Aston Villa has bled goals for fun this season, so Chelsea had a wise idea to attack them aggressively both on and off the ball - our PPDA was 7.9, which is nearly 3 passes more aggressive than our season average. That pressure worked well - as it flustered an already frazzled defense and kept us on the front foot, and Nico Jackson nearly nabbed a goal from their steadfast ‘play out from the back’ system. Sounds a bit familiar, doesn’t it?
As always, a high press with a responsible back line can leave space in midfield, which Enzo Maresca addressed more than adequately by inverting Moisés Caicedo from the right back position to quell any issues the press might have posed. And especially while the travelling side was already on a four game winless streak, smothering them and exposing their clear weaknesses was tactically brilliant from Maresca, especially against an astute manager such as Unai Emery.
Starting XIs
Soccerway
In preseason there was significant talk about whether Maresca would or could adapt his peremptory system to the Premier League. While there are still fundamentally rooted philosophies to his system, Maresca has very rarely gotten a tactical decision wrong. Gusto, Sanchez, Disasi, et al have all come under scrutiny for how they’ve been deployed, but, more often than not, that has been both immediately and properly addressed. Undoubtedly, his decision to put Caicedo as his inverted right back was another brilliant move with the absence of Reece James and with Gusto only just returning from illness.
To put into perspective, our record against the Villains has not been great. Morgan Rogers made the foolish mistake of taunting Cole Palmer prior to the match. Banter as it may have been, Palmer correctly and confidently claimed he would take home the MoTM award. That confidence and charisma, dare I say bravada, is something that has been missing in this squad for far too long. I don’t deny that there may still be growing pains as he claims, but there is definitive growth that is visible in our position in the table. We cannot resoundingly say that of prior managers prior, and the evidence of that would be that we haven’t beaten Villa since October 2022.
Passing Network
McLachBot
By bringing Caicedo into the pivot to release Enzo Fernández, Cole Palmer and Enzo were able to smother their pivot man-to-man and allowed Nico Jackson, Pedro Neto, and Jadon Sancho to press their back line, which meant that 80% of the game was spent either in their final third (37%) or the middle (43%). Because they rely on Emiliano Martínez to play much the same way we try to make Robert Sánchez play, their centrebacks are spread wide and fullbacks wider still. They are essentially trying to make triangles with the two pivot players, but with the marking system put in place nullifying them, they truly could not play out from the back and often just went straight back to the GK, who between them had 60 touches in the match, with only Pau Torres having more. This also meant that they tried to clear the ball often, but with only Ollie Watkins up top against our defensive trio, it rarely worked.
They sat deeper than they have been in recent matches, so playing through them rather than behind them was our only option. Taking it wide and then bringing it centrally was effective, especially with both Enzo and Palmer getting into and around the top of the box and scoring goals from there as a result. Their central presence also meant that our wingers were isolated against their fullbacks, which is a central part of Maresca’s offensive plan. But the key to the entire situation was having that early goal alleviate the pressure that would have been heightened by their condensed low block.
Counterpress from Cucurella and a great cross for Nico’s 8th of the season
For the sixth occasion this season alone, Nico Jackson opened the scoring - once again with a beautiful finish and more importantly demonstrating how a manager’s support and confidence can influence a player’s development. He has significantly improved his pressing and, with his frequency of dropping into the pocket to help the buildup play, we drastically overload the opposition centrally while progressing with the ball. His versatility should be praised and his scoring prowess should be, too. His goal was also created by our high press as they scrambled to try to get the ball forward.
We can and should have generally good feelings about this squad. Cole Palmer may often be getting marked out of a game, but he showed again what he is capable of doing both on and off the ball. Maresca has truly adapted from his dogmatic approach and shown that he is fully capable of leading this squad to great things, despite all the previous noise to the contrary. Onward and upward.
KTBFFH.
Enzo Fernández
Benoît Badiashile
Moisés Caicedo
Roméo Lavia
Đorđe Petrović
Robert Sánchez
João Félix