Evening Chelsea fans,

 

Not here to spam or wind you up.. :) just thought you would be interested in an article that has analysed Juan Mata, Oscar and Eden Hazard ahead of the game against Southampton. For those interested in the Analytical side of things, there's plenty of stats, maps and tables to have a look through. 

 

http://sfcplayerstats.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/opposition-analysis-chelsea-the-three-musketeers/

 

For those heading down to the Coast this weekend have a safe trip, just don't go stealing the three points from us! ;) 

 

All the Best!

having seen it i am of the opinion that when they are running up blind alleys they tend to try the impossible and therefore lose possesion. if we have a player of alonso's abilty i believe we would keep the ball for much longer periods which would allow us to have more attacking options without losing possesion.

  very good

Good read, thanks!

That also emphasizes the fact our center forwards don't score too much. Those 3 tend to look for eachother. They are on the same wavelenght whereas the striker is a bit isolated or off beat.

Good read that. Bit concerned about this fixture. Southampton have had some good home results vs Man city and Liverpool. Out of curiosity how are you rating your new manager (not even going to attempt to spell his name) and what do you make of Adkins appointment at Reading?

Appreciate the comments, the role of the striker is an interesting one, with Ba drifting out wide opens up a lot of room in the middle for Mata, Hazard and Oscar to exploit due to the oppositions defenders getting more drawn to Ba. But by doing so isolates him out wide, with the crossing ability of the players you have you ideally want Ba in the middle. Southampton use the same method, the only difference is the fact Lambert has a deadly cross and we have players in support who are quite good in the air like Rodriguez and Ramirez.

 

Mata, Oscar and Hazard certainly look for each other on the pitch, the heatmap I used when Moses played was very interesting because Mata almost seem to cut him off and directed more of his play towards Hazard. 

 

I think we've done well at Home due to the fact the teams you've stated (City/Liverpool) came and attacked from the off, this plays into are game plan. Whereas, against QPR they just sat back waiting to counter, Saints didn't really have a plan to combat that. I can't see Chelsea sitting back, but you will notice are aggressive pressing, we never let teams have time on the ball, if you can up the tempo and get balls played in behind are midfield then you will destroy us as the defence is a little shaky. Pochettino has got us playing some superb football, I was devastated that Adkins was sacked but looking back on it, I think this could be a masterstroke by the Chairman. I wish Adkins well at Reading, but it's a strange one considering there isn't to much difference between McDermott and Adkins.