The Nutmeg Post:
Between the Paris and London Legs
THE FIRST LEG IN PARIS
The game in Paris was a focused, forty-foul affair, with both teams obviously intent on progressing, and PSG almost completely eradicating both Chelsea’s first and second offensive options, yet conceding a freak goal.
It was a tense, tactical stalemate in the center of the pitch with the action pushed towards the peripheries. Evidence of this is the paltry impact Fabregas had, and that David Luiz was PSG’s top passer, despite playing just in front of the back four. Chelsea’s most dangerous attacker, winger Eden Hazard, became more dangerous to Chelsea than PSG as the game progressed due to his limited defensive output, and PSG's readiness to use it to their advantage. While Laurent Blanc seemed to have won the tactical battle with Jose Mourinho, Chelsea return home leading by the away goals rule.
PSG attacked successfully whichever side Hazard was on, something which should be called the “CR7 Phenomenon” by now. However, at least during the opening stages of the match, the same players who were clearly not in form, namely van der Wiel and Lavezzi, were the ones who found themselves in space--space which they of course wasted (which, by the way is pretty much the definition of what an out-of-form football player does). To be fair, neither lacked redemptive qualities, as van der Wiel teamed up with Verratti in what might have been a coordinated hack-a-Hazard strategy, but which mostly stifled the feisty, Belgian defensive liability. Lavezzi’s work rate was good as it always is, and he and Cavani’s willingness to track-back and mark all the way to the goal line was a significant factor in why PSG were those on the front of their feet in Paris, with energetic, interchanging runs between these outside forwards and the energizer midfielders, Verratti and Matuidi. Van der Wiel still looked wasteful during Saturday’s game against Lens, with Lavezzi not showing any signs of a form up-turn either. Interestingly, were their replacements (Serge Aurier & Lucas Moura, respectively) healthy, chances are neither player would be starting this game.
While the official television line-up for Chelsea was a PSG-shadowing 4-3-3, the average player position chart of the game clearly demonstrates them to have played a 4-2-3-1, with Matic and Ramires holding, Fabregas/Oscar in the #10 slot, and Hazard and Willian switched to try and stop the bleeding behind Hazard. PSG’s goal came in the run of play (after that switch) from one of a few good crosses that arrived from the left corner. Chelsea’s goal was about as strange as it gets: three defenders providing the final three touches, the middle one a sublime hacky-sack flick by Tim Cahill, of all people. While this atypical goal will perhaps never be repeated, Mourinho has a legacy of 'luck' that PSG will need to steel themselves against, and Chelsea’s players and fans will expect to continue.
THE SECOND LEG IN LONDON
David Luiz might be the most tactically undisciplined, lackadaisically man-marking center back you’ll see in your lifetime, and he deserves to be on the cover of the book that just came out in Brazil on the 1-7 drubbing they took against Germany in the World Cup semifinals. Yet David Luiz may also be the only center back you will see in your lifetime that takes a free kick from thirty-five meters out and hits a knuckle-ball with the side of his foot that leaves the keeper standing, dumbfounded, as the ball bounces into the corner. This happened, most recently, against Lens on Saturday. He is also physically intimidating and plays with a sense of “agression,” as his coach calls it, that impacts games in a way that cannot be quantified.
Since Tiago Motta is no longer injured, Blanc may slot him back in to where Luiz was during the Paris leg, or choose to repeat his center back triangle, with Luiz in front of Marquinhos and Tiago Silva. Strangely enough, Mourinho has also been experimenting with a center back triangle of Terry-Cahill with Zouma in front, but mainly because Matic was injured wildly celebrating his team’s first trophy win of the season and was unavailable--though he is expected to be fit for Wednesday’s match. While Tiago Motta provides a more balanced, patient build-up, David Luiz, while sometimes not making obvious, supporting runs for teammates, possesses the ability to make confident driving runs that can sometimes unlock the other team’s defense, something that Matuidi and Verratti--despite their brilliantly relentless impact--sometimes struggle to do against quality opposition. Also, if Luiz is moved forward and covered by the back four, the ability of his frequent marking brainfarts to jeapordize PSG’s progression is somewhat neutralized.
It is not certain that Mourinho will try and bolster his coverage for Hazard. After years trying to twist Cristiano Ronaldo’s arm into providing adequate coverage for the left flank, and now two years attempting the same with Hazard, Mourinho may have just conceded this glaring weakness in his trademark 4-2-3-1.
The return leg in London promises to be a tightrope spectacle, as PSG need to score, but are also aware Mourinho plans to counterattack. Yet a latent Chelsea could fall into PSG’s hands as well, because there are quite a few talented, hungry PSG players that know a goal against Chelsea in London will elevate them (and their club) to the next level. This of course does not include the self-proclaimed ‘soccer God’ Zlatan, who never questions his place among football’s best, but made light of his chances during the first leg.
Psychologically speaking, PSG’s confidence going into this match--having outplayed their opponents in Paris--while a necessary ingredient, is also precarious against the man who may one day retire as the Champion’s League’s greatest coach.
NOTES OF POTENTIAL INTEREST:
Between the Paris and London Legs
THE FIRST LEG IN PARIS
The game in Paris was a focused, forty-foul affair, with both teams obviously intent on progressing, and PSG almost completely eradicating both Chelsea’s first and second offensive options, yet conceding a freak goal.
It was a tense, tactical stalemate in the center of the pitch with the action pushed towards the peripheries. Evidence of this is the paltry impact Fabregas had, and that David Luiz was PSG’s top passer, despite playing just in front of the back four. Chelsea’s most dangerous attacker, winger Eden Hazard, became more dangerous to Chelsea than PSG as the game progressed due to his limited defensive output, and PSG's readiness to use it to their advantage. While Laurent Blanc seemed to have won the tactical battle with Jose Mourinho, Chelsea return home leading by the away goals rule.
PSG attacked successfully whichever side Hazard was on, something which should be called the “CR7 Phenomenon” by now. However, at least during the opening stages of the match, the same players who were clearly not in form, namely van der Wiel and Lavezzi, were the ones who found themselves in space--space which they of course wasted (which, by the way is pretty much the definition of what an out-of-form football player does). To be fair, neither lacked redemptive qualities, as van der Wiel teamed up with Verratti in what might have been a coordinated hack-a-Hazard strategy, but which mostly stifled the feisty, Belgian defensive liability. Lavezzi’s work rate was good as it always is, and he and Cavani’s willingness to track-back and mark all the way to the goal line was a significant factor in why PSG were those on the front of their feet in Paris, with energetic, interchanging runs between these outside forwards and the energizer midfielders, Verratti and Matuidi. Van der Wiel still looked wasteful during Saturday’s game against Lens, with Lavezzi not showing any signs of a form up-turn either. Interestingly, were their replacements (Serge Aurier & Lucas Moura, respectively) healthy, chances are neither player would be starting this game.
While the official television line-up for Chelsea was a PSG-shadowing 4-3-3, the average player position chart of the game clearly demonstrates them to have played a 4-2-3-1, with Matic and Ramires holding, Fabregas/Oscar in the #10 slot, and Hazard and Willian switched to try and stop the bleeding behind Hazard. PSG’s goal came in the run of play (after that switch) from one of a few good crosses that arrived from the left corner. Chelsea’s goal was about as strange as it gets: three defenders providing the final three touches, the middle one a sublime hacky-sack flick by Tim Cahill, of all people. While this atypical goal will perhaps never be repeated, Mourinho has a legacy of 'luck' that PSG will need to steel themselves against, and Chelsea’s players and fans will expect to continue.
THE SECOND LEG IN LONDON
David Luiz might be the most tactically undisciplined, lackadaisically man-marking center back you’ll see in your lifetime, and he deserves to be on the cover of the book that just came out in Brazil on the 1-7 drubbing they took against Germany in the World Cup semifinals. Yet David Luiz may also be the only center back you will see in your lifetime that takes a free kick from thirty-five meters out and hits a knuckle-ball with the side of his foot that leaves the keeper standing, dumbfounded, as the ball bounces into the corner. This happened, most recently, against Lens on Saturday. He is also physically intimidating and plays with a sense of “agression,” as his coach calls it, that impacts games in a way that cannot be quantified.
Since Tiago Motta is no longer injured, Blanc may slot him back in to where Luiz was during the Paris leg, or choose to repeat his center back triangle, with Luiz in front of Marquinhos and Tiago Silva. Strangely enough, Mourinho has also been experimenting with a center back triangle of Terry-Cahill with Zouma in front, but mainly because Matic was injured wildly celebrating his team’s first trophy win of the season and was unavailable--though he is expected to be fit for Wednesday’s match. While Tiago Motta provides a more balanced, patient build-up, David Luiz, while sometimes not making obvious, supporting runs for teammates, possesses the ability to make confident driving runs that can sometimes unlock the other team’s defense, something that Matuidi and Verratti--despite their brilliantly relentless impact--sometimes struggle to do against quality opposition. Also, if Luiz is moved forward and covered by the back four, the ability of his frequent marking brainfarts to jeapordize PSG’s progression is somewhat neutralized.
It is not certain that Mourinho will try and bolster his coverage for Hazard. After years trying to twist Cristiano Ronaldo’s arm into providing adequate coverage for the left flank, and now two years attempting the same with Hazard, Mourinho may have just conceded this glaring weakness in his trademark 4-2-3-1.
The return leg in London promises to be a tightrope spectacle, as PSG need to score, but are also aware Mourinho plans to counterattack. Yet a latent Chelsea could fall into PSG’s hands as well, because there are quite a few talented, hungry PSG players that know a goal against Chelsea in London will elevate them (and their club) to the next level. This of course does not include the self-proclaimed ‘soccer God’ Zlatan, who never questions his place among football’s best, but made light of his chances during the first leg.
Psychologically speaking, PSG’s confidence going into this match--having outplayed their opponents in Paris--while a necessary ingredient, is also precarious against the man who may one day retire as the Champion’s League’s greatest coach.
NOTES OF POTENTIAL INTEREST:
- PSG completed ninety-one more passes than Chelsea during the opening leg.
- There were twenty fouls committed by each team during the match at the Stade de France, one of the reasons midfield creativity was minimal. Additionally, Eden Hazard wears the thorny crown of ‘most-fouled player’ in the Champions League this season. He was fouled 9 times in Paris, the most any player has been fouled in a game during the 2014-2015 Champions League Season. (FourFourTwo)
- Half of Chelsea’s Champions League goals this year have come from free kicks, the most of any team still standing. (FourFourTwo) Hypothetically, David Luiz is aware of this.
- Pastore combined with Ibrahimovic for an impressive goal on Saturday versus Lens, and may figure into this match, or even start in place of Lavezzi.
- David Luiz has made two recent comments in the build-up to this match, first off that Jose Mourinho ‘is not “The Special One” to him,' and secondly, when asked what the similarity is between current coach Laurent Blanc and former coach Jose Mourinho, he replied “They are both ugly.” and had to repeat himself three times as the reporters minds' were not quickly able to process his juvenile remark. Rumor has it that both coaches will keep their predictable “Sideshow Bob” comebacks to themselves.