Chelsea look back to their best, Antonio Conte needs help from Tottenham
A lot has happened in the 12 months since Thomas Tuchel arrived at Chelsea.
Wednesday will mark one year since the German’s appointment as Blues boss and in that time the Stamford Bridge outfit have been crowned European champions, have broken their club transfer record, have risen to the top of the Premier League and fallen away again.
One win in seven Premier League fixtures has seen Chelsea drop dramatically off the pace at the top of the table, but the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur signified a turnaround.
Chelsea back to their best
At the very least, Chelsea looked more like the team that had many predicting they would edge Manchester City and Liverpool in the title race.
Chelsea weren’t perfect, but the hallmarks of Tuchel-ball were there again.
There was defensive organisation, control in and out of possession, pressure on the ball and most notably direct running and attacking output from two wide forwards who gave the Blues the sort of edge they have recently lacked.
If Chelsea can extrapolate this performance out over the remainder of the campaign, they could still be a force.
Back-fives ditched at the Bridge
Considering Conte and Tuchel’s propensity for a back five, it was unusual to see both Chelsea and Tottenham match up against each other in a back four.
It was Chelsea who made better use of the shape in the first half with Mason Mount exploiting space left between the Spurs defence and midfield - Hakim Ziyech found him in a dangerous position three times in the opening half-an-hour.
This prompted Conte to move Pierre-Emile Hjobjerg, who had been pressing high from midfield, on to Mount as a man-marker, although this saw Tottenham sink even deeper as a consequence.
With Matt Doherty and Ryan Sessegnon the wingers in a 4-4-2 formation, though, Spurs’ game plan was never intended to give them much control.
Instead, this was a typically reactive approach from Conte and his system very nearly helped Tottenham make the breakthrough when Harry Kane finished from a Sessegnon square pass following a quick break only for the England skipper to be punished for a push on Thiago Silva. Sometimes the execution was lacking, but Spurs’ plan was clear.
Blues exploit Spurs system
The problem for Tottenham in their 4-4-2 shape was that it left them vulnerable when Chelsea’s front three decided to run at them with Hakim Ziyech’s stunning strike just two minutes into the second half illustrative of this - Callum Hudson-Odoi created an overload on the right after breaking from the left and Ziyech used this space to get his shot away.
Injuries to Ben Chilwell and Reece James have raised the possibility that Chelsea might move for a new full back in the January window, but rather than waiting for additions in this position Tuchel made changes to ease his team’s reliance on their wing backs.
In this instance, crosses and key passes were provided by Hudson-Odoi (who made two key passes and completed three dribbles) and Ziyech (who created two chances and completed two of three attempted take-ons) who played the full 90 minutes.
Against opponents that look to control the ball in the centre of the pitch, Tuchel might discover the limitations of this system. With Matteo Kovacic and Mount pushed up to offer support to Romelu Lukaku, Jorginho was left with a lot of territory to patrol.
Even when N’Golo Kante was introduced for the final 17 minutes, it was a direct swap for Jorginho. Tuchel was wary not to disrupt a winning formula.
Conte needs a lot of help from Spurs
As for Conte, he has yet to settle on a formula that works for the group of players he has inherited.
Greater forward thrust is certainly required in the wide areas (Doherty and Sessegnon didn’t attempt a single dribble between them), which goes some way to explaining why Adama Traore has emerged as a priority target for Tottenham as we enter the final week of the January window.
Spurs’ double pivot of Hojbjerg and Harry Winks (who made just one key pass between them) also prevented the visitors from establishing a platform in the opposition half.
At Inter, Conte had Nicolo Barella and Christian Eriksen to get his team higher up the pitch. Tottenham don’t currently have that sort of midfield creator and it can make them one-dimensional on the ball.
There are now 11 points between the two London rivals in the Premier League table, but this still doesn’t quite depict the true gulf.
While Chelsea have had their troubles of late, Tuchel has the options to try something different. Conte, on the other hand, is making do with what he has and and what he has isn’t much.