FAWSL 2021/2022: Chelsea’s 3-4-3 and their effective attacking plans vs Everton’s defensive and playmaking issues – tactical analysis

After losing 3-2 against Arsenal, Chelsea Women were able to bounce back by beating Everton Women with a 4-0 win at Kingsmeadow in their second FAWSL fixture. Brighton, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham all share the lead at the top of the standings, and teams like Chelsea and Manchester City will have to be more consistent in terms of results and avoid giving away points if they want to challenge seriously for the title.

In this tactical analysis article, the focus will be on identifying Everton’s issues that led to their second consecutive heavy loss following the similar 4-0 defeat against Manchester City in the first fixture while suggesting tactical ideas for the adequate use of their new players to get the best of their abilities. Then, the analysis will also include Chelsea goals, attacking performance and the extent of efficiency of their 3-4-3 formation.

Line-ups

Chelsea started the game using the 3-4-3 formation with Ann-Katrin Berger as a goalkeeper, Millie Bright, Jessica Carter and Magdalena Eriksson in defence, Erin Cuthbert, Sophie Ingle, Ji So-yun and Guro Reiten in midfield while the front three are Pernille Harder on the left wing, Fran Kirby as a right-winger and Sam Kerr as a striker.

Everton lined-up according to the 5-3-2 formation with Alexandra Elena MacIver as a goalkeeper, Nicoline Sørensen and Danielle Turner as full-backs, Nathalie Björn, Megan Finnigan and Gabrielle George in defence, Hanna Bennison, Izzy Christiansen, Aurora Galli and Claire Emslie in midfield and Anna Anvegård as the team’s striker.

Chelsea’s 3-4-3 and their attacking performance

Chelsea started the match in the best possible way by pressing high on Everton’s players and attacking the final third continuously either by crossing from the wings or trying to penetrate thanks to the efforts of one of Kirby, Harder and Cuthbert. In fact, Chelsea did their best to intercept the ball at the start of Everton’s build-up phase before they even reach midfield.

This happened numerous times in the match, and it helped Chelsea a lot in playing without too much defensive efforts or off-the-ball runs. At the same time, Chelsea’s back-three were usually quick in passing the ball to midfield players to avoid Everton’s pressing attempts and oblige them to be always at their own half. This made Everton’s players tired from defending against the consecutive attacks as Chelsea didn’t allow them to attack so often. However, this didn’t continue and Chelsea’s passing in Everton’s half was not as accurate as at the first minutes of the game.

Chelsea faced some difficulties in the first-half due to their inability to threaten Everton’s goal as they looked a bit in a hurry when attacking and lacked concentration. But as the time went on, Chelsea were able to get their first goal thanks to a great effort from Kirby who got away from her marker with one touch and then shot the ball towards the far post. What was remarkable in this action though is Chelsea’s quick passing in midfield until reaching the penalty box, something that wasn’t executed accurately in the previous attacking actions of this match.