We Ain't Got No History: All Posts by Lamin Oo

David Luiz wins in life

2013-05-07T21:29:00Z

DL shared this on Instagram today.

Analyzing the goal against Man United

2013-05-06T20:04:07Z

Ramires is fundamentally a player who thrives on transitions. His tireless work rate off the ball, his ability to tackle and his explosive speed make him a real threat in counter attacks. This is not new to us. And it is of no particular surprise to find him in the thick of this vital game-winning goal against Manchester United which was built on a quick break from the Chelsea's half.

But first, let's back up a bit.

Chelsea played this game with Frank Lampard and Ramires in the double pivot of the usual 4-2-3-1 formation. They took turns going forward from their deep position through out the game and it followed a pattern. When the team was attacking through possession play, Lampard was the one who joined the attack. Ramires went forward mainly on the counters. Here's a look at Oscar's chance from the first half.

After intercepting a pass from United, Oscar quickly moved down the right wing and Lampard would find the Brazilian with an uncomplicated pass. Ramires was almost level with Lampard when this attack began but, as you can see in frame 2, he ended up alongside Demba Ba in the box by the time Oscar took a smart shot at United goal.

[Side note: The difference between Ramires and Lampard is not simply that one joins the counter-attack and another doesn't. After all, Lampard has made a name for himself with his forward runs. But while you expect Lampard to make a late run and position himself near the edge of the box, somewhere near Mata and Howard Webb in the picture, Ramires offers himself as an option at the very tip of the attack.]

We see Ramires doing the same thing in another chance in the first half. This time, the Brazilian pounced on a slip from Phil Jones* to begin the counter attack. Again, when Juan Mata cut the ball back for Victor Moses to aim for the sky, Ramires had made it into the opposition's box.

* I want to laugh at this so bad but I can't. (Damn you, John! You ruined it for us!)

Consider that was my super long-winded intro and now let's talk about the build up to the goal, which began with a vital challenge from Ramires. A long ball from Johnny Evans sent the ball into Chelsea's half. After the two sides played a short game of hot potato with the ball, substitute Wayne Rooney was in possession 20 yards out from the Chelsea goal. This was when Ramires picked the England striker's pocket. Like this:

Rooney believed he was fouled but clearly the striker tripped himself when tangling with Ramires's standing foot and the ball was pretty much in the Brazilian's possession. From here, Lampard would carry the ball forward while Ramires sprint past his midfield partner like a kid chasing an ice cream truck.

When Mata received the ball from Lampard near the halfway line, the Spaniard quickly tried to release it to Fernando Torres, who had come on for Victor Moses (much to Tony Gale's delight) and played on the flank (much to Tony Gale's disappointment). Mata's pass was intercepted by Johnny Evans, which fits the overall pattern of the game: Chelsea's attack breaking down repeatedly in the final third.

Mata, however, would get another shot when Ryan "We Don't Do That Here" Giggs mis-controlled the ball. With Jones filling in for the out of position Rafael* at right back and tracking Torres, Chelsea had an extra man in midfield: Ramires. Mata lobbed the ball over Giggs, just for fun and because he can, to the unmarked Ramires, and then dashed forward into the box from the left wing. Here was where the vital mistake occurred from United's perspective. There were three United players around Mata at this point but no one tracked his run when the ball left his feet. Jones had Torres to mind; Giggs shifted his attention rightly to Ramires. But neither Rooney nor Antonio Valencia bothered to followed the Chelsea number 10 into the box. Gracias, amigos!

* Smile!

And this is pretty self explanatory. Ramires dribbled toward the United back four, two of whom were occupied by Chelsea strikers. He then made a back-heel pass, because he's Brazilian and Brazilians do back-heel passes, to Oscar, who found Mata salivating and rubbing his little belly on the back post. (Click here for the GIF of the goal.)

* * *

So on a day that Chelsea struggled to find the break through against a lackluster Manchester United, Ramires's physicality, speed and energy play a crucial role in setting up this counter-attacking goal.

Analyzing the two goals against Rubin Kazan (Away)

2013-04-12T20:43:01Z

The best thing about winning the 1st leg 3-1 is that you can lose the second 2-3 and still go through to the next stage. So here we are: Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Europa "We Care More About You Now Than We Did In The Previous Round" League. The goals from Fernando Torres and Victor Moses made sure that the fans can sing "One Team In Europe" again despite the sloppy defense's best effort to throw the game against Rubin Kazan.

The game plan was simple: contain and counter. Stay compact defensively with a 4-5-1/4-3-3 shape and break quickly to score on the counter. As it turns out, the latter part of the strategy worked better than the former in this game. With the youngster Nathan Ake anchoring the midfield, Frank Lampard and Ramires completed the inverted midfield triangle of the Mourinho days. Playing in their best positions as box-to-box midfielders, both Lampard and Ramries contributed to the goals, in their own ways.

The Torres Goal

From the very early stage of the game, Chelsea were defending deep with two rows of defensive shield ahead of Petr Cech. In this particular case, Paulo Ferreira was off injured on the sidelines, which meant that Moses had to drop back to the left back position and Torres to the left wing. Ake, who was almost the fifth defender at this point, would make an important interception* to start the break with Ramires.

* He was also the top interceptor of the game with 7 interceptions.

Shut down by two opponents, the Brazilian would quickly lose the ball but this phase of the game was vital for the buildup to the goal because it pushed Torres up the field from his initial left wing position. So when Cesar Azpilicueta grabbed a hold of the subsequent misplaced pass from Rubin Kazan and found Lampard centrally, the midfielder can send a first-time long pass up the pitch like this:

A well-timed pass over the defense for Torres to chase. Chelsea wouldn't have been able to break as quickly as they did here if the initially failed break-away with Ramires that forced Torres further up the field. And, of course, Zorres finished it with superb skill and confidence:

(via basedfootball)

#FormIsTemporaryClassIsPermanent #Respect #Legend #Zorres #LOL

The Moses Goal

Unlike the first goal, this one was built on good pressing job from the Chelsea attackers in Rubin Kazan's half. A long ball out from defense (David Luiz) started us off. Chelsea lost out the first and the second ball but closed down the opposition pretty quickly. With one defender out of the frame next to Torres, it was a 5 v 5 situation with both Ramires and Lampard in advance positions, anticipating a forward pass to the two Rubin Kazan players closest to them. Of the two immediate passing options, the last defender picked the central route as Yossi Benayoun stepped up. This was wrong choice because Ramires would do this to the recipient of that pass:

I honestly don't think we would have won the ball back here if the last defender passed to the guy to his left, i.e. the player closest to Lampard. The England midfielder wouldn't have been able to press as quickly as Ramries did and win the challenge. This was totally in the Ramires territory, and the Brazilian did what he does best. Now, the stage is set.

It looks complicated, but this goal is actually quite simple. It is a series of one-two's stacked together -- Lampard-to-Moses, Moses-to-Ramires and Ramires-to-Moses -- as the Blues penetrates the defense. Of course, there was that first-time outside-of-the-boot assist from Ramires which took the buildup to another level: something we expect from the likes of Hazard, Mata and Oscar, but wonderfully surprised that Ramires pulled it off.

* * *

Kudos to everyone involved but central to these two goals are the contributions from the two box-to-box midfielders, each according to their strengths: Lampard with the vision and the long range passing for the first goal and Ramires with the pace and ability to win the ball via tackles for the second.

A great goal we almost scored

2013-03-27T19:49:01Z

We all hate international breaks. We do. We hate them! Like teenagers without reliable internet access, our lives are empty and meaningless when club football is not around. (Hang tight tough. It will soon be over.) But one thing that we gain from these FIFA-sponsored Tests from the Lord... is time.

Time to step back from the fixture congestion and squad management; time to digest what had taken place during the trials and triumphs of the highly talented but inconsistent band of attacking trio; time to chew on old problems in the midfield; time to dream (Oh Jose, you are such a tease! *giggles*); time to take a breather from the Rafalution that suffocates Stamford Bridge like hot air on a humid day; and, in my case*, time to reminisce what could have been the one of the best Chelsea goals of the season...

* Which is now your case too since I wrote it and you are reading it.

* * *

It was a tough game for Chelsea U18. Derby County are a energetic, hard-working, physical team (Stoke City-esque if you ask me.) that had rammed (*Ahem*) their way into the Sixth Round Proper of this season's FA Youth Cup, and Pride Park was the venue. Despite being the current holder, Baby Blues have had an eventful season thus far, the comeback from 2-0 down against Charlton in Round 4 a prime example. It wasn't going to be a walk in the park (#SorryNotSorry) is all I'm saying here.

Turns out it was an entertaining affair, especially compared to how the senior team did in Romania 24 hours prior. Baby Blues played open, attacking football while the Rams pressed hard and defended strongly. Chelsea were definitely the better side and took a deserved lead when Lewis Baker converted from the spot with only a quarter of an hour gone. Derby understandably started to gain momentum after that and pushed for an equalizer. This was when it came about.

It had a humble beginning. A simple, but patient, buildup from the back. Ruben Loftus-Cheek picked up the ball from the defense before pushing it forward to Jeremy Boga (aka He Who Schooled Those Amateurs From La Masia Factory). Boga, by simply being Boga, drew the attention of two Derby players right away. The youngster would hold off using his magical power for the time being and dribble across the halfway line.

He could probably have advanced the ball to the right flank but the opportunity passed quickly as he hung on to the ball a tad too long, which we will be able to forgive in just a sec. With his options shut down, Boga had to make a back pass to the right. The buildup seemed to have suffered a minor set-back. But wait...

[Hover mouse pointer over or tap GIFs to view.]

But with the pressure from Derby players off of him for a split second, Boga dropped back quickly to get the return pass. As his marker stepped up, Boga turned swiftly and never looked back. If he did he would have seen his marker chasing him like a little lost puppy. No step-over; no nutmegs; no elaborate trickery of the feet. Just a simple, effective turn, executed precisely with speed and vision.

Boga would cut through the Derby midfield and BAM! we were in the attacking third, unfazed by the two players closing him down from left and right. It was time to crank this up a notch. Over to Baker: Lewis Baker.

YES! THAT WAS ACTUALLY WHAT HAPPENED!

I don't even know if I could describe what Baker did to the ball there. All I know is that it involved a ballerina-esque swivel, a back-heel/pull, a no-look, well-timed, defense-splitting through-ball, and poetry.

If I can close my eyes quick enough after seeing that pass, which I've nick-named OUTRAGEOUSNESS*, I can imagine the on rushing Alex Kiwomya blast the ball into the upper 90 with power, or pass it low into the corner with composure, or, if I may be greedy, chip it Ramires-at-Camp-Nou style with finesse.

* Please, feel free to suggest your own in the comments.

It doesn't even have to be any of those options. The ball can get rebound off the keeper and land in the net for all I care and it would have been a great goal. One of the best goals Chelsea would have scored this season across youth and first team. But it was not to be. Kiwomya's shot was straight at the keeper who, to his credit, was positioned well and made himself big.

* * *

Sorry, kids. This story doesn't have a happy ending (which, of course, I have already given away in the title). But it doesn't stop me from thinking about this chance and what it could have been. Also the fact that this particular instance came from Chelsea youngsters adds another layer to the imagination--of what it can be in the future.

If I try hard enough, I can forget we are Chelsea and that youth players have a tough time making it into the first team here, and picture a future where the talents of Baker, Boga, Kiwomya and other youth players get to reach the full potential at Stamford Bridge. That would be quite magical.

Analyzing the three goals scored vs Steaua Bucharest

2013-03-15T16:53:23Z

Chelsea are through to the quarterfinals of the Europa "Red-headed Cousin of the Big Eared One" League (to face Rubin Kazan) thanks to the three goals from Juan Mata, John Terry and... Fernando Torres (*rubs eyes* Really? *pinches self* Oh, it actually did happen. Wow.) It wasn't an easy game for the Blues who scored first but then remembered they were Chelsea and allowed Bucharest to score before the half time whistle. Additional two goals were needed in order to advance, and the goals did come as the result of an impressive second half performance. Let's take a closer look at the three goals Chelsea scored in this game.

Juan Mata Goal

The first 30 minutes of this game followed the same pattern as any recent games in which Chelsea played against a weaker side who were determined to stay compact defensively and attack on the break. You can't really blame Steaua Bucharest for their approach because (a) they are in the lead with their home goal and (b) playing on the counter tends to work well against the Blues. We have talked a lot about that second point through out this season. Chelsea's radically hobbitized front line can be stopped with a disciplined defense and the team lacks a midfield creator from a deeper position (see Modric, Luka #TheOneThatGotAway) who can unlock such tight defenses.

Thus, it is perfectly logical that we have a portion of the game in which Chelsea dominates possession* but fails to create meaningful chances** while the opposition, solid in defense, comes closest to scoring despite not seeing the ball much. The away team pressed and defended with purpose and the Blues were unable to penetrate.

* Successful passes head-to-head in the first 30 minutes: Chelsea, 175 vs. Bucharest, 114.

** Shots hit head-to-head in the first 30 minutes: Chelsea, 4 (all from outside the box; three by John Obi Mikel) vs. Bucharest, 3 (two from inside the box; one needed a strong save from Petr Cech).

So it kind of makes sense that the break through goal came from a rare Chelsea counter attack. Here you see Bucharest in possession on their left around the half way line. Chelsea were pressing hard with Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Mikel very close to their marks. Oscar would track back and make an important tackle to win the ball back. David Luiz stepped up to the loose ball and found, with his first touch, Juan Mata in the opposition's half.

These were important interventions from the two Brazilians since it allowed Chelsea to now attack at an unorganized Bucharest defense. You should also note David Luiz's ability to intercept here. There have been times when it didn't work, leaving the defense exposed, (it's a high risk, high reward game) but the Brazilian was on his game this time around, winning three interceptions (second only to the Interceptor Bunny, Ramires).

When Juan Mata dodged the initial tackle that flown in, the away side's defensive lines that stayed compact in the early stages were stretched. With Torres pushing the last line (defenders 1, 2, 3 and 4) back, three Chelsea play-makers had a ton of space to exploit (as midfielders 5, 6 and 7 tired to catch up). Plus, Ramires had also sprinted forward centrally. Hazard moved left, Oscar overlapped on the right and Mata dribbled centrally. Further ahead, Torres made some confusing runs: he angled toward the right first, then decided to come back into the center. But credit to the Cursed One for staying out of the way as Mata and Ramries one-two-ed their way forward, and Mata put Chelsea ahead after displaying ballet dancer-esque balance in the box.

John Terry Goal

It's been awhile since we've scored a quality set-piece header goal. Heck! It's been awhile since we are able to deliver quality set-piece crosses! So this goal gives me more satisfaction than it normally would have. No doubt there were some poor defending from the opposition in this particular set-piece: Terry's marker was easily blocked by a routine set-piece tactics; another didn't have the sense or awareness to pick up the unmarked Chelsea center back dashing across the box.

But it was a goal in which everything went according to plan: David Luiz and Torres held of Terry's marker; Mikel's near post run cleared Terry's path; the delivery was inch perfect; Terry's header, straight out of the textbook (Chapter Four: Attacking Set-Pieces Crosses Like A Legend).

Fernando Torres Goal

There were also defensive lapses in the buildup to the all-important third goal scored around the 70th minute; heavy pressing in the first half probably took a toll on the Bucharest defenders. Mata received a simple throw-in on the right flank and was able to dribble across the pitch untroubled. (Maybe the players in red just got tired of kicking him from the back. Seriously. Some acted like complete [ducks] in this game!)

There were three Chelsea players in the box: Oscar, running to the right; Torres, unmoved at the center; Hazard, unseen in the frame to the left.

Bucharest had numbers in defense but the organization was flawed. As Mata looked to pass into the box, there were two players in red who could/should have blocked the passing lane but didn't. Here the movement from Eden Hazard was crucial. As Torres stood firm by the penalty spot, Hazard anticipated well and cut across to the center to receive Mata's pass.

In the process, the Belgian also dragged (zoomed in frame now) one defender, No. 1, with him and occupied another's attention No. 2. This meant Torres, who had made minimal movement in the box, found himself unmarked when Hazard cast magic on the ball with the slightest of touches, guiding it toward his goal-starved teammate. Torres took two touches before finishing coolly with his left foot. Curse broken! World poverty eradicated! Middle East reconciled! Impossible is nothing! (Well, at least until the penalty miss... #FormIsTemporaryCurseIsPermanent)

Manchester City 2 - Chelsea 0: Initial reaction and community rating form

2013-02-24T15:27:55Z

Chelsea suffered a deserved 2-0 loss at the hands of Manchester City. It was a poor performance and a poor result. And not much else to say. The first half was awful. Yuck! Ewww! Chelsea team were set up to play on the counter, which is fine as long as we can keep it tight defensively (we didn't), break effectively on counter (far from it!) and take advantage of any set-piece opportunities (*sigh*). Petr Cech kept the team in the game and Chelsea were lucky to have went into halftime with a clean sheet.

I don't think I am allowed to use the kind of words I would like to use in order to describe second half. So I will just keep quiet. Some notes:

I can totally understand why Benitez went with a counter-attacking game plan. Manchester City aren't playing that well at this moment but they are still a good team playing at home. But Chelsea left so much space between the lines defensively and lost the ball way too cheaply on the break. Poor.
Remember when we used to take quality corners and free-kicks? Those were the good days...
Was there a lonelier man in the world than Demba Ba in the opening 20 minutes of this game? I bet he wished he had somehow sneaked his phone in and play Fruit Ninja or something.
I watched the game on Fox Soccer Channel and got a taste of Gus Johnson commentary. Understandably poor at the moment but I'm sure he will improve; by "I'm sure," I meant "I really really hope."
Lampard's penalty was disappointing but Ba showed his pace and strength in winning the foul, great center forward play.
Mancini makes the first move in the second half, bringing on Carlos Tevez for Jack Rodwell. City took the lead soon after. I don't even want to talk about Benitez's substitution; you go ahead and rant in the comments (like you needed my encouragement anyway).
Thoroughly rafaluted by the rafalution.

Opposition Scout Report: Manchester City

2013-02-22T18:15:08Z

It’s an Olympic medal ceremony. Three exceptional athletes stand on the podium wearing the achievement of their hard work, dedication and natural talent around their necks. The national anthem of the country represented by the gold medalist has been played and now it’s the time to take a picture of the athletes with their medals. The television camera goes for a close up, panning from right to left: the bronze medalist, glowing with joy as he raised his medal up; the gold medalist, beaming with pride, eyes glistening with a hint of tears; then the silver medalist… staring into the cameras with an empty expression as if his soul has left his body, lips tense in an attempt to hide the disappointment.

Of course there are some exceptions but the above description is generally true of Olympians’ reactions to the place they earned on the podium (e.g. Exhibit A, Exhibit B, and Exhibit C). So much so that psychologists went ahead and study this phenomenon, and later, as they often do in academia, gave it important sounding name: "counterfactual thinking." These studies find that bronze medalists are by and large are happier than silver medalists in post-competition interviews and during medal presentations. Their theory is pretty intuitive: the third place finisher compares himself to the rest that didn’t make it to the podium (Hey, I least I won a medal! *smiley face*) while the runner up compares himself to the winner and feels he came up short (Man, if only I touched the wall about 0.004 second faster… *frowny face*).

This, to a certain degree, applies to the Premier League as well. When Sergio Aguero drove home that stoppage-time winner at the Etihad Stadium to crown Manchester City the champion of England last season, the mood in the third place Arsenal camp, what’s with the automatic qualification to the Champions League*, was probably way livelier than the mood in the red side of Manchester.

*Perhaps ‘getting on the podium’ metaphor captures the CL qualification by league position better than ‘winning a trophy,’ huh Mr. Wenger sir?

There are still 12 games left to play this season, yet one inevitably feels that Manchester "We Love Grinding Out Results More Than Anything Else" United, with 12 points clear at the top, has already have the trophy wrapped up. So when Chelsea travel to Etihad Stadium this Sunday to battle Manchester City with only 4 points separating the two, the league title is not as much at stake in the game as the tragedy of the runner up and the triumph of the third place finisher. In a world where there is only one spot at the top, such are the narratives… of losers.

The Approach

Manchester City's default formation is a 4-4-2. You can fancy it up and call it a 4-4-1-1 or a 4-2-3-1, but the bottom line is that City plays with two strikers up front with wide men in support and defends with two banks of four (i.e. Walks like duck, quacks like a duck etc...). They like to, if they could, have the ball and create chances through buildup play with David Silva pulling the strings while roaming freely across the attacking third, but you already knew that, didn't you? Their fullbacks often join the attack. From the double pivot, Yaya Toure will most definitely venture forward Frank Lampard style while Gareth Barry/Javi Garcia stays back with defensive duties. Again, these are things you probably already know. But there are some interesting things happening within this City system in the micro level that we can talk about that won't render this scout report superfluous. So let's talk about overloading the flanks.

Roberto Mancini's men have been quite successful at breaking down defenses by overloading one side of the wing with the wide man from the opposite flank crossing over to join the action. (This is not new to us, of course, we have seen Chelsea do that as well.) Often it is the nomad playmaker Silva who would drift, from his initial left wing position, across the attacking third to create overloads but there can be exceptions.

The screen cap above shows the buildup to City's first goal against Liverpool a few weeks ago. Here, it was right winger James Milner who had joined the left wing overload. A little bit of tiki-taka from Sergio Aguero and David Silva would set Milner free down the right flank, with Edin Dzeko making a run toward the six-yard box to tap in the cross. It was not even that Liverpool were out-numbered in that left wing but the vision and passing of Silva combined with the movement of Milner helped create this goal. I guess that just shows you how dangerous they can be from these overloads.

Another thing to note from that screen cap is the movements and positioning of City's forwards. In this case, Aguero moved out wide while Dzeko stayed central to spearhead the attack. It is not unusual for one of these forwards to drift wide or drop slightly back into midfield when space opens up while the other one stay central as the main striker. This is when City's 4-4-2 wanders into 4-2-3-1 territory.

Plan B

While Rafa Benitez resorts to furious note taking and later making like-for-like substitutions* when the game's not going his way, Mancini would actually make meaningful substitutions and tactical changes. (Wow. So refreshing, I know.) He had played around with 3-5-2 at the beginning of the season with mix results, but now, the Italian is using it as a Plan B.

*Must. Resist. Pulling. My. Hair. Out. Must. Resist...

Aleksander Kolarov and Maicon were brought on in the second half against Liverpool as City switch to 3-5-2. The above picture neatly captures City's 3-5-2: wing-backs advance down the flanks and Milner joins his two strikers from central midfield. While this switch didn't turn the game around completely, it allowed City to have more numbers in the center of the pitch and have better control of the game.

Secondly, the above screen cap shows the intelligent movement of Aguero who slipped behind the Liverpool defense to get on Barry's long pass before scoring the equalizer from an impossible angle. Having seen the likes of Adam Le Fondre and Shaun Maloney exploit Chelsea's defense with similar diagonal runs, Chelsea fans can only hope that the Argentinian has a bad game on Sunday.

The Gap

In his analysis of the City 2-2 Liverpool game, Michael Cox points out that City's defensive problems were down to the open space between their lines where the likes of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge could cause damage. "The problem," Cox explains, "originated from the lack of pressing high up the pitch -- aside from a quick burst at the start of the match -- Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko contributed little in the defensive phase of the play." This meant that Garcia and Barry had to push high up against Liverpool central midfielders, leaving open space behind them.

That was also the case in their 2-3 home defeat to Manchester United back in December. For the majority of this game, United played on the counter and they were very effective. Above is the screen cap of the buildup to Wayne Rooney's second goal. The Red Devils broke quickly down the right flank while Rooney dashed toward the 'D' of the City box unmarked. The England striker had the time and space to bury the ball into the net with Rafael providing the cross. Let's hope Mancini's men haven't learned their lessons and Juan Mata can punish them for it. (Please let this come true. Please!)

The Player

One way to judge a player's worth to the team is to watch how the team performs with that player on the pitch. Another is to see how the team does without him. Well, we have been able to make observations from both of these angles (Thanks, ACN!) and have come to find out how crucial of a role Yaya Toure plays in this Manchester City team. There are more flashy players in the squad but the team just doesn't perform as well without him. He can't create from a deep midfield position like Xabi Alonso, but his physicality, energy and finishing make him a threat. He has a little bit of Ramires (i.e. pace and stamina) and a little bit of Lampard (intelligent movement and shooting skills) in his game. When he makes a marauding run forward, it's like Treebread charging at Isengard*, only with a lot more speed in the Ivorian's case.

*Obligatory LOTR reference: Check!

The Tragedy and Triumph of Losers

Football can be complicated sometimes, but there isn't anything complex about winning and losing. In the league, there can only be one champion, and either you are or you aren't. Simple. Here's a quote I really like from Roberto Mancini: "If you win you are the best, if you lose you are not." As far as I am concern, the title is pretty much United's at this point. This Sunday, City and Chelsea will fight for scraps, to be the better loser of the two.

Chelsea vs. Wigan: Match analysis

2013-02-10T19:55:31Z

Chelsea’s 4-2-3-1: Petr Cech (1); Ashley Cole (3), Gary Cahill (24), Branislav Ivanovic (2), Cesar Azpilicueta (28); David Luiz (4), Frank Lampard (8); Eden Hazard (17), Oscar (11), Ramires (7); Fernando Torres (9).

Wigan’s 3-5-2: Ali Al Habsi (26); Maynor Figueroa (31), Gary Caldwell (5), Paul Schaner (33); Jean Beausejour (22), Roger Espinoza (18), James McCarthy (4), James McArthur (16), Ronnie Stam (23); Shaun Maloney (10), Franco Di Santo (9).

Chelsea made four changes to the team that lost against Newcastle, with David Luiz and Eden Hazard returning from injury and suspension respectively. The Brazilian defender paired up with Lampard in central midfield while Ramires moved out to the right wing alongside Oscar and Hazard in the attacking third. Ramires’ presence on the right wing played a crucial role in this victory but it is not certain whether it happened by chance or by design.

One would assume that the Brazilian long-distant sprinter, who had never started on the wing* in the previous 13 league games under Rafa Benitez, was used in the three-pronged offense behind Torres only because virus-stricken Juan Mata needed to take a breather on the bench. But the interim manager implied in his post match comments that Ramires-as-right-winger was part of his tactical plan: "… we moved Ramires to the right. That was crucial for us as we knew they would play with three at the back so we knew he would be an important player." And so it was: Ramires started on the right to make a big impact in this game.

*The Brazilian did play on the right wing in the 2-1 away victory over Everton but he started as the right-sided midfielder in a 4-3-3 which was short-lived.

Having Ramires on Chelsea’s right flank came in handy because Wigan’s 3-5-2 attack is left heavy. Both wing-back Beausejour and midfielder Espinoza operated on the left while Maloney drifted to that same flank from the advance position. Their five-man midfield dominated possession from the kick-off and built majority of their attack coming down their left wing. You can see this same pattern of play by Roberto Martinez’s men in their last two league games against Southampton and Stoke City as well (see above chart). The very first Wigan attempt on goal came when Maloney, Espinoza and Figueroa combined on their left before crossing for Di Santo whose shot Cech had to block with his feet.

This set up for a busy day for our right-sided players: Ramires, David Luiz and Azpilicueta. And all three put in a strong defensive display: tracking back, winning tackles, intercepting, closing down the space and preventing crosses into the box. Despite seeing more of the ball in the early stages of the game, Wigan didn’t threaten Cech and his broken finger as the Blues defended compactly. Compared to Chelsea’s left side, where Hazard, Lampard and Cole roamed, their right was defensively stronger, and Wigan fans must wonder whether their team was attacking the wrong side of the opposition.

The consequence of Wigan overloading their attack on the left also meant that they are vulnerable on the break on that very same side. With Espinoza and Beausejour further up the field, Chelsea could exploit the space on that flank with the pace of Ramires on counter attack. This was exactly how Chelsea scored the first goal: David Luiz glided past Espinoza in midfield before finding Torres who unleashed a pass right into the path of the Brazilian roadrunner. Ramires exploded past Figueroa and scored with a decisive finish. (Beep! Beep!)

Individual brilliance from Azpilicueta would set up Hazard for the second Chelsea goal, but the buildup fit the overall pattern of Chelsea taking advantage of attacking ambitions on Wigan's left. Gary Cahill's quickly taken free-kick flew over everyone and landed into the big hole in Wigan's left for Azpilicueta to dash into. The recovering wing-back Beausejour was easy to beat for the Chelsea right-back who laid a low cross which Hazard put away convincingly.

Staying true to their recent form, Benitez's men would allow the opposition back into the game, in this case, pretty much right away. After a Chelsea attack broke down on their left, Wigan midfielder McArthur picked out a diagonal run by Maloney with a ball over the defense. Having sneaked past the two Chelsea central defenders, Maloney then went around advancing Cech to score from a tight angle. It was a simple attacking maneuver, one which had hurt the Blues before. Reading scored the same kind of goal against Chelsea in their comeback led by Adam Le Fondre at the Madejski stadium, Hope Akpan picking out Le Fondre's diagonal run behind Cahill.

In both of these goals, one of the Chelsea central defender is focused on the opposition's main striker (Cahill on Di Santo and Ivanovic on Pavel Pogrebnyak) while the other strike partner slips in behind the defense to receive a pass from midfield. These are simple 2 v 2 situations. Yet, the Cahill and Ivanovic were fooled by the movements of the attackers in very similar fashion. This is something they would need to improve as a center-back pairing.

The Latics would get the momentum from this goal and put more pressure on Chelsea. Espinoza made way for Arouna Kone as Wigan changed to a 3-4-3 shape in their search for an equalizer. Benitez, rather curiously, appeared to be lining a Cahill-to-Mata switch as if Chelsea were chasing the game (David Luiz to drop back to defense and Ramires to be in central midfield probably) but Oscar's cramp pushed the manager to make a more straight forward substitution as the Mata came on for the Brazilian attacking midfielder. The intended substitution would probably have crippled Chelsea's strong defense on the right side.

But Chelsea would put the game away with another long ball catching Wigan on the break. This time, it was a hopeful ball forward from Cech towards Chelsea's left wing. Fernando Torres, who was having one of his better games, drifted wide to win the header against Gary Caldwell and nodded the ball to Mata. In fact, the blond Spanish GOAL/SEX MACHINE won 4 of his 7 aerial battles in this game, almost scoring twice with headed efforts, which is a great improvement from his performance against Reading in which he won only 2 of the 10 aerial battles.

This was a really important header to have won: (a) it released the pressure on Chelsea defense with only 5 minutes of regular time left on the clock and (b) it also set up a good attacking opportunity as Ramires, Hazard, Mata and Torres attacked the struggling Wigan defense. From here on, Hazard would do what he does, Mata would do what he does, and Lampard would do what he does. One. Nine. Eight.

Conclusions

More than a month ago, Chelsea lost 1-0 at home to a relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers. Now they have beaten Wigan who are second to last in the league. Does this indicate an improvement in Benitez's team? Not quite.

"I had to stretch the game, open up and leave ourselves exposed and on the counter-attack Chelsea took advantage of that," explained Wigan manager Roberto Martinez after the game. He is right. The Blues' goals, and ultimately the victory, came because of Wigan's willingness to attack and take risk. Between that QPR game and yesterday's encounter with Wigan, Chelsea have had problems breaking down defensive teams and they tended to get caught out on counter-attacks. There is no sign that these issues have been sorted out, at least not in this particular game, in which Chelsea played a reactive game to secure the three points.

If you are of the group that likes to say "A win is a win is a win is a win is a win!" you are probably celebrating. But if you are of the persuasion that has the audacity to believe a richly assembled team of talented players should be able to dominate a team from the bottom of the table at your home ground, playing beautiful football while pushing the opposition against the wall and tearing them down with continuous assaults, then you might be hiding your disappointed eyes behind a pair of blue frame sunglasses, stroking your salt-and-pepper beard as you stare out into the horizon from your billion dollar yacht, planning your next move.