Tuesday 16 August 2016

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN CHELSEA VS WEST HAM .

yesterday west ham played chelsea at the stamford bridge . this was conte's first game as the chelsea boss . chelsea started the game with a 4-3-3 formation instead of the 3-5-2 formation which had been conte's favourite when he was at juventus as well as with the italian national team at the euro's . the team selection did showed as to what conte expects from his team . he like his players to mobile and do their job which is why he saw hazard coming back and doing his duties on defense which he was reluctant to do when he was playing under jose mouriniho . they are moving the ball better and atleast he wants his midfielders to be very mobile who should be able to move up and down the pitch . the selection of oscar and kante does shows that . while west ham started the game with 4-2-1-3 formation .
the game started on a very positive note for west ham and it looked like as if that similar things are going to happen with chelsea as what they had been happening last year . both terry and cahill dont like to leave their position and are more happy to let the player come onto him than chasing around . both terry and cahill were holding there position and going on with carroll . it may be because they didnt want to let their fullbacks exposed in a one on one situation with valencia and ayew who were playing along side carrol . the reason why west ham were having some possession was because kouyate was dropping into the midfield and help noble and Nordtveit move the ball upfield or move it around . but this lasted for only ten minutes because after that chelsea took control of the game and there are reasons for that . first off kouyate was moved from his deeper position to high up on the pitch to support the front three and so chelsea had numbers in the middle of the park who could press west ham midfielders and that resulted in loss of possession but there is also a reason for that . both Nordtveit and noble are not that mobile midfielders compared to oscar and matic so it is very important to not overstay on the ball and pass it quickly when  you have it . the midfielders job is very important and he is one who controls the tempo of the game and he is one who creates different angles on offense and his comfort on the ball is very important for the team . noble and Nordtveit are not that mobile so it was their duty to get the ball moving quickly and get their head up quickly when they are receiving the ball and pass it quick . it was also the duty of the front players to make themselves available for the pass but the trouble was that Nordtveit and noble's incapabality on the ball cost westham . it wasnt that they were very highly pressed but them overstaying on the ball allowed the opposition to come and close them up and loose possession even the passes he made were not accurate . west ham were relying  mostly to go through carrol but there are short coming in his game which i will talk below .
chelsea are playing the way conte wants press high up the pitch but as soon as the ball come into your half of the pitch sit deep get numbers behind the ball and deny space to the oppostion to move the ball . conte's team play on the counter's and this ones no different but the thing here is that they move the ball much better the tempo is kept high by the team but again the offense is much dependent on players to create things rather than team working . chelsea tried to get the ball to the ball to either of the front three . conte is very good at tactics and on offense he knew that costa will always have an upperhand against collins on the floor so he was encouraged to take collins in a one on one battle all game long . collins was always circumspect as to whether he should come along with costa or should he stay along side reid . he was afraid to close costa because he knew costa could turn on him and would have a free space at the back to run on goal . the west ham midfielders too were ineffective in that sense who couldnt narrow the space in front of the back four and try to cover the back four the way kante did for chelsea . kante was superb in his debut even though he had a yellow card in the very begining but his game reading and his ability to keep the game simple is very applaudible . the other player is oscar who's hard work goes unnoticed because its his hard work and his running which pays off in chelsea closing and retaining the possession . he was also good on offense .
even though chelsea had a good game they still lacked the incisive pentration . if you looked at the chelsea's shot on goal then you would see them from quite a distance from the goal . this had been the problem for conte's team they lack that incision which he needs to create . secondly hazard was trying to take players 40 -50 yards from the goal and trying to out dribble from there . yes conte has provided him the freedom to go for one on one's but he should be selective and make good decision as to in which zones and against whom should he try to go on one and from what part of the pitch . i think conte will make him understand that .
carrol wants to have a england team recall but these english players are hopeless with ball on the feet . they cannot pass and are hopeless on it . i think it will be better if he looks into his ground game . 

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