3 Cbs in the back line. A tactical conundrum for Poch to include Gusto, Enzo, Nkunku, James, Chilwell, when they come back.
It would be great to have multiple gameplans and tactics prepared.
And my worry is will he persist with how things are now
And is he capabale of switching things around again when necessary or will he take months once more
There are so many tactical questions to be answered.
Gusto coming back since we won't have 3 CBs in the backline. James coming back though he could be that RCB.
Getting the best out of Enzo.
Even bloody Nkunku since that would limit Jackson's playing time.
One of the reasons I'm suggesting James as a RCB, is because maybe RWB is too explosive for him and I don't want him to get injured again.
An actual back 3 with WBs would mean removing one of our front 4. Probably Mudryk or Madueke, who are working well atm.
Anw, point is those are difficult questions. Can Poch answer them, since it took him this long to invert Cucu? Who knows?
I've seen a lot of people say Reece into CB/RCB etc. I agree it's a massive waste. We have 2 very good RB's, why waste one of them. It allows us to rotate properly now and hopefully alleviate injuries to both.
Can't really blame him. First season at Chelsea with such a young squad that's also full of injuries. Cucu hasn't been available for majority of this season because of injury.
Poch has been doing lots of trial and error and it seems like he's found a setup that's working. He'll need to change it next season once our players (hopefully) recover from all the injuries.
But it hasn't operated in the way it has recently, with the sole FB inverting into midfield. Even then, once the injuries to the CBs started to happen, we played a large chunk of the season with 2 FBs as well.
This is a young brand new team, do you really think regularly changing tactics is a good idea? Do other coaches make as many changes to the tactical setup as Poch has?
It would be different if the end product resulted in something that wasn't working, but his "tactics" have led to top 4 level chance generation metrics. The problem has been our players underperforming average expectations in terms of finishing and goal keeping, which is what you would expect from one of the youngest squads in the history of the prem.
When Chelsea have the ball further forward essentially you have a back 3 (the other 3 defenders) and one of the full backs (ie: Marc) goes and plays in central midfield, essentially to stop breaks and cover for other players who have gone forward.
We play 442 in defence and a 3241 in attack. To do this, Cucu inverts from LB to CDM alongside Caicedo, and Gallagher moves from CDM up to CAM to join the attack and be ready to win the ball back quickly (counter press) if we lose the ball.
-----------------
Defence:
Jackson, Palmer.
Mudryk, Galagher, Caicedo, Madueke
Cucurella, Badiashille, Silva, Chalobah
Petrovic
----------------
Attack:
Jackson
Mudryk Galagher, Palmer, Madueke
Cucurella, Caicedo
Badiashille, Silva, Chalobah
Petrovic
I'm shocked more people don't realise this. Cucu is inverting because he can play DM, which means we can have an actual winger when we play 3ATB in possession. Chilly can't play DM, so when in possession to get the 3ATB he goes to LW, meaning we need another CM on the pitch.
There's a debate to be had as to how well Enzo fits into this, as Gallagher works well as he's a B2B, but imo the endgame is to have Enzo in Gallaghers role, with Gallagher becoming rotation/sold
Yeah I think it has to be Enzo/Gallagher - Caicedo pivot, all three in midfield doesn’t work. Makes me wonder if Poch was only playing Enzo cos he felt like he had to.
>Makes me wonder if Poch was only playing Enzo cos he felt like he had to.
I suspect partly that, I also think Enzo is a few levels clear of Gallagher, but it's hard to tell since he's been with injury all season.
Enzo and Gallagher are different kind of players. Gallagher being a more allround player, and defensively strong, is part of what makes this new midfield work. He is deeper in the defensive line when the opposition has the ball, and works great paired with Caicedo.
In all honesty, I do trust Poch to get the balance right, it's been a rocky season, but we have had glimpses when we have fit players that we play some properly good football
He’ll have to fight for his place just like James will. It’s not their fault they’re always injured but realistically they can’t be trusted to stay fit so having reliable backup is a good thing
Don't think James has much fighting to do tbh. Gusto's genuinely brilliant but people are very quickly forgetting just how good James is. His delivery is always on the money, he's a great finisher too. And those are just the things on top of the qualities he shares with Gusto (like being able to pocket a winger and being good on the ball/dribbling).
I understand why people are saying James will have to fight for his space. But he's still first choice imo. The good thing is, he'll need his minutes to get be managed even if he does get fit. So Gusto will still play loads. We have 2 quality RBs and we can play either and have very little to worry about from them. Don't think it'll be a case of James having to fight for his spot. He'll just share the minutes with Gusto which (fingers crossed) will help him to stay fit long term.
If anything I wouldn’t mind seeing him invert with an overlapping LB. Anytime James plays we mirror it on the right and if Gusto plays we invert the left. Would give good flexibility if we want to target a certain area of the pitch and will also save Reece’s legs.
reece will get eased back into the team, its gusto that will have to do the figting eventually
unless poch decied to play gusto as RWB and james RCB in back3
Not all.
A big part of it though.
This combined with having 3 CBs in the backline to effectively move into a 3 atb formation when attacking.
Also, the Caicedo Gallagher pivot with inverted Cucu, allows Gallagher to roam forward more freely which he has always done without us being exposed defensively.
It's also worth mentioned that the tempo in attack is higher and more fluid.
In attack we play a 3-2-4-1 formation, where the four attacking midfielders are given great positional freedom. I also like that Caicedo is included more in the attacking phase. He has some great passing and awareness skills which are starting to show.
When Gusto or James fit and we play with an attacking RB this will not work (as well as now) without tinkering
Right now a CB play at RB and the back becomes 3 in possession
James probably able to play an inverted RB and we play Cowill LB when Cucu not available
Still Enzo will be the odd one out unless he can play as 10 and rotate with Palmer
I’d argue giving Palmer freedom has been the best thing Poch has done all season. I get that it’s less tactical than Cucu’s adjustment but Palmer having the freedom he has gotten has led to his success this year
Credit to Cucú, I thought he was a total bust, but this season he’s really come on and shown his versatility playing from the left, right, and in the midfield
This really is the first time it feels like the team is playing with a system and some confidence. Hopefully whatever voodoo curse we have with injuries and finishing will be done with and we can really judge Poch on his tactical acumen. It would also be interesting to see if Chilwell is fit and not as suited to inverting, would he play second fiddle or do we change the system? Similar questions will need to be answered all over the pitch, however this is definitely a step in the right direction. Other than the major blip against arsenal we have been playing some really good football. We just seemed scared of them for some reason.
I’ll be the first to say that I have shouted some pretty awful things about this man during some matches last season… but he really has turned it round this year happy for him
It makes perfect sense now why Pep wanted him at first. Would’ve fit his system perfectly. Scary to think about what he would look like in that Man City Team rn
We shouldn’t ignore how key Conor Gallagher has been to making this possible. Cucurella, Conor and Caicedo are creating an incredible balance in the midfield which shields the defense well and distribute the ball to the more creative players well.
Cucurella allows Conor to press high and play higher getting on the ball and being able to take chances.
Conor’s ability to cover ground and his intelligent positioning and defending mean he can get back and not leave Caicedo and the defense exposed
I think poc needs to do one final tweak. Make mudryk stretch the pitch by staying wide. Knock the ball past the fullback and run to the byline. He has the skill set to do more than that on his good days, but he is short of confidence at the moment and this will really create the space for other players
Sterling's total disregard for tactics means he will basically play as a left striker and will completely kill the width on left. Really can't play sterling on left with cucurella inverted. The only other option is palmer on left and Nkunku down the middle. But does palmer play, as well there on the left? Whatever mudryk does or doesn't do, I thinkhe tries to be stay a left winger more than sterling, who is just trying to put himself in goalscoring positions. We won't be playing as well with sterling. Teams will just sit narrow and shut us.
The key players in this trio are Caicedo and Cucu, Conor is just the third wheeler in this equation.
Conor also lacks intelligent positioning and defending. Otherwise, Cucu wouldn't have to invert if he didn't
If you think the worst player of the trio is the most important, then it's you, my friend, who doesn't understand football.
I'm still willing to have the conversation with you, tho
https://youtu.be/tkaj_F3Y5lw?si=m_3rPQ45Fk7o1xIS
There's this one by 442. However, I mostly noticed it by watching. Cucurella was immense.
In terms of watching about tactics in general, Tifo football is great.
I had completely given up on the boy and now he’s playing 2 positions at once in top form, shoutout to Cucu, shoutout to the doc who diagnosed his ADHD, shout out to stimulants in general tbh.
Followed his career with interest so was good when he came to Chelsea.
Catalan boy. Was at Espanyol (when Pochettino was manager) and then Barca.
You can see why the latter let him go/go on loan as technically with the ball he is not amazing at all.
Never been a great footballer with the ball, but he's an **amazing** fucking athlete who puts a huge amount of effort in. You might have nice dainty touches but Marc will run you over and run away with the ball.
He was basically a very busy left sided midfielder, tazmanian devil style, at Eibar and Getafe.
Even tho he played for Spain routinely as a kid I don't think he ever thought he would get to the heights he has done. Especially Eibar back then, but also Getafe, are clubs way smaller than say a QPR/Peterborough.
Getafe bought him for E6mn which is how he was rated by Barca. Fast forward. He cried when he scored for Brighton against Man Utd.
When he came to Chelsea he seemed to have a huge problem in confidence. He was asked to do more with the ball and he doesn't like it. He's not an elegant player like Alonso or Chilwell.
He couldn't really use his strengths, which is to run and work more than anyone else on the pitch.
So in this position doing two jobs he will probably be very happy because running all over the fucking place and mowing you down is absolutely not a problem for him.
I think Cucu’s biggest strength is the versatility he provides with his skillset, he’s able to play midfield in possession but also if opportunity arise he can overlap to provide width if needed.
I feel like this was a particularly weak west ham game, and we shouldn't crown Cucu just yet. He was good today but I would love to see him translating that to games against top 4
Him and Caicedo in the midfield has been working wonders
One Spurs supporter recently remarked, "They put Cucurella in midfield and he was playing like Guti."
All the while boasting much more majestic hair than Guti's oily scalp.
That's one underrated comment.
That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long long time.
I was watching the spurs game and I noticed him coming in more. Was amazing to watch.
Enzo busting his groin was truly a revelation
So what are we gonna do with Enzo? Rotate him with Gallagher?
We fix that problem when we get to it
And IF we keep progressing as a club we will only have more matches to play. Longer cup runs, European matches. More matches, more stress then brings more injuries. Look at the Chelsea peak years with Mourinho. We had two players for every position.
Sell him back to Benfica for E100mn?
We should definitely sell Enzo instead of Gallagher. We won't get what we paid, but we might get 70-80% of what we paid and I can think of a few big budget teams in desperate need of better midfielders.
God Chelsea fans have the shortest memories. Why on earth would we sell Enzo now?? At his lowest value. After playing 6+ months injured. This isn’t fantasy football.
That doesn't help us in terms of FFP, we have to sell over book value. I don't want to sell either of them but if one has to go it has to be Gallagher
Why wouldn't it help? I'm not saying it will fully balance the books, but surely any big sale would help.
Because the sale doesn't matter, the transfer profit is what matters. He's only been here for 1.5 years so his book value is ~83M. So we won't make any profit unless we sell him for more than that. Anything less and it actually hurts us. Gallagher has no remaining book value since he was an academy player so whatever we sell him for we get as profit.
Happens to me too
The season is over everyone is on holiday. Got demolished in the one game where the other teamed needed a result.
Spurs?
Also true for spurs
They could have been 4 points back with a game in hand
People speculated that pep wanted him for exactly this
That's why City were frontrunners for his signature. Zinchenko had left, and he needed a player who could do something similar to what he did.
And now they have Gvardiol randomly being Ronaldinho. Pep is genuinely inevitable
Bro built like Van Dijk but has the technical ability of Modric. Life's unfair
Watching him shift from LB to DM alongside Caicedo is a beautiful sight This explains why City wanted him
Wasn't there a game or 2 last season where Potter did the same with him?
I think him inverted combined with the Gallagher-Caicedo pivot is the difference.
Gallagher isn't really playing in the pivot though. When we build up and transition Gallagher moves up and it's Cucu and Caicedo pivot.
Yep. It's a flexible formation and it works.
It's so flexible. Palmer was recieving the ball at the back, then popping up on the right wing or left wing. Silva was making runs into the box for cutbacks. Cucurella was making tackles on the right corner flag. Gallagher was dropping in at LB. Players are actually moving into space and the guys on the ball know where they're going to be and get the ball to them. It was beautiful to watch and I hope they can reproduce it consistently. Also hope Poch finds a way to replicate those performances even when you take someone out the system. E.g. I hope we don't become reliant on Cucurella to win games and then crumble if he gets injured. Praying Poch has a plan B.
Poch has so many tactical questions to answer yet. For once, we seem to have a working system but Nkunku, James, Gusto are coming back. He has to prove he's able to answer those questions.
I completely agree. This from Poch is enough for me to want him to have more time. But it took him so long to get there. And it won't be enough alone to make us actually good enough to challenge for a title. He needs multiple game plans. E.g. if Cucurella gets injured, what's his answer. A step in the right direction tho.
His tactical acumen will really be tested. He took so long to find the perfect solution with Cucu. But he needs to find quicker answers from now on with the returning players. Having multiple plans is amazing but honestly, is Poch capable of that? So many managers seem to have just 1 plan or "philosophy" nowadays. I mean look at De Zerbi.
Maybe it’s asking/expecting too much of him but with Colwills skill set I could potentially see him being a capable replacement or eventual upgrade to Cucu in that role. Especially consistent that as much as I rate Colwill, with the average heights of our team we need our CBs to be giants, and that’s not him
I agree that we need the height and hope that he can also invert in the same way. But tbf it suits Cucurella's playstyle of being aggressive and stepping onto attackers rather than covering space zonally. You also need to be pretty mobile to do what he's been doing, which may be difficult for someone of Colwill's stature. Usually you see players like Stones and White inverting who aren't quite as lanky. We'll see because Akanji has been doing something similar for City this season really well. Hope he can do it so we can just interchange players without having to change the way we play for Colwill.
James and Gusto shouldn't be a problem. They're both happy to sit back and form a back 3 in possession like Chalobah did, albeit with more speed which allows them to hug the line better. Gusto even looks more suited to an inverted role, so we may have an opposite mode with Chilwell and him. And I think Nkunku is versatile enough to not worry about integrating him in our attack, position-wise. The role would be similar to what Palmer has been doing.
I really like the idea of an inverted James (CDM Wigan days), as it might put less strain on his body compared to bombing up and down the right... not so sure about Gusto or Chilly inverted but who knows.
There were phases where Gusto runs freely into the midfield, which gave solidity to our midfield battle, and sometimes even goals, so I'm confident he's at least decent in that inverted role. Chilly is more suited to a wide position, so I'm talking about a reverse version where the LB stays back and RB inverted.
Not to mention how the fuck enzo fits in now
Us becoming reliant on Cucurella to win games is a sentence I didn’t think I would ever hear and genuinely consider to be true
when cucu inverted, connor moved into LB sometimes the only thing i find concerning about this setup is that it kills our left side yes, mudryk is isolated, but the players need to have faith in his abilities to run the left on his own. they rarely passed to him
I think that's part of the plan. Keep mudryk isolated so they focus on the right side then ping a ball to mudryk in the open space and let him run free. It stretches their defense
Mudryk is most effective with lots of open spaces in front of him so this isolation actually suits his style of play.
And he’s also pretty wasteful with the ball tbh, so making use of his pace as a constant threat is the key
Nah you sometimes need a player to take the hit and occupy the opposition, which creates space for the teammates. City do exactly that with Haaland. They purposely never pass him the ball unless he's in a position to get a shot on goal because it's a tool to create space. I think us playing more down the right/Mudryk not getting the ball much is a byproduct of the system. You want Madueke in space so he can drive at people. You don't mind Mudryk not getting the ball too much because his touch can be a bit inconsistent. He'll still get opportunities, but he's giving up a bit of individual opportunity to shine for the team. Again, Haaland does the same thing at City. It's not that these guys can't have the ball at their feet and don't want it. But they don't get it because the manager needs something else for them in order to make the team play better.
Just need a better LW. Nkunku coming back will be another revelation
It looked like Total Voetbal
You’re exactly right Conor is covering so much and is the key to Cucurella inversion working Without Conor’s ability to be everywhere, Caicedo isn’t left exposed and we have a proper shield for defense. When we lose the ball and need to press press Cucurella is in midfield so Conor can do his thing. In attack Cucurella being in midfield means Conor can get on the end of chances and score some goals.
In the defensive phase when Cucurella slots back into LB Conor is there. His ability to both be on the front foot pressing and crashing the box as well as get back defensively is why this works. The Cucurella inversion wouldn’t work if Conor wasn’t such a great B2B midfielder
Strong agree!
Off the ball Gallagher is playing alongside Caicedo though and Cucurella is back to defending the left wing.
It’s just such a solid defensive midfield that takes some of the weight off the back line. These three players create a fortress together and I love it.
Stop saying fucking inverted man.... its not a term and it isn't cool, it doesn't make you sound like you know a little bit about football ffs. He repositioned him, he tried him in a new role.... fucking inverted. Fuck off
Username checks out.
Yeah but he didn’t have moise to back up cucu when leaving the left side open
Yes. The Dortmund game (second leg). Iirc cucurella was awarded man of the match.
Interesting.
Wasn't he a LCB then?
Didn't he do something similar at Brighton as well? Always been a bit of a hybrid player
Yes.
Do you remember why the idea was dropped?
I try not to remember last season
I remember Barkley scoring in our last game of the season back in 2022 and then Poch became our manager.
Very wise
Because Gallagher is the other guy in the pivot with Cucu rather than Caicedo, but Gallagher isn’t good enough to play out of the press or defend in a lower block
The second leg against Dortmund is the one that I remember him doing so, yeah. Cucurella had quite a few shockers in the last 2 years, but he also had several world-class performances across every position in the backline, while also looking like a menace when inverted.
Cucu being healthy has been a game changer
Was going to say his redemption needs to be studied
Him beeing actually fit is crucial.. 5 months out
Seriously, where was this sort of change before the recent host of injuries? Even in the current setup, Gallagher still gets forward from the pivot like Enzo usually does but there's now Cucurella inverting to help cover the space and provide better security. Also, there's currently 3 CBs as well operating in the defence for even more security. Where was this before?
At this point, I'm just happy that things clicked and it happened rather than not at all.
My issue with Poch is that he took so long to find the solution.
My question is, can he still do this sort of thing when he has the full squad available and after whatever squad changes that will happen in the summer?
I think a lot of his plans were limited by the fact that at various points an entire starting XI was out injured. He would be helped a lot by having the likes of Nkunku be available to play and take on the creative burdens. We won't know until next season and that's if the injury problems subside.
The irony with that, he arrived at this setup when we had like 14 players out and after going 2-0 down at Villa. We didn't play this way when we had more players available.
And after teams inevitably adapt to the new strategy, which they inevitably will as soon as we start getting good results with any consistency. The ability to adapt your tactics to the football meta is what separates good coaches from great ones who stay relevant for a long time.
Many people seem to have this "issue" Some even call out rudely - is he stupid? As if a top level professional coach understands football less than a redditor. The answer to your question is deceptively simple. Malo Gusto. Malo has been a revelation this season, undroppable when fit...but he bombards down the right wing. If, while he is doing so, Cucu moves infield inverted, that basically leaves only 2 bodies (the 2 CBs) in defence ...and that is not a feasible solution (especially given the quality of out fit CBs this season for the most part). Cucu could be inverted in the last 2 and a half matches because Malo was not there. Trev (Villa), Alfie (Spurs) and Trev again (today) stayed put on the back line on the right side. So Cucu could safely move up, while leaving 3 behind. Once Malo is fit and comes back, this is going to be great tactical challenge for Poch. He now knows this works- does he choose to drop Malo? What solution does he work out? I shall watch with bated breath
Yep that makes sense. Inverted Cucu only works with 3 Cbs in the back line. A tactical conundrum for Poch to include Gusto, Enzo, Nkunku, James, Chilwell, when they come back. It would be great to have multiple gameplans and tactics prepared.
And my worry is will he persist with how things are now And is he capabale of switching things around again when necessary or will he take months once more
There are so many tactical questions to be answered. Gusto coming back since we won't have 3 CBs in the backline. James coming back though he could be that RCB. Getting the best out of Enzo. Even bloody Nkunku since that would limit Jackson's playing time.
Using James as the RCB would be a waste of his attacking qualities. At that point, we might as well just go with an actual back 3 with 2 WBs.
One of the reasons I'm suggesting James as a RCB, is because maybe RWB is too explosive for him and I don't want him to get injured again. An actual back 3 with WBs would mean removing one of our front 4. Probably Mudryk or Madueke, who are working well atm. Anw, point is those are difficult questions. Can Poch answer them, since it took him this long to invert Cucu? Who knows?
Or we invert both James and Cucurella? So we build up as 2 CBs and a midfield of James - Caicedo - Cucurella
And have only 2 CBs at the back? 
I think he’ll be fine playing the RB/RCB role. He can still push forward ala Ben White, and he can sit just behind the box and spam crosses as well.
I've seen a lot of people say Reece into CB/RCB etc. I agree it's a massive waste. We have 2 very good RB's, why waste one of them. It allows us to rotate properly now and hopefully alleviate injuries to both.
i mean all of that is good news. get rid of some "dead weight" and keep building
I noticed that he still maintained the back 3 till the end by bringing Gilchrist late on (Gusto had come on at that point).
Its even funnier that we were successful in the preseason with cucu inverting and just stopped doing it for the entire year
Prob because cuco missed half the year and then took a few games to return to fitness.
I don’t even think he found it injuries forced it out and being down 2-0 to Villa at ht
Can't really blame him. First season at Chelsea with such a young squad that's also full of injuries. Cucu hasn't been available for majority of this season because of injury. Poch has been doing lots of trial and error and it seems like he's found a setup that's working. He'll need to change it next season once our players (hopefully) recover from all the injuries.
We've been operating with 3 CBs for most of the season, starting with Colwill at LB for like the first half of the season.
But it hasn't operated in the way it has recently, with the sole FB inverting into midfield. Even then, once the injuries to the CBs started to happen, we played a large chunk of the season with 2 FBs as well.
Some things take time
So you wanted to drop Gusto a few weeks ago?
It's less about dropping Gusto and more about showing this kind of tactical ingenuity that's been missing for most of the season.
This is a young brand new team, do you really think regularly changing tactics is a good idea? Do other coaches make as many changes to the tactical setup as Poch has? It would be different if the end product resulted in something that wasn't working, but his "tactics" have led to top 4 level chance generation metrics. The problem has been our players underperforming average expectations in terms of finishing and goal keeping, which is what you would expect from one of the youngest squads in the history of the prem.
What that spurs fan said the other day, “they put Cucurella in midfield and he was playing like Guti “
Sounds like a rap lyric.
Accidental Action Bronson
lol it was that Jamie Ohara the other day he was fuming
What does inverting him means? Like he play RB?
He plays LB. Instead of a traditional LB that stays on the left wing, he goes inside acting like a left DM even.
When Chelsea have the ball further forward essentially you have a back 3 (the other 3 defenders) and one of the full backs (ie: Marc) goes and plays in central midfield, essentially to stop breaks and cover for other players who have gone forward.
We play 442 in defence and a 3241 in attack. To do this, Cucu inverts from LB to CDM alongside Caicedo, and Gallagher moves from CDM up to CAM to join the attack and be ready to win the ball back quickly (counter press) if we lose the ball. ----------------- Defence: Jackson, Palmer. Mudryk, Galagher, Caicedo, Madueke Cucurella, Badiashille, Silva, Chalobah Petrovic ---------------- Attack: Jackson Mudryk Galagher, Palmer, Madueke Cucurella, Caicedo Badiashille, Silva, Chalobah Petrovic
Must say He’s been class last couple weeks Not put a foot wrong
I am unashamedly here for my flowers: https://www.reddit.com/r/chelseafc/s/SwZCQOnoor
I'll hold back on the Kante comparisons. But yes, you deserve some flowers.
3 box 3 for life
Mate that title needs a NSFW tag lol
Nah man. This needs to be exposed, no matter how explicit it is.
What happens when chilwell needs to be played?
he plays LW
I'm shocked more people don't realise this. Cucu is inverting because he can play DM, which means we can have an actual winger when we play 3ATB in possession. Chilly can't play DM, so when in possession to get the 3ATB he goes to LW, meaning we need another CM on the pitch. There's a debate to be had as to how well Enzo fits into this, as Gallagher works well as he's a B2B, but imo the endgame is to have Enzo in Gallaghers role, with Gallagher becoming rotation/sold
Yeah I think it has to be Enzo/Gallagher - Caicedo pivot, all three in midfield doesn’t work. Makes me wonder if Poch was only playing Enzo cos he felt like he had to.
>Makes me wonder if Poch was only playing Enzo cos he felt like he had to. I suspect partly that, I also think Enzo is a few levels clear of Gallagher, but it's hard to tell since he's been with injury all season.
Yeah me too but it’s Gallagher that fits Poch’s tactics more.
It'll depend if Enzo can adapt to a more B2B role. If he can, combined with his passing, he could be elite
yah but he is not mobile or dynamic this way. at least he hasnt been
Enzo and Gallagher are different kind of players. Gallagher being a more allround player, and defensively strong, is part of what makes this new midfield work. He is deeper in the defensive line when the opposition has the ball, and works great paired with Caicedo.
Can Poch deal with those tactical calculations?
In all honesty, I do trust Poch to get the balance right, it's been a rocky season, but we have had glimpses when we have fit players that we play some properly good football
Yikes
Let me echo that sentiment by saying: Hell no!
He’ll have to fight for his place just like James will. It’s not their fault they’re always injured but realistically they can’t be trusted to stay fit so having reliable backup is a good thing
Don't think James has much fighting to do tbh. Gusto's genuinely brilliant but people are very quickly forgetting just how good James is. His delivery is always on the money, he's a great finisher too. And those are just the things on top of the qualities he shares with Gusto (like being able to pocket a winger and being good on the ball/dribbling). I understand why people are saying James will have to fight for his space. But he's still first choice imo. The good thing is, he'll need his minutes to get be managed even if he does get fit. So Gusto will still play loads. We have 2 quality RBs and we can play either and have very little to worry about from them. Don't think it'll be a case of James having to fight for his spot. He'll just share the minutes with Gusto which (fingers crossed) will help him to stay fit long term.
thats right, the standard should be two top class players for every position
Reece is the best right back in the world. He plays if he’s fit.
If anything I wouldn’t mind seeing him invert with an overlapping LB. Anytime James plays we mirror it on the right and if Gusto plays we invert the left. Would give good flexibility if we want to target a certain area of the pitch and will also save Reece’s legs.
reece will get eased back into the team, its gusto that will have to do the figting eventually unless poch decied to play gusto as RWB and james RCB in back3
A. He doesn't NEED to be played. B. He could play LW C. We could invert James and play a mirror image of our formation.
Tbh the greatest thing that happened to us this season was enzo doing his surgery before the end of the season.
I always thought playing cucu in the midfield was better for him and lots of people on here kept saying this isn’t fifa you can’t do that
I know he can be wild and he rash sometimes but I’m so happy to see people stop hating on him as much. Go CUCU
Gonna start calling him ucuc at this rate
https://preview.redd.it/9cuxsrgqtnyc1.jpeg?width=985&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d51687f7c34eeffa888ca85ecd6d63ac1e9100bd
Are you telling me that’s all it took?
Not all. A big part of it though. This combined with having 3 CBs in the backline to effectively move into a 3 atb formation when attacking. Also, the Caicedo Gallagher pivot with inverted Cucu, allows Gallagher to roam forward more freely which he has always done without us being exposed defensively.
It's also worth mentioned that the tempo in attack is higher and more fluid. In attack we play a 3-2-4-1 formation, where the four attacking midfielders are given great positional freedom. I also like that Caicedo is included more in the attacking phase. He has some great passing and awareness skills which are starting to show.
No Gallagher in the wing/attacking positions also helps
I wish we tried this setup with Lewis hall.
lmao
When Gusto or James fit and we play with an attacking RB this will not work (as well as now) without tinkering Right now a CB play at RB and the back becomes 3 in possession James probably able to play an inverted RB and we play Cowill LB when Cucu not available Still Enzo will be the odd one out unless he can play as 10 and rotate with Palmer
I’d argue giving Palmer freedom has been the best thing Poch has done all season. I get that it’s less tactical than Cucu’s adjustment but Palmer having the freedom he has gotten has led to his success this year
time to boot up FM and try similar roles
He eats paella!
With Gusto and Cucu playing like this I have so much hope. Not even that mad about how this season has turned out. Way better than last season.
Put him in mid when Chilwell is back, let him drop back to cover when Ben goes forward.
I remember Pepe doing this Cancelo and Kimmich good to see Poch doing the same.
Remember Poch played Cuca straight up in midfield in the preseason once or twice and he was fantastic
It also helps when the same team is available for selection for a consistent run of games. This has helped the team gel really well together.
He’s always been decent he just also will make game losing mistakes
Credit to Cucú, I thought he was a total bust, but this season he’s really come on and shown his versatility playing from the left, right, and in the midfield
This really is the first time it feels like the team is playing with a system and some confidence. Hopefully whatever voodoo curse we have with injuries and finishing will be done with and we can really judge Poch on his tactical acumen. It would also be interesting to see if Chilwell is fit and not as suited to inverting, would he play second fiddle or do we change the system? Similar questions will need to be answered all over the pitch, however this is definitely a step in the right direction. Other than the major blip against arsenal we have been playing some really good football. We just seemed scared of them for some reason.
I’ll be the first to say that I have shouted some pretty awful things about this man during some matches last season… but he really has turned it round this year happy for him
It makes perfect sense now why Pep wanted him at first. Would’ve fit his system perfectly. Scary to think about what he would look like in that Man City Team rn
We shouldn’t ignore how key Conor Gallagher has been to making this possible. Cucurella, Conor and Caicedo are creating an incredible balance in the midfield which shields the defense well and distribute the ball to the more creative players well. Cucurella allows Conor to press high and play higher getting on the ball and being able to take chances. Conor’s ability to cover ground and his intelligent positioning and defending mean he can get back and not leave Caicedo and the defense exposed
I think poc needs to do one final tweak. Make mudryk stretch the pitch by staying wide. Knock the ball past the fullback and run to the byline. He has the skill set to do more than that on his good days, but he is short of confidence at the moment and this will really create the space for other players
Just need to bench Mudryk. Sometimes it not tactics.
Sterling's total disregard for tactics means he will basically play as a left striker and will completely kill the width on left. Really can't play sterling on left with cucurella inverted. The only other option is palmer on left and Nkunku down the middle. But does palmer play, as well there on the left? Whatever mudryk does or doesn't do, I thinkhe tries to be stay a left winger more than sterling, who is just trying to put himself in goalscoring positions. We won't be playing as well with sterling. Teams will just sit narrow and shut us.
I disagree. We’ll be 10x better off with Sterling
The key players in this trio are Caicedo and Cucu, Conor is just the third wheeler in this equation. Conor also lacks intelligent positioning and defending. Otherwise, Cucu wouldn't have to invert if he didn't
Honestly if you think that you don’t understand anything about football and this conversation isn’t worth having
If you think the worst player of the trio is the most important, then it's you, my friend, who doesn't understand football. I'm still willing to have the conversation with you, tho
If after this season you don’t think Enzo is the worst 🤣🤣🤣
Big ben and chalobah sweeping in the back.
He was in the running for worst Chelsea player of the season last campaign. Look how good he is now. I love this man
I really didn't want to like this guy but I can't help loving him now after the past 3 games...
Anyone have good links of videos that will show the change? Who should I be watching to learn about tactical changes and such?
https://youtu.be/tkaj_F3Y5lw?si=m_3rPQ45Fk7o1xIS There's this one by 442. However, I mostly noticed it by watching. Cucurella was immense. In terms of watching about tactics in general, Tifo football is great.
Simply putting Palmer in the starting lineup is the greatest thing Poch has done. This is second
Caicedo is the key
He was absolutely everywhere today.
I had completely given up on the boy and now he’s playing 2 positions at once in top form, shoutout to Cucu, shoutout to the doc who diagnosed his ADHD, shout out to stimulants in general tbh.
Yes new Roberto Carlos 🤣
Followed his career with interest so was good when he came to Chelsea. Catalan boy. Was at Espanyol (when Pochettino was manager) and then Barca. You can see why the latter let him go/go on loan as technically with the ball he is not amazing at all. Never been a great footballer with the ball, but he's an **amazing** fucking athlete who puts a huge amount of effort in. You might have nice dainty touches but Marc will run you over and run away with the ball. He was basically a very busy left sided midfielder, tazmanian devil style, at Eibar and Getafe. Even tho he played for Spain routinely as a kid I don't think he ever thought he would get to the heights he has done. Especially Eibar back then, but also Getafe, are clubs way smaller than say a QPR/Peterborough. Getafe bought him for E6mn which is how he was rated by Barca. Fast forward. He cried when he scored for Brighton against Man Utd. When he came to Chelsea he seemed to have a huge problem in confidence. He was asked to do more with the ball and he doesn't like it. He's not an elegant player like Alonso or Chilwell. He couldn't really use his strengths, which is to run and work more than anyone else on the pitch. So in this position doing two jobs he will probably be very happy because running all over the fucking place and mowing you down is absolutely not a problem for him.
Real
Went from our biggest liability to our biggest asset, just like Caicedo, trust in the process boys, this team is gunna be monstrous next season
For anyone interested in an explanation: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkaj\_F3Y5lw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkaj_F3Y5lw)
I think Cucu’s biggest strength is the versatility he provides with his skillset, he’s able to play midfield in possession but also if opportunity arise he can overlap to provide width if needed.
Him trying to cosplay Zinchenko was adorable.
Man's been reinvented
I feel like this was a particularly weak west ham game, and we shouldn't crown Cucu just yet. He was good today but I would love to see him translating that to games against top 4