Chelsea vs Tottenham: Two things Tuchel needs to improve on ahead of crunch London derby
Published: August 12, 2022
Chelsea are preparing to face Tottenham Hotspur in a promising Premier League clash on Sunday 14th August 2022. A London Derby is no easy game and players as well as fans will already feel the atmosphere changing as a fiesty match beckons.
Thomas Tuchel, the German manager who replaced club veteran Frank Lampard, was a welcome change for Chelsea fans after Lampard was fired.
Everyone connected with the club was in favour of switching from Frank Lampard's unsuccessful 4-3-3 configuration to the more defensively astute 3-4-2-1.
While this change has been the catalyst for a monumental Champions League triumph as well as Club World Cup and Super Cup, it is still regarded as a defensive approach and there are concerns about its use over the long term.
Chelsea faced Everton last weekend and came out with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Lampard's men.
However, as the London Derby beckons, allnigeriasoccer.com takes a look at two things Tuchel needs to improve on.
Central penetration
Premier League teams have started working out how to stop Chelsea from penetrating the lines and this has restricted Thomas Tuchel's men to only possessing the ball in less dangerous areas of the pitch.
This is partly because the 3-4-2-1 formation accommodates one extra defensive player which means one less attacking player.
Thus the task falls on the defenders especially the wingbacks to contribute to attacking productivity.
At a point last season, a very high percentage of Chelsea's goals were scored by defenders.
Against Everton, the signs were there again. Most of the attacks came down the flanks with very little penetration from the middle.
Antonio Conte is another strong user of three 3-centreback formation and knows exactly how to block the flanks from being penetrated.
The Italian has also been able to strengthen his backline with astute additions.
Thus, Tuchel would have to improve how his players penetrate centrally else, a stalemate is in the works.
Counter-press
No doubt that the blues were exposed to a series of counter-attacking situations against Everton.
Objectively, if the Toffees has their strike-force fit, they could have caused a lot of damage.
The counter-attack is one of Conte's most deadly weapons and facing the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung Min and Dejan Kulusevski is a far more scary situation than Anthony Gordon, Dele Alli and co.
Tuchel has to improve the intensity of the Blues' counter-press especially when they lose the ball in attacking zones of the pitch.
Sofoluwe Mayowa
Photo Credit : evertonfc.com
Copyright ANS
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from allnigeriasoccer.com
- Official: Promising Nigerian striker signs new deal with Burnley after leaving Stoke City
- Real Betis midfield overhaul: Leicester City ace Ndidi on the radar of La Liga club
- Stevenage join race for Crystal Palace striker who trained with Flying Eagles in 2023
- Super Eagles' saviour in friendly against Russia attracting interest from Fulham
- Super Eagles forward Chukwueze to hold showdown talks with Allegri over AC Milan future
- Chelsea, Galatasaray or Al-Hilal? Ex-Galatasaray TV reporter predicts Osimhen's next club
- Final day: Three Nigerians leave Arsenal after spending a combined 26 years at the club
- Iheanacho's future at Sevilla depends on ex-midfielder beaten by Nigeria in 1996 Olympics final
- Fact-check: Insider reveals the truth about reports linking Super Eagles midfielder to West Ham
- Onuachu's replacement: Southampton working on deal to sign USMNT striker


- African Players
- Australia/ Asia
- Belgian Championship
- Bundesliga
- Danish Football
- English Premier League
- Nigeria National Teams
- Casinos not on Gamstop
- Nigeria Premier League
- Norwegian Football
- Football Betting
- Polish Football
- Russian Championship
- Serie A
- Spanish Liga
- Swedish Championship
- Transfer
- Turkish Championship
- 1Win
- Ukrainian Football
- Uncategorized
- Women's Football
- SHBET
- keo nha cai
- F168
- F168
- okvip
- hi88
- hi88
- hi88
- hi88
- hi88