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Chelsea Fan View: Antonio Conte's tactical nous is being restricted by Champions League congestion
By David Chidgey
It felt like Chelsea’s win against Watford on Saturday was huge when set against the context of the last few weeks’ disappointing results.
Having played well and with an intensity missing in recent games, the Blues had led 1-0 through a superb Pedro shot that curled in to the top corner.
But Chelsea lost their way, again, which prompted Antonio Conte to make changes to wrestle the match away from an ascendant Watford.
Surprisingly it was Michy Batshuayi who was the unlikely hero, scoring a good headed goal to make it 2-2 before ensuring victory with a goal in the dying minutes to make it 4-2. Perhaps Conte had got out of jail.
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He had looked somewhat worried and perhaps subdued at 2-1 down with the team struggling to come to grips with a determined Watford side, full of belief. Whilst Chelsea grabbed the three points and Conte a little respite, the subtext of the match should not be glossed over.
Before Batshuayi headed in the equaliser, we should really have been 4-1 down with no way back.
Yet again, it was down the flanks where we proved vulnerable.
There has been a growing feeling over the last few weeks that perhaps the real reason for Chelsea’s decline in form, over and above key absences such as N’Golo Kante, is that the opposition has tactically worked them out.
With Kante in situ next to Tiemoue Bakayoko it should be difficult for teams to play through Chelsea. Furthermore our wing-backs, Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses, are tasked to carry the attack to the opposition and put the team on the front foot.
However, it seems that the strength of last season has been turned in to a weakness this season. Teams are attacking us at pace down the flanks and are often finding space behind the wing-backs, leaving our back three vulnerable and unable to cover.
The amount of space enjoyed by Roma down the flanks last week and Watford on Saturday would seem to prove this theory.
Watford players on Saturday had acres of space to run in to with Chelsea defenders AWOL. They could and should have scored more than the two goals they did. Such are the fine margins in football and on Saturday, we had Richarlison’s profligacy to thank for not suffering a third consecutive Premier League defeat which may have had serious repercussions for Conte.
Thankfully, the manager made significant changes by bringing on Batshuayi and Willian who both had a big hand in the three goals Chelsea scored to turn the match round from being 2-1 down.
In addition to this, the team showed a collective belief and fight to get something from the game which belies the rumours festering last week that all was not well behind the scenes. On this evidence the team is playing for the manager.
But, if teams have worked us out, perhaps Conte needs to address this tactically. Given that he has a limited number of players, adequate like for like replacements positionally would seem unlikely. Maybe a change to a back four or playing two up front or other changes in formation may be considered.
Whatever he does he needs to address the apparent defensive weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and soon.
The good news is that Conte is a proven master tactician, evidenced by last year’s seismic change in formation that led to Chelsea winning the title. On Saturday, personnel and tactical changes also helped to claw back the result although it should be added that Watford taking off Troy Deeney for a midfielder somewhat played in to our hands.
The hope is that the Conte of his Juventus days will re-emerge. According to avid Serie A pundits and watchers, no-one knew what to expect in terms of formations before a Juventus match, such was Conte’s proclivity to change it match by match.
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If we are to build on the success of last season it would appear that a tactical change may be as good as a rest. However, there is a key difference between this season and last; something which seems very apparent watching Chelsea at the moment and it has little to do with the supposed fatigue.
Last season Conte both needed and had a whole week to work on the team tactics for the match ahead and inculcate the players with the necessary detail of his meticulous match preparation. This season, with midweek European competition and the pre-requisite recovery time, he is lucky to get two days to prepare the team tactically for the next match.
If Conte does not have the time to prepare the players for the tactical flexibility required, then the irony is that he may well end up being a victim of his own success in putting the team in to a position where they are now playing in both domestic and European competition this season.
How Conte manages to balance these conflicting demands may well hold the key to Chelsea’s success this season.
David Chidgey presents the award winning Chelsea FanCast podcast which can be heard live every Monday at 19.00 at mixlr.com/chelsea-fancast/ or downloaded from Acast, ITunes, Soundcloud or chelseafancast.com @ChelseaFanCast
