pcmacca

It looks like if FL does struggle and gets released it won't be an interim this time but possibly Tuchel or Allegri.

If you watch City or Liverpool, you will have always some idea of how they are going to play. Match to match I have no idea of how Chelsea are going to play so who is the tactical mastermind? Has he been isolating due to Covid the last few weeks/months?

I could not agree more. The best teams are hiring coaches who know how they want their team to play, with organised plans and tactics. These coaches then look for available players who could fit into those schemes, buy them then practice, practice and practice. It means that when players are out injured, their replacements can step in and the team performs in generally the same way. Depending on the opposition, they may play a little more conservatively at times but the progressive fast moving, forward passing football will still be in play. Unfortunately, I do not believe the Chelsea coaches (particularly the main person in training, Jody Morris) are skilled in this area. Instead Chelsea look to buy excellent individual players, and they do have some but there is no obvious playing structure to the team week in week out and instead we have a mishmash. For Chelsea to get a good result, the team need at least 3 or 4 of the very talented players (forwards) to play near their highest level. When they can't due to lack of confidence (Werner), tiredness, even playing in an unfamiliar position (Havertz), not getting regular outings (CHO) and picked for the wrong games (all Chelsea mainly did against City was to send in high crosses without Giroud playing) the rest of the team is not often good enough to get the goals the team needs to win as the defence is creaking against the better sides. This has certainly been shown in the last few weeks. When the crosses do come over there is often no more than two Chelsea players in the box. When other teams attack, they have many more racing in at pace. Does anyone really believe Kante, Mount, Kovacic or Jorginho are going to score more than the odd goal this season in free play? I have said this before, if Chelsea want to compete consistently at the top level, they need a coach who can combine all of the individual talents to work as a unit and that does not mean just trying to have more possession by passing sideways or backwards all the time. FL offers History and Enthusiasm, Jody Morris little else. I think back a couple of seasons ago to the match against Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup where Chelsea were unlucky to lose on penalties. That night their football was exciting and dynamic but whatever they do now in training, it has all been lost. Of course Chelsea will win a few games against lower positioned teams this season and occasionally may even look quite good when individuals play well but unless significant changes to the coaching setup are made, I fear the last few weeks are going to be the norm. If FL does get replaced, he will regret not looking for a better coach to work alongside him.

I think Mount is a decent player, has skill, enthusiasm and motivation. What he is lacking though is tactical knowlege and that unfortunately does not seem to be changing under the current coaching regime as he is obviously not improving. With the ball, he can create but without the ball, particularly when playing in midfield and having to defend he can be seen running around following the ball instead of marking his opponent closely enough (similar thoughts to CHO). He needs to add structure to his game so he doesn't just flit in and out of games as he is currently doing. Everyone is discussing FL but surely Jody Morris should be working to improve the players in training. Training needs to be more than just fitness, ball skills, shooting etc. The players should be practicising routines where they will always know where their team mates will be so passes can be made automtaically in both attack and defence. To become Henderson, he will need to improve significantly and there is currently no sign of that happening under the current coaching setup. I believe FL should bring in another assistant to create structure, playing patterns and playing styles if he really wants to move forward with this team. Otherwise I am afraid he will become another sad statistic in Chelsea' history. There is a lot of talent at the club that needs to be guided into playing as a unit rather than three groups (D, M & A) of talented individuals. History and Enthusiasm are not enough to manage a PL team.

The problem with the coaches at Chelsea (Frank and Jody) and even at United are that neither use automatisms for the tactics in training. Instead both teams rely on individual skill to defeat the opposition (United currently have the better scorers, certainly in midfield) and when you come up against a team tactically prepared in the modern way as City were yesterday you would have to have brilliant individual players on top of their form to win but when players do not even do the basics properly (Mount failing to track Gundogan for the first goal), you have no chance. The City players always knew exactly where their team mates should be and played the ball accordingly. This allowed them to be progressive, always moving the ball forward compared to the static and sideways movement of the Chelsea midfield and defence where they are having to look up to make a pass all of the time. Frank and Jody with their limited tactical training are coaches from the 1990's whilst Pep and Klopp are working in the modern era. History and Enthusiasm are no longer enough to be a coach in a top Premier League Team. Yesterday, Frank looked lost and that is because he is. Last year individual skills and youthful bravado brought enough results in a very average league to flatter his own performance.