What to take away from Chelsea's preseason inconsistencies

When can we expect Chelsea to hit their stride?

Within three days, Chelsea put in a performance that showed the highs that Enzo Maresca’s system can produce and what can go wrong if it doesn’t go the right way. Despite the performances, there have been a number of examples of positives that Chelsea fans should believe could become the new norm.

Formation

Reece James

In the last few matches, we have seen a few different things. One positive that I have seen is moving Reece James to RCB. I thought James would be best suited to that position for several reasons. For instance, his passing range can still be executed at a high level; rather than crossing balls into the box, Chelsea will be operating by utilizing the half spaces to create opportunities. We have seen James use long diagonal balls to find open attacking midfielders and eights that can accelerate the build-up process.

Also, I think that in this position, Reece will be given the license to step up further in the attack and create crosses into the box from the top right corner of the box. This will, in turn, open up shooting angles for him to still utilize his skill.

Widening Out the Attacking Midfielders

When Enzo Maresca was brought in, we wondered how the top attacking eights might utilize the space in the build-up. Each attacking midfielder works with their group on their side of the field.

When the ball is played to the center back on that side of the field, the attacking midfielder pops out on the right side to connect the pass to the winger. It’s not so much that the pass is needed, but it pulls out the defender and provides a 1v1 opportunity for the winger against the fullback. We saw plenty of good opportunities from this for both Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke throughout the match. This could be a very positive tactic that we can see utilized. I get excited when I think about Cole Palmer in that right channel because that pass can be a perfectly weighted pass to the winger on the move or put a move on to create other options.

Players

Noni Madueke

Madueke has impressed me this preseason. Visualizing his growth is a bit of an interesting thing to comprehend. We know he has the dribbling technique and the technical ability, but for Madueke, it has always been the final product. He should easily be in the upper echelon of Chelsea's GA producers. We have started to see his chance creation spike a little bit in preseason, with two goals and an assist in the last few matches.

As we said before, this is a massive season for Madueke. Chelsea seriously considered bringing in Michael Olise and has Esteavo Willian and Kendry Paez on the way. I think that Maresca's system could benefit Madueke for some of the abovementioned reasons. Providing isolation and utilizing weighted through balls could benefit Madueke's output this year, consistently putting him in more advantageous situations to increase his output.

Mykhailo Mudryk

People will have their reactions about Mudryk so far in preseason; he has looked disconnected. However, once clicking on all cylinders, I think this system could be very beneficial for his skill set. Regardless, he needs to continue to work on his in-game IQ. He hasn't done anything particularly wrong in the preseason, but his decisiveness is problematic. He is caught between wanting to do it and considering if he should do it.

Romeo Lavia

I have been highly impressed with Romeo Lavia this preseason. His ability to control games in the midfield has been apparent since the beginning. Lavia looks very comfortable in this position, and he and Malo Gusto are a formidable partnership when inverting. Defensively, he looks astute, winning ground duels, and offensively, he has been the sole reason for a number of clear-cut chances by his passing range.

Raheem Sterling

Many people have thought that Sterling would be a benefactor of Maresca's appointment, and they have been correct in their thinking. Sterling has looked dynamic on the left-hand side so far in preseason, contributing a goal and a number of good opportunities. After the Manchester City match, Enzo Maresca said, "The position for Raheem is a winger, in the way he was in these games. I don't see him in another position. For sure, he is one of our important players."

As we saw in the Manchester City match, learning the intricacies of his tactics will not be easy to perfect right away, so I would assume that he would trust his more senior players, especially earlier in the season. This means that Sterling will be a big part of Chelsea's early starting XIs.

Levi Colwill

Colwill has not had the best start to his Chelsea senior career. Filled with injuries and being played out of position, his confidence has been hit. However, we saw him play in a position in the second half of the Man City match that suits him better. Colwill looked more comfortable playing in that central center-back role than on the left side. When watching him, he struggles a bit with lateral movement, and if he is the widest defender on that left-hand side, then he will be isolated against wingers frequently. I would expect that we see more of a back three of Tosin (RCB), Colwill (CCB), and Benoit Badiashile (LCB). I believe this will give the most comfort in the back line and will lead to more success.

What to Expect

I truthfully believe that this system will not only work in the long term but is also one that Chelsea directors have been tasked with implementing throughout the academy and in other Blue Co.-owned clubs currently and in the future. With the reorganization of the Academy leadership and the change in head coach at Strasbourg, this system will be used to provide a pipeline of talent who are well versed in it.

But when making critical changes to the overall footballing philosophy, there are going to be bumps along the way, and much like Pep Guardiola's installation of his philosophies at Manchester City, it took some trying times and a lot of external questions, this one could be bumpy at the beginning.

The only problem with this will be the pressure immediately put on Maresca from the fanbase and sporting directors. It has been briefed that a top-four is a must and that Chelsea must make long runs in their other competitions. So, while other clubs give managers time to implement their operations, Chelsea, not officially, has put a large goal on Enzo Maresca in their first season.

With all that being said, as Chelsea move through their last few friendlies before the season starts, we want to see more consistency and more strides in implementing the tactics that will make this team successful long term.

~ CFCDP (Dylan)