Burnley showed that Chelsea are not unstoppable, but can other teams follow?
It was Tottenham Hotspur, with their great pressing style, who pioneered the tactic to defeat Chelsea. One month ago they beat a Chelsea ream that had been unbeaten for months, and it seemed to everyone that it would be the case until the end of the season.
However, Tottenham did what they did against Manchester City and revealed how to defeat a strong opponent. But given Chelsea were clearly a better team than Manchester City, Antonio Conte's team did not freefall after their defeat against Tottenham. Nevertheless, now Burnley had shown that even though you cannot beat Chelsea, there may be a way to not lose to them, which could cause a lot of problems for Conte's side.
First of all, it is really interesting to see that even if it has been seven months since Euro 2016, coaches are still utilizing strategies that first appeared in the competition. There were three major strategies in Euro 2016; Domination, best represented by Spain and Germany, counter-pressing best displayed by France and Portugal and last but not least Italy's quasi-Catenaccio strategy with well-built blocks.
Chelsea, obviously, follows the path of Italy as their coach Conte was at the helm of Italy last summer. Even though the tournament was a decisive victory for counter-pressing, and most European teams opted for it after the summer, Premier League teams still could not find a way to stop Conte's weird counter-attacking strategy, at least until Chelsea visited White Hart Lane last month.
The reason why Conte's game was so unstoppable after their humiliating defeat against Arsenal last September was that Conte has become better at linking attack and defense. In Euro 2016, although Italy taught everyone how to defend, they were unable to produce enough opportunities, especially against counter-pressing teams.
Now, the connection between Diego Costa, Pedro Ledesma, Eden Hazard, Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso is quite complex and properly ordered. Rather than positioning them strictly to an area, Conte makes them move like a block, so that whenever one of them has the ball he knows that there is at least five other teammates attacking with him, and he knows where they are. This the best gift a coach can give to his players, making them able to play together with great precision, so that Chelsea are never caught off guard and they are always ready to launch a counter-attack.
However, Burnley coach Sean Dyche had a clever idea as well, an idea not done by any other team against Chelsea. Dyche ordered his defenders to move like blocks as well, rather than sticking to the man-to-man style and his wingers moved dynamically, just like Chelsea's wingers.
Whenever Moses or Alonso tried to join the attack, they found two players blocking their path forward, and two blocking inward. Added to that, Dyche assigned Joey Barton to play long balls to the wingers, making Moses and Alonso work twice as hard. Thus, Chelsea's most effective threat, the wings, were unable to join to the attacking waves and without wing reinforcements. Costa, Pedro and Hazard trio were neutralized by Keane, Mee and Westwood in the center.
It seems like a simplistic plan, but with the right pitch conditions and a defensively strong team, almost every team has a chance to stop Chelsea, but first and foremost they must be as creative and clever as Burnley.
However, Tottenham did what they did against Manchester City and revealed how to defeat a strong opponent. But given Chelsea were clearly a better team than Manchester City, Antonio Conte's team did not freefall after their defeat against Tottenham. Nevertheless, now Burnley had shown that even though you cannot beat Chelsea, there may be a way to not lose to them, which could cause a lot of problems for Conte's side.
First of all, it is really interesting to see that even if it has been seven months since Euro 2016, coaches are still utilizing strategies that first appeared in the competition. There were three major strategies in Euro 2016; Domination, best represented by Spain and Germany, counter-pressing best displayed by France and Portugal and last but not least Italy's quasi-Catenaccio strategy with well-built blocks.
Chelsea, obviously, follows the path of Italy as their coach Conte was at the helm of Italy last summer. Even though the tournament was a decisive victory for counter-pressing, and most European teams opted for it after the summer, Premier League teams still could not find a way to stop Conte's weird counter-attacking strategy, at least until Chelsea visited White Hart Lane last month.
The reason why Conte's game was so unstoppable after their humiliating defeat against Arsenal last September was that Conte has become better at linking attack and defense. In Euro 2016, although Italy taught everyone how to defend, they were unable to produce enough opportunities, especially against counter-pressing teams.
Now, the connection between Diego Costa, Pedro Ledesma, Eden Hazard, Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso is quite complex and properly ordered. Rather than positioning them strictly to an area, Conte makes them move like a block, so that whenever one of them has the ball he knows that there is at least five other teammates attacking with him, and he knows where they are. This the best gift a coach can give to his players, making them able to play together with great precision, so that Chelsea are never caught off guard and they are always ready to launch a counter-attack.
However, Burnley coach Sean Dyche had a clever idea as well, an idea not done by any other team against Chelsea. Dyche ordered his defenders to move like blocks as well, rather than sticking to the man-to-man style and his wingers moved dynamically, just like Chelsea's wingers.
Whenever Moses or Alonso tried to join the attack, they found two players blocking their path forward, and two blocking inward. Added to that, Dyche assigned Joey Barton to play long balls to the wingers, making Moses and Alonso work twice as hard. Thus, Chelsea's most effective threat, the wings, were unable to join to the attacking waves and without wing reinforcements. Costa, Pedro and Hazard trio were neutralized by Keane, Mee and Westwood in the center.
It seems like a simplistic plan, but with the right pitch conditions and a defensively strong team, almost every team has a chance to stop Chelsea, but first and foremost they must be as creative and clever as Burnley.