The ambiguity of this current Chelsea side – which likewise speaks for much of the club’s success over the past twenty years – is that the more off-field chaos that ensues, the better and more formidable they seem to become. Saturdays proficient victory against Chris Wilder’s spirited Middlesbrough side encapsulated the professionalism and tactical maturity Thomas Tuchel has installed in them amidst unprecedented circumstances. This tactical analysis will examine exactly how that happened.
Team notes and lineup
Chelsea’s hosts on a serene Saturday evening in North Yorkshire were certainly not there to merely make up the numbers – Middlesbrough had already knocked out Premier League titans in Manchester United and Tottenham in the two previous FA Cup rounds, and a festival pre-match atmosphere in the Riverside Stadium clearly suggested the home side fancied their chances of another upset. Wilder made no changes from Tuesday’s win away at Birmingham, deploying a disciplined 5-3-2 and hoping to replicate Chelsea’s curated wing-back system to stretch the visitors horizontally and battle them man-for-man.
Tuchel’s Chelsea in recent months have however demonstrated their ability to shake things up tactically, here deploying a 4-3-3 in possession and making five changes from Wednesday’s trip to Lille. Ruben Loftus-Cheek assumed a single pivot role in a three-man midfield that also subsumed Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount. Christian Pulisic and the returning Hakim Ziyech flanked Romelu Lukaku upfront.
Aggressive Boro block forces Chelsea wide
Chelsea began the match with the typical intention of building up play from the back, but Middlesbrough’s 5-3-2 high block provided lateral compactness in midfield, allowing few vertical passing options for Chelsea to progress with. This subsequently isolated Loftus-Cheek in the single pivot role, who was frequently overloaded and not a viable option to receive under pressure. Halfspace freedom between the lines for Mount and Kovacic was likewise difficult to come by.
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