deVos: Fullbacks the key to breaking Chelsea's press

Jason deVos

TSN Soccer Analyst

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Chelsea sit comfortably atop the Barclays Premier League table heading into the international break, as Jose Mourinho’s men continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.

One of the core attributes of Chelsea under Mourinho is their defensive strength and organization; they had the best defensive record in the Premier League last season, and they are odds-on favourites to have it again this year. However, Liverpool’s goal on Saturday highlighted a potential weakness that other teams can look to exploit.

A high press employed by a team such as Chelsea often forces their opponent to be cautious when playing out of the back; such is their fear of conceding possession and giving up a clear scoring chance. But from the outset on Saturday, Liverpool elected for a much more brazen approach against the league leaders. This approach paid off handsomely in the 9th minute when Liverpool opened the scoring.

Liverpool’s two fullbacks, Glen Johnson and Alberto Moreno, pushed up to the halfway line with Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet in possession of the ball. Liverpool’s two central defenders, Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren, split to the corners of the penalty area, with Stephen Gerrard dropping deep from midfield to form a triangle from which Liverpool could play.

Lovren eventually worked the ball into Gerrard to break the pressure from Diego Costa and Oscar, who had pushed forward to occupy the two central defenders. Gerrard took a touch and then played an inch-perfect pass into the path of Jordan Henderson, breaking the pressure from Chelsea midfielder, Cesc Fabregas.

Liverpool deserve credit for being bold enough to play four against four in their own half against Chelsea; a turnover in this situation would lead to a clear scoring chance for Chelsea, with Eden Hazard, Costa, Fabregas and Oscar all applying pressure. On the halfway line, the advanced positioning of Liverpool’s Johnson and Moreno would force Chelsea to make some difficult decisions.

With Moreno pushed up all the way down the left flank, it was down to Chelsea’s Ramires to either track the run of Liverpool’s left fullback or pass him on to his own right fullback, Branislav Ivanovic. Unfortunately for Chelsea, Ramires did neither.

Moreno got in behind Ramires, which was the cue for Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling to drop inside into midfield. Sterling knew that his fullback had the beating of Ramires and would occupy Ivanovic, meaning the winger could drift inside unchecked to provide an option for Henderson, who was now in possession of the ball on the left flank. 

Moreno is actually the furthest Liverpool player forward – so much so, that he isn’t even visible in the picture, below, after Sterling turns with the ball:

This is where one can see the cumulative effect of Liverpool being bold with their fullbacks. Neither Johnson on the right, nor Moreno on the left, have touched the ball to this point, but their willingness to get forward was instrumental in pulling apart Chelsea’s otherwise disciplined midfield. Ramires shoulders the largest blame in this situation, as he neither tracked Moreno’s run nor pushed into midfield to contain Sterling. As a result, when Sterling received the ball from Henderson, he had freedom to turn with the ball and drive at the heart of Chelsea’s defence.

With Fabregas out of the game after being bypassed by Henderson, Nemanja Matic was left on his own to cover in front of Chelsea’s back four. Matic stood no chance up against Sterling, who had the options of either Mario Balotelli in front of him or Emre Can to his right. Can, in particular, had acres of space to exploit, largely due to Hazard’s failure to recover his shape and take up a defensive position for Chelsea.

Liverpool succeeded in breaking Chelsea’s press and freeing up Can to shoot from 25 yards. Granted, the only reason the ball found the back of the net was because of a wicked deflection off of Chelsea’s Gary Cahill - Thibault Courtois would have likely saved Can’s effort had it not come off the Chelsea defender - but that is beside the point. Liverpool got the reward that their bold approach merited.

Liverpool also showed that even the best midfield duo in the Premier League this season – Matic and Fabregas – can be pulled apart by clever movement. What is most thought provoking is that the movement that caused Chelsea so many problems came from players who had no involvement with the ball.

Take note of the final positions of both Moreno and Johnson, Liverpool’s two fullbacks. Both are in the attacking third, almost in line with their Chelsea counterparts. Neither touched the ball from the time it left Mignolet’s boot to the time it nestled into the back of Courtois’ goal, yet a strong case can be made that the goal would never have occurred if not for their movements.

The goal was yet another example of how the modern game – specifically the role of fullbacks – continues to evolve.