<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3cpnDk_0vhNeKFs00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3cpnDk_0vhNeKFs00" width="1210" height="806" ><figcaption>A collective</figcaption></figure>Possession, whether intentionally taken or given, is perhaps the most influential factor in football. Our possession-based game under Maresca is neither bad nor good, but we have proven a few times now that we can be devastating by conceding possession with an emphasis on both an understood defensive structure and transitional, progressive passing. Our best chances were essentially all countering an offensive action from West Ham (as they were against Bournemouth and Crystal Palace), while, for the second game running, we have conceded more shots and shots on target than we took. Our passing accuracy was less than theirs, we had less than half of their final third passes, progressive passes, passes into the penalty area, et al. and yet there was rarely a phase of the game where our control seemed in question. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PremierLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PremierLeague</a> match summary for West Ham United vs Chelsea Date: 2024-09-21<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WHU?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WHU</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChelseaFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ChelseaFC</a> Full match report: <a href="https://t.co/c86J7uOeaQ">https://t.co/c86J7uOeaQ</a><a href="https://t.co/WFEHy7bzD2">pic.twitter.com/WFEHy7bzD2</a>— McLachBot (@mclachbot) <a href="https://twitter.com/mclachbot/status/1837488710406770839?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 21, 2024</a><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);"></blockquote>In addition to conceding possession more than we typically do, we conceded space as well - the average height of our defensive actions was only 36.6 yards from goal and our PPDA was much greater than theirs (12.4 to their 8.7). 80% of this game was played in the middle or our defensive third, and, astonishingly, 41% of that was actually in our defensive third. Unfortunately, for all that time in our defensive territory, more than half of their xG was accumulated via two shots - one from Mohammed Kudus in the 27th minute and one from Michail Antonio in the 74th. Both were saved by Robert Sánchez, who is cementing his spot as starter and having less gaffs than he did last season or earlier this season - I am not forgetting the Jarrod Bowen near interception in the 9th minute, but that isn’t entirely on him - and that’s also beside the point. It must have been frustrating from a West Ham perspective to have all that possession in the final third yet produce virtually nothing from it, but we Chelsea fans would know nothing of what that’s like...<img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1g0dpi_0vhNeKFs00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1g0dpi_0vhNeKFs00" width="699" height="462" >Despite the three points, this may well have proven that we are still both injury-ravaged and light in the position of outside back, especially if Wesley Fofana’s removal was anything but precautionary. Malo Gusto’s absence essentially forced Maresca’s hand, and we all saw how uncomfortable Axel Disasi was in that position against Bournemouth. There is no doubt Maresca wants Fofana as the right-sided CB of a back four, but by inverting Marc Cucurella to the midfield and shifting to a back three, the comfort level in our defensive shape was noticeably improved. Both Tosin Adarabioyo and Levi Colwill finished with around 89% passing accuracy, and Colwill especially was able to put some passes through to a mobile midfield and forward line, finishing with 519 progressive yards, the most of any outfield player from either side. Laudable mentions go to the 95% accuracy Cucurella got, despite his limited progressive passes, as well as the 90% and 86% that Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo got respectively. Control in that midfield was pivotal to our success, but that duo also finished with a cumulative progressive 511 yards passing. While Fernández has been getting praise from the manager for his duality, Caicedo actually put that to plan to action and picked up an assist in the process.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center">Moises Caicedo is the only player to win 30+ ground duels and make 20+ tackles in the Premier League this season and he has the best duel success rate of any player to contest 50+ duels (64.41%). Chelsea may have finally replaced N’Golo Kante. <a href="https://twitter.com/bet365?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bet365</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ad?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ad</a><a href="https://t.co/qdIrPSfYSX">pic.twitter.com/qdIrPSfYSX</a>— Squawka (@Squawka) <a href="https://twitter.com/Squawka/status/1837600187776409828?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 21, 2024</a><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);"></blockquote>But there is no winning this game without the great work of Nicolas Jackson. His willingness to drop in is what opened up the channels for not just his first goal, but much of our attack. Not enough can be said about how he ever so briefly holds his attacking run in his first goal, looks across the line to see no teammates level with him, and accelerates to go to goal himself. <img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4BzdLh_0vhNeKFs00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4BzdLh_0vhNeKFs00" width="523" height="549" >He continually got his timing wrong in matches before this and has been caught offsides more than we want to remember, but there is a growing understanding that is helping him to exude confidence. It should also be noted that he was especially lively at the start - likely and hopefully because he was made aware that West Ham have now conceded 5 goals in the opening 5 minutes of their matches since the start of 2024. That record does not include when we thrashed them 5-0 last season and he himself got a second-half brace or the fact that we got a goal in the first 5 minutes of the second half, too.After that first chance, he then opened up their left side again only moments later and this time slid in Palmer for a glorious chance, which you’d bet on him to score nine times from ten.<img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0HVdAf_0vhNeKFs00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0HVdAf_0vhNeKFs00" width="1870" height="934" >Just after he would tear a canyon-sized gap through that back line to nab his second, well-taken goal. There won’t be many defenses as porous as this, and West Ham are on a historical low to start their season. Regardless, their back three did not know how to defend against our high and wide wingers coupled with a striker willing to drop deeper to pick up the ball in the gaps created by our clever midfield shifts in positioning.<img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1VuMXa_0vhNeKFs00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1VuMXa_0vhNeKFs00" width="1621" height="888" >It is nice to see that Maresca is not exclusively adherent to his tactics from Leicester, because it doesn’t seem as though our opposition is sure whether or not an inverted fullback is in our agenda, and so their adaptation to our midfield can be inadequate. When they tried to leave three up top but lost possession, we simply had more numbers forward to hurt them in transition. When we got the ball into the midfield quickly, we were essentially 1v1 in those forward areas, especially once Enzo Fernández join the attack. If necessary, we would stretch the pitch and play balls back to our defensive line comfortably, knowing that the spaces opened up by their press were easy enough to exploit and that they are finally feeling comfortable on the ball. With an average age of nearly 2 years younger than the entirety of the competition, it is no wonder why there is still room for improvement, but there is a certain progression in both results and style that are conspicuous. With that youth comes exuberance, and contrastingly West Ham were actually the eldest team in the Premier League to this point, and they looked to all be carrying pianos on their backs during this match. The quick turns and bursts of pace from our speedy attackers combined with an almost innate ability to play through their press were simply nothing that they could stop, especially after Julen Lopetegui was duped into thinking that ball possession was to their advantage. It is still shocking to see these stats in direct comparison, noting how compactly and deeply we defended but how the momentum of the match was ever swinging in our direction.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center">West Ham 0 : 3 Chelsea ▪ xG: 0.81 - 2.36 ▪ xThreat: 1.64 - 1.2 ▪ Possession: 52.3% - 47.7% ▪ Field Tilt: 60.7% - 39.3% ▪ Def Action Height: 48.9 - 36.6<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/msbot_eng?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#msbot_eng</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/epl?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#epl</a><a href="https://t.co/tiVFZcMqHo">pic.twitter.com/tiVFZcMqHo</a>— markstats bot (@markstatsbot) <a href="https://twitter.com/markstatsbot/status/1837484096911823290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 21, 2024</a><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);"></blockquote>I still have a few issues with our free-kick situations. I fail to see the benefit of having two players lining up to take the same corner unless it is for a short corner - even if they have different dominant feet. Put one of those players in both a position to score and also not to be out of position for a potential counter. Outswinging and inswinging corners are not always defended differently, and against both man-marking and zonal defenses they are defended no differently. Also, our xG and xGA on set pieces are trending in non-ideal directions, and defending crosses still looks suspect and our greatest weakness. Maresca defended our set-piece taking/defending lately, but if we are going to round-out our game entirely, that looks like it could be a potential area of improvement. KTBFFH.</div></body>

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West Ham 0-3 Chelsea, Premier League: Tactical Analysis

Possession, whether intentionally taken or given, is perhaps the most influential factor in football. Our possession-based game under Maresca is neither bad nor good, but we have proven a few times now that we can be devastating by conceding possession with an emphasis on both an understood defensive structure and transitional, progressive passing. Our best chances were essentially all countering an offensive action from West Ham (as they were against Bournemouth and Crystal Palace), while, for the second game running, we have conceded more shots and shots on target than we took. Our passing accuracy was less than theirs, we had less than half of their final third passes, progressive passes, passes into the penalty area, et al. and yet there was rarely a phase of the game where our control seemed in question.

West Ham 0-3 Chelsea, Premier League: Tactical Analysis

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