Chelsea FC : Evolved, yet still the same.

May 19^th, 2012, seems to have been yesterday when Chelsea won the Champions League. They now embark on the road to Wembley to defend their crown, a feat which has never been achieved in the Champions League era; AC Milan, Juventus and Man United came closest as they fell short in the final of the subsequent season.

After being drafted alongside the Italian Champions, Juventus; Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine and Danish minnows FC Nordsjaelland in the group stage, Chelsea started their title defense with a 2-2 draw against Juventus at Stamford Bridge. The fact that Chelsea let a 2-0 advantage slip, at home, has been hard to digest. At the end of the first round of fixtures Shakhtar clinched an easy victory over Nordsjaelland but having drawn their toughest away fixtures, Juventus would be confident of topping the group. Chelsea would have to match or better the Italians to claim top spot.

Despite the mishap in the Champions League, Chelsea remain rampant in the Premier League having gone 6 games without a defeat including an impressive win against Arsenal at the Emirates. Roberto Di Matteo would look to the Juventus game as an off day due to the style of football he has incorporated and the tactics employed against the bigger clubs. Chelsea under Di Matteo has taken up a more reactive style rather than an imposing style under Villas Boas. The reactive style can been seen from Chelsea’s Champions League campaign last season, the team has been set out to stop the opponents from playing rather than imposing a style of their own.

New arrivals Eden Hazard and Oscar along with the departure of Raul Meireles and Michael Essien would hint at a change of style but the match against Juventus proved to be otherwise. Chelsea looked to Oscar to mark Andrea Pirlo and stop him from spraying passes, stretching the game vertically. This was particularly effective as Pirlo was reduced to 53 passes, 0 key passes and only 5 accurate long balls compared to his 83 passes, 3 key passes and 10 accurate long balls average in the Serie A. Chelsea employed their usual 4-2-3-1 changing to 4-4-1-1 defensively with two banks of four, but were undone by some excellent off the ball movement and energy of Marchisio and Vidal. Chelsea could have made better use of the extra man in the wide zones, Branislav Ivanovic in particular wasteful in possession.

The game against Arsenal further is indicative of Chelsea’s approach in big games in turn can be a tactical template for Champions League away fixtures. Arteta and Cazorla had exceptional games against Man City and Liverpool, identified as the key players Chelsea shut them out while exploiting Vermaelen’s tendency to leave his position. The stark contrast in the passes completed and passes received by Arsenal’s main midfield men can be credited to the tireless work of Oscar and Ramires.

Di Matteo’s approach is certainly commendable, Chelsea themselves will take a while to settle and produce a certain pattern of football to suit their attacking quartet of Torres, Mata, Hazard and Oscar. Victor Moses and Ryan Bertrand not only add to the depth of the squad but also help in shutting out teams down the flanks. Chelsea by no means is a finished article unlike Juventus, there was a certain degree of sloppiness in counter attacks against Arsenal which can be worked on. Chelsea will look to avoid the mistakes as at Stamford Bridge and exploit Juventus’ high pressing game at Turin and break against their relatively slow center back. Oscar’s versatility and tactical adeptness gives Chelsea a new dimension, the experience of Lampard and the energy of Ramires will be used in deeper midfield roles to hurry and harass the opponents in the final third. Chelsea might not win the Champions League this season, but their pragmatic and reactive approach will see them pushing on all trophy fronts.