Today, "The Times" wrote an article about the focus of Chelsea's 1-0 away victory over Tottenham in this round of the Premier League, and how Chelsea stifled Tottenham's offense in this game.
"The Times" wrote: After the final whistle sounded at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Chelsea players celebrated their victory on the field, and the warm embrace between Cueva and Robert Sanchez was particularly eye-catching. Cueva is Chelsea's set-piece coach and he was obviously very pleased with goalkeeper Alexis Sanchez's performance in the 1-0 victory.
Statistically speaking, Sanchez had a relatively quiet night. Tottenham had only one shot on target in the game, and they seemed unable to create threats. Thomas Frank's side finished the game with an expected goals ratio of just 0.05, Spurs' lowest in a single Premier League game since Opta started keeping track of the data in 2012. Nonetheless, Sanchez remains key to Chelsea's solid defense, particularly in neutralizing Spurs' set-piece threats. It was one of the most convincing performances of his Chelsea career as he caught every aerial ball in the box, making five successful catches, his most in the league this season.
In previous games, Chelsea's defense looked very fragile when facing their opponents' set kicks. Prior to this weekend, Maresca's side had conceded numerous goals from set-pieces, with Chelsea's opponents having an expected goals-against rate of 6.1 (the most in the Premier League) from set-pieces during this period, as well as 39 shots on goal (fifth-most in the Premier League). But beyond that, Chelsea have a specific concern: long throw-ins.
In the past week, Wolves and Sunderland both threw the ball directly into the Chelsea penalty area through throw-ins and scored goals. Maresca said his team had been working on how to deal with the situation but had not seen results until this weekend.
Tottenham scored twice through set pieces against Everton last week, and they are preparing to test Chelsea with long-range throw-in specialist Kevin Danso. However, they encountered a new defense. When Danso prepared to throw in the first throw-in in the 30th minute, Chelsea sent three players - Ganaccio, Joao Pedro and Gusteau - out of their own penalty area and ran to the halfway line. As a result, three Spurs players had to follow them.
Although the timing was slightly off, Chelsea originally intended to perform this action when Danso threw the ball, but due to the referee's intervention, Danso's throw was delayed. Although the suddenness is lost, the effect is still significant. Sanchez was short of six Tottenham players in the penalty area, so he easily caught the ball and quickly launched a counterattack, creating a four-on-four situation.
Chelsea used the same tactic again in the second half and did not stop until Danso was replaced. Their pattern throughout the game was set: Sanchez had plenty of space to deal with set-piece crosses, and he did so with ease.
Tottenham can do nothing about this. After losing this offensive method, their attention turned to their ball control performance, and the results were also unsatisfactory. Harvey Simmons, who came on as a substitute in the 7th minute, performed mediocrely. When he was replaced, Tottenham's offensive organization completely stalled. Although Tottenham tried their best to chase points in the second half, they only had one shot on goal. There was no obvious offensive routine throughout the game.
Only four teams have a lower expected goals against Tottenham (6.6) in open play this season - Aston Villa (5.8), Burnley (4.5), West Ham United (4.4) and Sunderland (4.2), which is a worrying statistic. Fans' dissatisfaction came to a head at the end and Frank must be wary of the negative reaction to a poor record during Nuno Santo's brief spell in charge four years ago. However, Tottenham still have 17 points and are still ranked fourth in the Premier League.
Chelsea also suppressed Tottenham through a high press. Caicedo played a key role in this regard. His pressure helped Joao Pedro score the only goal of the game. Chelsea completed 14 high tackles in this game, their most in the league this season and second only to Manchester United's 15 in their win over Brighton in October.
This victory is good news for Chelsea who hope to improve their away performance. Their challenge is to maintain stability in all competitions. They are a team capable of performing well in the big games but prone to mediocrity when the pressure is off, as they did against Sunderland last week and at Wolves on Thursday. Tottenham need to re-examine their tactical arrangements.
source:2vn 7m