This is how Chelsea has changed: from Tuchel’s full-throttle football to Lampard’s school for the rich

In the middle, the insurgent elimination at the Bernabéu with a goal from Karim Benzema. A point of coincidence between so much change in London: the Chelsea that kicked out Real Madrid on May 4, 2021 had experienced a change on the bench. Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard in January, who has returned as a solution until the end of a season that still began with the German in the control room. Of what happens after June, with names like Luis Enrique citedwill depend on the destination in the Champions League.

Eight starters still at Chelsea

The now Bayern coach managed, in a matter of months, impose your style. He led Chelsea, against Guardiola’s City, to their second Champions League. Up to eight starters at the Estadio do Dragao remain in the club’s structure (Mendy, James, Azpilicueta, Thiago, Chilwell, Kanté, Havertz and Mount), although in some cases with a different role.

For example, Kai Havertz, author of the goal in that final, is the man who has accumulated the most minutes this season (2,800), even above Kepa Arrizabalaga, the Spanish goalkeeper who has regained ownership to the detriment of Mendy. His change of role coincided with the departure of Tuchel, who always preferred the Senegalese.

However, while Havertz was in 2021 a player looking to connect the ball playing between the lines, this campaign has had to assume the role of ‘9’ without being it. This is one of Chelsea’s great shortcomings, which failed to build its lead around Romelu Lukaku, on loan to Inter. Disciplinary reasons also did not allow the continuity of Aubameyang and the starting striker in 2021, Timo Werner, returned to RB Leipzig in the summer.

What was Tuchel’s Chelsea like?

Other pieces that came out of the team that eliminated Real Madrid are Christensen (FC Barcelona), Ruediger (Real Madrid), Jorginho (Arsenal) o Kurt Zouma (Westham). To this we must add that strongholds of that season such as N’Golo Kanté – The Best Of N’Golo Kanté, Thiago Silva, Mason Mant o Christian Pulisic they are injured or injured.

But the differences between Tuchel’s Chelsea and the one Lampard has inherited go far beyond names. The German was quick to replicate and adapt the style of football at full throttle that he had implemented in Dortmund first and then at Chelsea. heir to gegenpressing which is a school in Germany, but with more care for possession.

One of his hallmarks was the defense of three centers, as well as the use of two midfielders who supported a single striker. Another variant was to play with two men up top, supported by an attacking midfielder. From the first moment, Tuchel’s Chelsea adopted fast possession of the ball as a weapon. In this way she fed his attacking instinct, fueled by high blood pressure. The coach managed to put together a recognizable eleven, with Werner in front, ahead of Pulisic, Havertz or Mount.

Between injuries and millionaire signings

In defense, Thiago Silva (he was 36 years old) was a commander of a troop of which they were part Rüdiger, Azpilicueta or Christenseno. on the sides, Chilwell y James, two wings that have been maintained. In the center of the field, helmsmen like Jorginho and Kovacic -another link between the past and present- but above all a lung called N’Golo Kanté who has spent a large part of the season in the dry dock.

Both he and Mount trained with the team and could be on Wednesday at the disposal of a Frank Lampard who was re-released at Chelsea with defeat against Wolverhampton. The one who was a myth of Stamford Bridge is in a ‘golden cage’. The London team is a mismanaged project where the abrupt departure of Abrahmovich due to the invasion of Ukraine, the first great modern football mogul, caused the team to fall into the hands of Todd Boehly.

The American has followed the investment line of his projects in North American franchises. In just six months (two markets) has spent 600 million that have had the greatest success reaching the Champions League quarterfinals. With Graham Potter still on the bench they arrived as star signings Enzo Fernandez, Mikhail Mudryk and Joao Felix. Young talents on whom an enormous responsibility has been placed. Although if Lampard showed something in his first stage at Chelsea, it was the development of homegrown players, forced by the FIFA sanction that deprived him of signing.

But currently, only the world champion is minimally adapted to his role, while the Portuguese, on loan from Atlético, has been devalued and The Ukrainian, for whom Chelsea paid Shakhtar 100 million, is a third-rate alternative. Real Madrid’s rival is bereft of will and identity.

How does Lampard’s Chelsea play?

Being Tuchel still coach, the blues They started the season with the formula of three centrals. It lasted six days, more than because of the results, due to Boehly’s meddling in his plot, something the German has never endured. That team was fourth, in Champions League positions, to which now it does not even come close (it is 17 points away). Potter, whose separation from Brighton cost 20 million, has been alternating and varying on the 4-2-3-1 and the 3-4-3.

During his first spell at Chelsea, Lampard used a 4-3-3 like the one he used in the Derby. In this scheme, the wings were crucial, with a long run ahead, causing the wingers to go inside. In this way, it was frequent that superiorities were generated in band. In his relaunch, with Wolverhampton, he opted for a similar formula.

Faced with the decline of safe values, jPlayers like Cucurella have taken a step forward. He was chosen as the MVP of the second leg against Dortmund, which Chelsea came from behind at Stamford Bridge, where they will once again play qualifying against Real Madrid. He had him on the ropes last season at the Bernabéu. But white providence appeared, which is expressed in multiple ways. That night he touched an exterior from Modric, a shot from Rodrygo and a bite from Benzema. That Chelsea was much more stable, but the Champions League always invites chaosLet them tell the whites.