Lack of Vision and Creativity – Your Thoughts

This topic contains 21 replies, has 12 voices, and was last updated by chelsea1967 chelsea1967 2 years, 11 months ago.

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  • #1908190

    Chris451
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    • :

    Have been trying to analyse what has been going wrong lately and am interested in others opinions. I know some are saying the problem is about formations. Others are blaming certain players, but I don’t think that is the problem. I think it is a tactical problem that Frank needs to urgently address
    If we look closely at our play, from what I can see, we are lacking vision and creativity in midfield. For example, freeze frame when we have the ball at the back and look at our players ahead of the ball, particularly the midfielders ( Kovacic is a prime offender). You will notice that most, if not all the team are often heads facing back towards our own goal, in what is a ‘closed body position’. What this means is our players are often unable to visually see their options of playing a forward pass. Meaning when they get the ball, they tend to play a backward pass, or have to turn blindly to face the other way, risking getting ambushed in a dangerous area on the pitch. If they are able to turn, they then have to look up and around for a forward pass. This type of play makes our attacks slow and laboured. When there is a turnover of possession. That is is when the opposition are most vulnerable to attack, if you attack them quickly. We have the forward players that can be deadly on a quick attack, but tactically, by the way we are drilled to play, we are not utilising their best assets

    Usually our tactical play is the backwards pass from midfield to a fullback in the hope that we can work the ball forward on the wing for a hit and hope cross into the middle, and if Giroud is not on the pitch we don’t have anyone else capable of getting on the end of the cross.

    In many respects I am seeing us going back to how Sarri had us playing. Stuffing around with the ball in our own half, and not doing anything constructive with it.

    To get back to winning ways, we need to start creating more chances, and playing our players to their strengths, working more on playing the ball forward quickly before the opposition has the chance to re-group. This means our forwards need to start making runs into advanced positions as soon as we win the ball, and our midfielders need to be open to play to see those runs and play the forwards in quickly, as opposed to constantly be facing back towards our own goal.

    Like I said, Kovacic is a prime offender at doing this, and for one of our attacking midfielders, he also offers very little goal threat.

    Not sure how it has all come to this, but think it must have something to do with us having two good fullbacks and can only guess that a lot of work has gone on, on the training field on utilising the strength of our fullbacks, at the expense of alternative attacking play, and utilising the strength of the attackers that we have at our disposal.. Hate to say it, but look at the way Mourinho has utilised Son and Kane, and got them playing to their strengths. We have the players that can do similar damage, but the team are not drilled to play to their strengths

    What are your thoughts?

    #1908212
    Shedend
    Shedend
    Participant
    • :

    My thought is similar but I don’t think is the players, I think is the coach’s philosophy not working with current group of players.
    Read about Frank’s philosophy from his interviews, he wants his team to be unpredictable in play and for players to find solutions within games. He sets the team up and they finds solutions when faced with certain situations within play.
    Now such philosophy is fine if you’re coaching Real Madrid/ PSG/ Barca/ Juve and even the Chelsea team he played in because they are big personalities and they have the experience to do such. Now translate to current Chelsea team we are seriously lacking in that such personality in short we only have 1 in Thiago Silva and that’s why he can come into the side and immediately you can see he is commanding the group.
    Frankly speaking I don’t see us getting out of these situation because the manager have to change his philosophy.
    Chelsea current crop need a coach who will give the players specific instructions on what to do in play, runs to make if specific player has the ball , which space to occupy in and out of possession and drill it in that its almost automated on execution and when they are faced with situations in play he calls them to the side and explain it to them with solutions even if it means changing formations in game.
    These players are very young and need guidance which I don’t see from Frank. Watch the game you will see Frank standing and not doing anything but watch Pep/ Klopp/ Ancelloti/ Brendan Rogers even Arteta you will see him screaming from the side with instructions and calling the young players to the side with instructions. Only Ole at United is similar to Frank but United have leaders in Rashford/Bruno/ Pogba/ Maguire.

    In conclusion Frank simply need time which I believe will be best to either resign and travel the world to horn his coaching philosophy watching the coaches with similar philosophy closely and there training sessions and approach to problems or learn fast like last season when he was changing formations to fit certain teams there by confusing opponents because now the smart coaches have seen the flaws in his game and are exploiting it.

    #1908233

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
    • :

    “At the minute, we are in a tough period. The expectations after Leeds that we are title contenders was not real. I am real now in saying the club has to take pain for where we want to get to.

    “Any rebuild takes pain: pain on the pitch, pain behind the scenes and fight and character. That’s how you build.” Frank Lampard

    Here’s the thing fans think short term and they want immediate success seemingly Frank and Roman agreed a long term strategy most football fans don’t do long term it requires patience and traditionally football fans don’t have any patience they want immediate success whatever team they they want to get rid of new players just over 4 months into the season but are the first to moan about losing the likes of Salah and De Bruyne.

    The determining factor in all this is whether Roman still shares the same vision and whether he’s prepared to suffer the pain to rebuild a new young vibrant Chelsea
    team !

    #1908442

    Chris451
    Participant
    • :

    Shedend, Nicely put, and agree with what you say. I think if Frank doesn’t give some better guidance, he will soon be gone and replaced by that sort of coach that you mention, who knows how to drill the current group of players into playing effectively. A shame, but I can’t see any other outcome if we carry on like this. As many know, I am overseas, and have to often suffer staying up early hours watching us create nothing, with barely a shot on goal. It is pretty dire and disappointing. You don’t mind losing if you see the effort, but there is nothing there lately. It is bad enough with VAR ruining the game, and the number of teams at the top, who are using the technology to get points from winning soft penalties. Top that with not being able to watch your team live each week, at a regular time, each Saturday or Sunday night. For me, and I guess many others, who watch the game from overseas, the whole experience of watching the Premier league is getting ruined, by all these stupid kick off times.

    #1908444

    alanp
    Participant
    • :

    Excellent post from 451. I begin to think the answer, at least in part, could be Gilmore as he seems to accept the ball on the half turn and therefore can easily play it forward. He is going to be a regular soon I think.

    The other issue is confidence, it is easier to pass backwards as one of the back four are usually free, more difficult to find a teammate in advance positions.

    #1908445
    srilankanlion
    srilankanlion
    Participant
    • :

    Chris451 and Shedend totally agree with you both. Great posts.
    When we move the ball forward quickly we create chances.
    I too do think we do not have enough leaders on the pitch.

    Cheers

    #1908453
    Blueowner
    Blueowner
    Participant
    • :

    I also get frustrated every time I see them pass the ball backwards particularly when they in an advanced position meaning they have to start all over again and nearly every player is guilty of that. It’s almost as if they don’t have the confidence to try and create something going forward so instead of losing possession they rather feed it backwards or sideways. Remember Frank was a central midfielder so he may prefer those tactics instead of players running at the opposing defence particularly down the flanks but also through the middle. Add to that too much aimless passing instead of taking shots around the box areas. However the loss against City was very bad marking by our defence as I thought we were doing OK before they got their first goal. Anyway I suppose we all have much bigger problems right now than football.

    #1908492

    young_blue
    Participant
    • :

    I think what people are not realising is that Frank is a young manager who hang up his boots 4-5 years ago. And this is his third season in management. He is not experienced enough to hand tough period of pressure. and like our players his confidence may be affected by the longer run of poor results which I can hardly say has been the case. we haven’t won in our last three games, and its a full blown crisis to some, which shows how well we have done. so the problem is not the coach’s strategy.

    Yes, we need a creative midfielder like Bruno, who creates tones of chances from the middle. Ziyech is a very creative player. but most of the time he is out wide. so finding that kind of player who is in around the box and who can unlock the goals that Werner has in him.

    #1908511

    Chris451
    Participant
    • :

    AlanP yes, agree that Gilmore might be the answer soon, as he gains experience. After all, Gilmore admits that he bases his game on Fabregas. To be that sort of player you use your eyes and awareness on the pitch to pick out key forward playing passes. That sort of player is often deciding what they are going to do with the ball long before they get it. Personally, I think we got turned over again by Real Madrid with Kovacic, just like we did with Morata. Top European teams rarely get rid of their best players, and I think we were mugged again by Real. We have a massive problem in midfield at the moment. Like with most games, controlling the middle often means controlling the game

    #1908521

    Chris451
    Participant
    • :

    Blueowner, that is exactly it, we keep passing backwards. And you have to analyse and ask why? Like I have pointed out, if you freeze frame when we do it, you will often see that our players do it because they receive a forward pass whilst facing with their body towards our own goal. They feel the pressure arriving from the press and play the safe ball backwards. If they adjusted their body shape to a position where they can see more of the pitch, and in particular forward passing options when they receive the ball, they, they would have more options to play a dangerous forward pass to a running forward breaking the line, or be in a position to carry the ball forward. Like. Said before Sarri got us playing this way, andI don’t think it has been coached out of some of our players. Playing this way is dull and dire and we are capable of more. Frank himself used to play some lovely penetrating passes, and certainly never played that way himself

    #1908523
    Blaze
    Blaze
    Participant
    • :

    Lampard is not an experienced manager still very young for the role and that’s why he employs the same tactics game after game even if it’s clear they not working. He even selects unfit players purely because he trusts them more. I also find he takes way too long to make changes in a game that’s going sour. I really hope he can turn it around for him and the club. It would be a huge setback and embarressment for the club to sack their most successful player.

    #1908536

    Chris451
    Participant
    • :

    Young_blue not so sure it is to do with Frank being young. We were playing some great football a while back, but now we are hell-bent on getting the ball wide to our full backs for them to throw in a blind cross that no one ever looks like getting on the end of.
    That’s it really, with no other plan of attack. Good coaches have worked us out and can stop us with ease. Even Arteta worked that one out. Unfortunately, this problem is a two edged sword. In that in trying to attack down the wings with our fullbacks, we leave ourselves vulnerable to the counter attack, exposed in the middle, and in the areas vacated by our fullbacks

    #1908537

    Chris451
    Participant
    • :

    Blaze, agree, and hope Frank isn’t the man who ends up sowing the seed for another to come in and bear the fruit. Just have to look back at history to see how Ranieri put most of the pieces in place for Mourinho. Frank is passionate, hard working and intelligent enough to sort it all out, but he needs to act now, and we need a mighty effort from the players to back him

    #1908571
    NIBlue
    NIBlue
    Participant
    • :

    15/10/05. 0-1 down at the Bridge to Bolton after 4 minutes. Spent the next 41 minutes unable to break them down.

    Half time Del Horno off, 3 at the back, Eider on up front. After 58 minutes 3-1 up, Cole off Ferreira on back to 4 at the back, won the game 5-1.

    24/09/16 3-0 down at half time at the Emirates, 2nd half 3 at the back, still lost the game but did not concede any more goals. The coach identified the strength of his available personnel, by Christmas the pundits had the title handed to Chelsea.

    Two of the greatest bits of game management I have seen in all my time supporting Chelsea.

    I agree Frank is an intelligent guy, but I am not seeing it.

    He has a style of football he wants to play, as did Jose and Conte, but they recognised when it wasn’t working.

    Frank does not have the personnel to play out from the back, which many times literally is right from the back as by balls even go backwards. This is where we are losing the tempo and momentum in games.

    Teams then either press us (their) high up the pitch, stalling/preventing our attack or they sit back in a well disciplined formation their half cramming the 40 odd yards between the half way line and the 18 yard box stifling any creativity for our midfield or front players.

    As I have said many times I want Frank to succeed, but I see many traits in his behaviour similar to other managers that have tried and failed at the Bridge.

    He needs someone with experience on his staff, and he needs to admit to making mistakes and taking his share of the blame publicly to take the pressure of his squad.

    #1908581
    Wise-fan
    Wise-fan
    Participant
    • :

    It’s always very scary when you see the goals we have from midfield and wide areas compared to our competitors. and when you see our wide men doesn’t score enough goals, you will realise when we are unable to break down teams. In my opinion, our problems are deeper than getting one creative player as some here are suggesting. there should be a combination of factors to happen before we can move forward.

    This summer, we went out and bought players without any plan. we thought they are good players so why not take them. but we never looked if they will fit into our philosophy which is slow build-up and back pass to cbs. if our coach has no plan (which i doubt), then we are doomed to fail no matter whatever we do. All we need to have is a coach who knows what he is doing and sell some of the donkeys that can fetch some cash, and then go and buy a creative attacking central midfielder.

    #1908589
    aindro
    aindro
    Participant
    • :

    This is an excellent topic. While I agree with most of you that Lampard is inexperienced, so is Solskjaer, so is Arteta. So many young managers at the moment. It seems to me that the tactics Frank Lampard want Chelsea to play is not suitable with the players we have. We have Giroud who is strong in duels and headers and it’s not too often utilized. Too many passes. Werner who is quick and had a good goalscoring record: we play too slow so any of his movements have been read by defenders. Havertz and Mount who are good no:8 or no:10: FL’s 4-3-3 impedes these players. That’s point one from me: tactics & formation.

    Point two: very few goals and even shots from midfield. I am so often frustrated that noone tries to shoot. We’ve got to try, shoot from outside. Barkley had this skill. Mount too. But so rare that we try to shoot from outside the box; all we do is passing the ball around. Frank Lampard of all people knows the importance of shooting yet our current team rarely shoots.

    But what’s excellent this season is that I see goals coming from set-pieces, which was lacking for so many seasons. Especially after JT and Cahill left. Zouma & Thiago Silva are dangerous during corners, already scored some goals. I hope Lampard will find the balance for this very good squad (on paper we have a really good team!!)

    #1912862
    chelsea1967
    chelsea1967
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    #1922619
    chelsea1967
    chelsea1967
    Participant
    • :

    Interesting topic under Lampard. How does the same topic alter in one’s opinion now under Tuchel? Formation changed, a much bigger reliance on proven experience, many more points immediately BUT, the football?? I can’t say I’m on the edge of the seat waiting for the next serving just yet like one would do in a fine restaurant. A lot of possession, a lot of huffing and puffing, a lot of ball movement backwards and forwards from wing to wing back to the centre backs and the keeper. The ball finally reaches the outskirts of their penalty box then, intercepted by a defender clearance and we get the ball and start again. But yes, point accumulation has resumed like clockwork. Can someone please come up with something they are seeing that is a tad more riveting than I am seeing 🙂

    #1922880

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
    • :

    The Firmino assist today v Liverpool was brilliant I’m hoping Havertz can eventually provide similar.

    #1923136
    chelsea1967
    chelsea1967
    Participant
    • :

    Our players are more adept at dummying and the anticipated recipient is not there to receive it. That Firmino ;play was special.

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