Analysing Mauricio Pochettino’s Tactics & Vision at Chelsea: Pre-Season
Mauricio Pochettino is the man tasked with Chelsea’s rebuild. Brave? Fortunate? Arguments can be made for both, under Todd Boehly even the likes of Thomas Tuchel weren’t given much of a backing. However, Boehly is an owner who is willing to invest heavily in transfers to boost the squad, spending over 600 million pounds last year and over 100 million in the current transfer window. Pochettino has been able to make a few signings in his own tenure, namely, Nicholas Jackson and the renewal of Levi Colwill seems to be as good as a new signing. He will need a few more windows to implant the personnel that he desires but in the likes of Mudryk, Nkunku, Sterling, Enzo Fernandez and co — the cast is ready for results.
High Press:
Pochettino’s style is synonymous with a high-pressing structure. With Chelsea, the opposition’s back-line is pressed by Chelsea’s four attackers (4–2–3–1). They will wait for a pressing trigger before picking a player up — however, the task is to not simply crowd the player that they are marking. If the player they are marking is in possession of the ball, the attackers are entrusted with effective shadow-marking, in which they must tilt their body position to limit the spare passing option. It can be analogised to a makeshift hybrid press*, but the fundamental goal is to ensure that the press isn’t broken by players that drop deep.
Against Brighton, the Argentinian manager stuck with his aggressive press (image below), something Brighton, in fact, wants the opposition to do as they are able to play through the press with spare players in vertical spaces — however, Chelsea were brave enough to have their midfielders within the double pivot follow spare players deep into the opposition half, while, at times that wasn’t necessary as the spare player was inaccessible due to effective shadow marking from the Chelsea front-line.
The image above shows three of Chelsea’s four attacking outlets pressing Brighton’s back-line and pivots, there is however a spare centre-back as the right midfielder is occupied with the right-back in the top right of the image. However, Nkunku’s body positioning and shadow-marking ensures that option is inaccessible. How does Brighton counter this? Rotations and constant movement — the goal is to always have an option to break the press. De Zerbi primarily prefers vertical passing options, in an attempt to break ‘through’ the press. The result is that Gallagher has to follow a Brighton midfielder deep into his own half — an aggressive option due to the gaps it leaves behind. Full-backs will also rotate between wide and compact positions based on the situation of the game. This ensures that Chilwell will have to man-mark one of the Brighton full-backs, and in this scenario, he is hyper-aware of the run from the midfielder and is trying to cut off that pass too. This isn’t a fool-proof solution in dealing with spare players and constant rotations, however, it is an organised way to make Brighton’s build-up phase as chaotic and rushed as possible.
If the press is broken, which is a strong possibility in the early weeks of Pochettino’s tenure as players adapt to the pace of the game, the necessary triggers and the positions they must take, then Chelsea are set up with a back three, at times a back four depending on the opposition system and if the full-back must be occupied higher up the pitch pressing a spare player. However, the Chelsea manager's goal is to retain control of the ball within the opposition's half, to suffocate their build-up and use a higher line, in the first few weeks, the back-line will be set up in a more cautious way than Pochettino ball in its prime.
The image below is a prime example of the inconsistency in pressing. There are two players converging on the same player (player on the ball), as such, one of them is rushing back to cover the other man, however, he is already covered. Nkunku should be a bit deeper and attempt to block the pass off to number 26, however, his position is too close and his body not tilted enough. The pass is made, the press is broken and Dortmund now have clear space to further their build-up.
Settled-Defence:
When the press is broken and the opposition is in their half of the pitch, Chelsea adopt a 4–2–3–1 out of possession (OOP). It consists of a double pivot, which will be Enzo and either Gallagher or Santos, their role is to occupy the central zones. The left mid and right mid are key defensive cogs within the system — they are compact to ensure there aren’t too many central spaces, however, their body positioning is vital to prevent passes out wide. When passes out wide do occur, their job is to go follow the passes and help out the full-backs who are quite compact. Chelsea’s back four is quite compact, as such, support is needed in wider areas where there is the threat of overlaps.
Rest Defence:
Rest Defence refers to the attacking team’s structure in possession that enables them to react and defend effectively when possession is lost. It is becoming an increasingly prominent and important mechanism of the game, especially in the Premier League as the pack grows closer (other than Manchester City) due to resources, scouting and innovative coaches.
Chelsea’s rest-defence consists of a loosely-held 2–3 shape, in which the double pivot will continue to occupy central zones, in a more progressive position. While the central defenders will man-mark any of the front-line attackers. Against Brighton, Welbeck and Gross were man-marked. Chelsea like to have one of their full-backs providing width, with the other moving into a makeshift back three, however, dependent on the situation, this role may interchange or both may choose to push up.
Build-Up:
The most pivotal idea to Chelsea’s build-up is short passing that plays around opposition defensive structures. During the cooling breaks in the Premier League Summer Series, the tactical instructions of managers could be heard. The Chelsea manager urged numerous times for the ball to be played short rather than long. It makes sense. With the amount of attacking flare and depth Chelsea has — to primarily utilise a target man and forego the first phase build-up would perhaps be a waste.
In the first phase*, Chelsea is able to resist a high press through constant movement and rotations. One of the full-backs will push forward and hug the touch-line, and the other one will become a bit more central and act as another passing option. The attacking full-back also becomes a more progressive passing option.
However, one of the most fascinating things about Chelsea’s first phase build-up is the rotation amongst their pivots. A great example was their first goal against Brighton — both Santos and Gallagher were being man-marked by Brighton’s players, so it became difficult to pass the ball to them and create a move. The way they responded to this was they both rotated their position and switched sides, this bought them a bit of time as Brighton’s players communicated on which player to take. In this small portion of time, slight space opened up in the central zone to which Chukwuemeka came deep as a spare man. From there, Maatsen rotated to the centre to take up the role Chukwuemeka left, while Chukwuemeka surged into the left-half space as a give-and-go play. This is the blue-print behind succeeding with short-passing. He wants to be a very fluid and dynamic attacking system, where roaming is enabled, as long as there is a certain player within the required zone.
Nicholas Jackson:
Nicholas Jackson has been splendid in pre-season. His combinations with the likes of Nkunku have been exhilarating. His attacking profile under Pochettino is quite nuanced — at times he will act like the target man. But his most effective plays come when his back is towards the goal and comes a bit deeper in the build-up, holds the ball and is involved in give-and-go passes with the rest of the rotating attackers. His progressive carries rank in the 90th percentile, while successful take-ons are in the 81st percentile — he is clearly not a poacher but rather an active cog in a flourishing front line.
Christopher Nkunku:
Pochettino was heard instructing Nkunku in the Newcastle friendly that he wants his role to be more of a progressive, build-up midfielder rather than a second striker. It should end all discussion regarding Nkunku as a striking outlet, he will play in the 3-man-attacking midfield line, usually occupying the central or left position, but will constantly rotate between both spaces and at times take the central position when Jackson rotates deep. However, he must be involved. The manager clearly feels it is a waste of his creative flare to have Nkunku primarily occupied with goal-scoring in central zones. Nkunku was involved in 55% of Leipzig’s expected goals last season. Perhaps, he believes it is a waste to not use Nkunku’s nifty dribbling, and speed as a way to drive the short, give-and-go passing system that Chelsea thrives off.
Issues:
The goal Chelsea conceded against Newcastle in pre-season is a vivid example of how raw they are as a team under this new system. They certainly have the talents to make the system work, but relentless consistency may not be possible in the first half of the season. Chelsea has a compact back four in settled defence, meaning there is plenty of width — the former Spurs and PSG manager wants his left and right mid to help out in dealing with the width provided. However, they have quite attacking profiles in those positions, with the likes of Mudryk and Nkunku not always active in tracking back. As such, oppositions nullify the presence of Chelsea’s double-pivot by concentrating their build-up wider and as the full-back reacts and steps up to cover the wider space, having a runner in behind the full-back leading to a goal-scoring opportunity. The key seems to be playing with pace and catching Chelsea before the attacking midfielders are able to settle.
Pochettino is a master ideator. His systems are often dynamic and adapt to the opposition. What can instantly be noted through his pre-season framework is that Chelsea has become more fluid and organised, a stark contrast to last season. Fitness levels have improved and the trajectory is a positive one. Pre-season should only be used as a gauge of systemic ideas and issues, Chelsea’s level of play will be better clarified in their opening fixture against Liverpool.
*Hybrid-Press: Constant flux between a zonal approach and a man-oriented approach. Inter Milan 2022/23!
*First-Phase: Possession in the first third of the pitch, the beginning of the build-up phase.
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