Chelsea Film Room I - Dave, Branislav and the Defensive 5-4-1

In this post I will discuss Chelsea's defensive tactics and shape - the 5-4-1, and the impact which this has on the team.

The Basics

Most teams transition from a form of 4-4-2 in attack to a form of 5-4-1 in defence. Normally when teams pull an extra defender back into their defence it would be their central midfielder/ defensive midfielder. However in addition to this Chelsea primarily use a shape where they instead bring in a winger. This means that Ivanovic becomes a quasi centre back with Willian as right back.

This is (in my opinion) the main reason that Mourinho both starts Branislav Ivanovic at right back instead of Azpilicueta and likes a really hard working winger on the right hand side of the pitch.

Why do this?

Quite simply it makes Chelsea incredibly hard to break down through the middle, This formation sacrifices strength on the wings for strength through the middle, both in the hole where AM's like to operate (as you get 2 holding midfielders there) and against any teams who like to play for knock downs from a striker is good in the air.

Why do Chelsea do it and not other teams if it's so strong? - Well first and foremost Chelsea have a few things few other team has - This formation is all about the players you have on the "weak" side in this case Chelsea's left. I think that having in my opinion the best full back in world football allows Jose use this defensive style, Azpi is constantly left one-on-one and prevails a crazy amount of times.

Outside of the weak-side full-back the Wingers are key - in this case it's Hazard and Willian. And while you may be surprised to hear this I think that Hazard is actually the most valuable in this defence. In all honesty you could replace Willian with any hard working player in his position as long as they are disciplined. ( Looking at you Ramires vs West Ham - Proof on how important it is to prevent Ivanovic from being the actual full back against teams who like to get to the byline) Hazard however does something rather less obvious. If we had Willian/Schurrle etc. playing on the left wing the team's opposing right back would be willing to risk overlapping and going past the winger - like Ivanovic vs. weaker teams. Hazards attacking threat alone causes the RB to stay at home meaning Azpilicueta is rarely ganged up upon. Hazard is a key element in our defensive shape despite not being that strong defensively himself, he allows us to be solid without being overly defensive. There are very few players who carry such a threat as him - making him very hard to replace









In action:

Here we can see it in action (just about, sorry about the quality) - The two wingers are circled in red. Azpi is trusted with nearly half of the pitch in terms of space, even though there are only 10 mins left with a 2 goal lead - This lets Hazard stay in a far more advanced position for a counter with Costa. The three central midfield players in this case Zouma, Fab and Rami (I think) pack the centre leaving no space for floating midfielders or strikers. The three "centre backs" can clearly be seen in the black box.

Key notes

For me knowledge of this system explains some of Mourinho's personnel decisions, along with some of his unwillingness to rotate - It explains the choice of Ivanovic (As an original CB) and Azpilicueta over Luis and Azpi. Along with his choice in AM's such as De Brunye, Mata etc. It leaves Mourinho essentially having to pick Azpi, Ivan, Hazard, Willian, Oscar and Matic due to their defensive contributions. And he is rarely going to switch players such as Costa, The two CB's and Fabregas Dave is simply key, He isn't flashy but nobody does the basics better. He is a fantastic one on one defender and his anticipation is top notch, as he often jumps well out of position to break an attack up. You are giving yourself an advantage in all other areas of the pitch because you place more strain on this one player who you have to trust to stand up to the challenge - He allows you to play counter attacking football so much more effectively. Willian's game goes far beyond his attacking role. I would argue that his defensive contribution is more important than his attacking one - We saw Ramires play well going forward against West Ham but we looked shaky at the back, this is because he wasn't getting in to this role quick enough. This meant Ivanovic had to deal with West Ham's wingers who love getting to the byline and crossing Azpi loves to play centrally and then run out (I think due to his right footedness) This often makes it look like both full backs are tucked in, Azpi however is always responsible for his winger - Ivan not so much It is very important to note that Willian does get stuck too far upfield occasionally this is when Chelsea switch to dropping Matic in as the third CB, this however leaves space in front of the back line and is far from optimal. We are quite adept at switching between the two though considering the communication needed.

Side Notes