Behaviours in pressing
Attacking Transitions
In transition, Mata is used as the main reference point of attack. The ball will be played to him early, where he has amazing vision and ability to find runners. The two wingers (Hazard and Oscar) in transition have a lot of pace. They will look to get around the outside of fullbacks to get the diagonal pass in between the centre back and fullback. Also be aware of Ramires’ mobility in transitions, with runs through the middle of the pitch, especially in transition from a corner. Ivanovic also makes good runs to get into the box from defensive corners. Ba/Torres will look for an initial ball into depth, or will look to get into the box to finish off counter attack. Lampard is also a threat with well timed runs in the box or joining the box. If there is an option to quickly go direct into depth, they will with a quick ball over the top.
[quote]Stat: Eden Hazard is the 6th most fouled player in the league this season, having being fouled 45 times. This, in general, shows that he needs to be watch with 1-on-1s in attacking transitions, as he can easily draw fouls which result in dangerous free kicks and cards being shown.[/quote]
Defensive Transitions
Chelsea use quick, aggressive pressing from the front line while the rest of the team regain their position. They are very fragile if the ball gets past the initial line of pressure.Often the only midfielder to get back quickly is Ramires. Mostly one fullback will be deeper than the other to give more numerical numbers to balance the team, but often both fullbacks can be caught too high up the field or Azpilicueta can’t recover quickly enough. In this case, Ramires will look to cover, but there will be only 3/4 players back to balance the team.  There is space to exploit in between lines and behind both fullbacks in transition and also ways of moving the centre backs out and exploiting the space that they have left. Both wide players are not determined to recover position, leaving both sides of the field exposed too. If they can pressure the opposition long enough to recover positions, the front line will drop to the halfway line to wait for a trigger to resume pressing again.
[quote]Stat: David Luiz has got 5 yellow cards this season and is very aggressive in the tackling and pressing when the team is in defensive transitions, so be aware that you could target him in transition if he has a card. Luiz especially is prone to mistakes.[/quote]
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