CHELSEA had the result of their season earlier this week when they beat the Premier League leaders Liverpool 2-0 in the FA Cup fifth round.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds will lift the league trophy this year and deservedly so.
Lampard must recreate his tactical masterclass of the Liverpool win against Everton in the league
They have been fantastic to watch and also have a good shot at winning the Champions league as well.
This is why Frank Lampard’s tactical masterclass on Tuesday night was even more of an achievement for a team struggling with inconsistencies and injuries.
Lampard’s football ethos is similar to Klopp – press high, and play direct attacking football.
But, at times this season Chelsea have done this and have been left vulnerable at the back, often throwing away early leads.
A lot of this has come down to wasting chances to put the game to bed.
But against some of the better teams they have often been caught out with the pace of the counter attack and lost matches because of this.
On Tuesday Lampard’s in-game tactical switch-ups were what won him the match essentially.
His team were interchanging formations during the game upon Lampard’s instructions from the sidelines.
They started in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but often switched it to a 4-5-1 and even a 6-3-1 when heavily under attack.
Lampard chose when to switch up perfectly and Chelsea looked a real danger whenever they moved forward with the ball, quite often as a counter attacking unit.
This is something that Lampard has not done too much this season, but something that he should consider doing more often.
Chelsea’s wingers on Tuesday night essentially played as wing backs, allowing them to double up on Liverpool’s wide threats, but not sacrificing a midfield player to do this.
This kept that area compact and made it tough to play through.
The high press was often eased off to only the front players, and sometimes there was hardly any high press at all, allowing Liverpool to come into their half but remaining compact.
You could hear Lampard shouting “PRESS PRESS!” on occasions when he could see an opportunity, but also “SIT” when he wanted them to drop in a little. It was clever coaching.
It seems obvious to attack and defend in numbers, but it’s all about the timing of switching it up and how you are initially setup in the first place.
So often this season we have seen a vulnerable defensive setup and even some of the poorer teams making it look easy to play through Chelsea.
But on Tuesday night it was all about the wingers dropping deep and the No10 dropping back when under attack.
This is the kind of organisation and tactical play that Lampard needs to instil this season to get results.
Next season – when he has added more quality – then Chelsea could be a more complete attacking force and actually take our chances and not having to worry about the other end, like Liverpool have done successfully.
But until then, against teams with pace and intelligence in their attacking third, it would be wise to use this in-game switch up system.
And they can start by using it against Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton on Sunday.
We know they can be a real threat in attack, so it would be wise to use this more dynamic and adjustable system.
Youngster Billy Gilmour wins Man of the Match award for Chelsea against Liverpool in the FA Cup
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
