Chelsea v Man Utd: Tactical analysis of Jose Mourinho's return
Friday 21 October 2016 16:43, UK
Jose Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge for only the second time as an opposition manager when Chelsea host Manchester United on Super Sunday.
The Portuguese returns to the scene of some of his greatest triumphs in management, where he won three Premier League titles across two spells at the club.
However, just seven months after leading Chelsea to the league title in May 2015, Mourinho was sacked as manager with the Blues just one point above the relegation zone.
Mourinho triumphed the last time he stepped into the opposition dugout at the Bridge, knocking Chelsea out of the Champions League while in charge of Inter Milan in 2010.
Having got the better of Carlo Ancelotti back then, he is now tasked with doing the same against Antonio Conte.
Ahead of Jose's eagerly-anticipated return to Chelsea, Danny Higginbotham examines the key tactical themes...
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Kante the key for Chelsea?
DANNY SAYS: Conte's decision to revert to three at the back in recent weeks has been key to N'Golo Kante's increasing influence at Chelsea. Playing in front of two centre-backs as we saw earlier in the season, he wouldn't really get involved and that was something we didn't see much during his time at Leicester, where he got on the ball much more.
That's not a criticism, though. Chelsea are much more possession-based than Leicester are, so it's OK for him to sit back in midfield, deal with threats and aid in the transition from defence to attack quickly.
The problem that has stemmed from playing a 4-1-4-1 system was that Kante would drop in between the two centre-backs when they split. While he can protect the back four, playing virtually at centre-back at times is not his strength and he clearly wants to get further forward in midfield.
In recent games, however, Kante has been getting higher up the pitch as the three of Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta at the back has given him the confidence and insurance to do so. The change in the system is a huge benefit to both Kante and Chelsea as it means three defenders are defending instead of shoehorning Kante into one of those positions.
In Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho, Sunday sees two managers who, first and foremost, will want to be defensively strong but are both tactically astute.
Tactical change helping Costa?
DANNY SAYS: Conte's tactical change has had a big effect on Diego Costa too. He was so isolated in the previous formation, Chelsea struggled to get players to support him and his influence diminished. Now things are completely different, he has players who can play off him and vice versa, players that ease the pressure on him by occupying defenders.
Chelsea are reaping the rewards of playing three at the back because it gives licence for Willian and Eden Hazard to get forward and support Costa - with that insurance at the back, the whole team has shifted up field.
Earlier formation created big gaps between defenders and midfielders or between the midfield and Costa. The balances between the different lines on the pitch were a problem whereas now, with a back three, there is a nice balance between defence and attack.
Wing-backs a weakness?
DANNY SAYS: The wing-back positions could be an issue for Chelsea on Super Sunday. We expect Manchester United to attack down the wings at Stamford Bridge and they could exploit those positions if Conte opts for three at the back again.
What you find when playing with wing-backs is that opposition teams can create two versus ones if they're smart. For everything Victor Moses offers going forward, defence is not the strongest aspect of his game. He leaves a lot of space after committing to attacks and that's something United could look to target.
Antonio and Valencia and Juan Mata have forged a good partnership down the right for United when they've played together. Valencia is a willing runner while Mata's quality on the ball is for all to see, it remains to be seen whether they can hurt Chelsea out wide.
Tall trio to torment Chelsea?
DANNY SAYS: On first sight, Mourinho appears to set United up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but that frequently reverts to 4-1-4-1. In this system, full-backs push forward when the ball is on their flank in the support of the likes of Marcus Rashford and Ashley Young, who played out wide at Anfield.
That numerical advantage in crossing areas resulted in United flooding the penalty area with Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini and Zlatan Ibrahimovic - three of the biggest players in the Premier League. This occurred on Monday night but United were unable to make the most of those situations.
Regardless, this still presents a huge problem for Chelsea, who have to decide whether to send an extra defender out to the wide position to prevent the cross or keep a man inside to mark the United attacking trio. It will be interesting to see how they deal with the threat.
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