West Bromwich Albion tactics
Tony Pulis was without the services of Saido Berahino due to the transfer saga surrounding the player but he needed pace up top, so the Baggies boss started with Salomon Rondon as his centre forward.
The plan was to contain Chelsea in a 4-5-1 formation with Rondon leading the pressing from the offensive half to force Chelsea to work for the territory. Callum McManaman and James McClean started as the wide midfielders, tracking back with the Blues’ full-backs while Darren Fletcher and James Morrison engaged the visitors’ central midfielders.
Claudio Yacob was the extra man in midfield tasked with minding Chelsea’s attacking midfielders just in front of the defenders.
The back-four completed the defensive formation by starting fairly high to squeeze play. They converged centrally as Chelsea’s attacks developed to shut the channels and form a compact defensive line in front of the 18-yard box.
When in possession, the Baggies had the direct option with Rondon and the wide midfielders –McManaman and McClean – offering targets for long balls in the offensive half.
West Brom also had the option of working the ball through central midfield with Yacob as the sitting midfielder. Fletcher and Morrison had the freedom to push forward and support those attacks as advanced central midfielders.
McManaman and McClean kept the width down the flanks, looking to get past Chelsea’s full-backs and provide crosses to Rondon, who offered a target for crosses but he also made runs in behind the Blues’ central defenders looking for clipped balls over the top.
Chelsea tactics
Jose Mourinho kept his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation but with Pedro Rodriguez making his debut as a wide attacking midfielder. The overall plan was to break down West Brom’s defensive unit with Cesc Fabregas dictating play centrally while the attacking midfielders roamed between the lines looking to create chances in the final-third.
Fabregas and Nemanja Matic collected the ball from the defenders to initiate patient attacks for the Blues. Matic then remained in front of defenders as the holding midfielder while Fabregas pushed on to spray the ball around and release key passes.
Full-backs Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta both pushed beyond the halfway line to add width to the Blues’ play. Eden Hazard drifted inside from the left flank to join Willian in floating behind West Brom’s midfielders and driving at the Baggies’ defence with the ball.
Pedro made diagonal runs forward from the right flank to support Diego Costa in affecting West Brom’s defensive line. Costa completed the offensive formation as the target, working with his back to goal as well as making runs down the sides of West Brom’s central defenders.
When out of possession, Costa led the pressing while Hazard and Pedro dropped to the wide midfield positions to defend alongside the central midfielders. Fabregas dropped to double-pivot with Matic, leaving Willian to work from the top of the central midfield triangle.
Key tactical changes
Chelsea had a shaky start but they recovered after Pedro’s goal in the 20th minute. Mourinho’s men started creating some impressive offensive moves while West Brom struggled to execute their patient attacks with central midfielders frequently losing the ball in the middle-third.
Chelsea led 1-3 in the 55th minute and it seemed like the game was over before John Terry got sent-off. That changed the complexion of the game as Chelsea sacrificed their dominance on the ball and territory to see the game out in a 4-4-1 formation.
The Blues dropped deep with two lines of four behind Costa, while West Brom seized the opportunity by adding the physical presence of Rickie Lambert to support Rondon in a 4-4-2 formation. That meant that the Baggies started crossing more balls into the box while keeping play mostly in Chelsea’s half.
West Brom succeeded in applying pressure on Chelsea but it was the Blues who handled the last 40 minutes better. Mourinho’s men slowed the tempo of the game through ball retention whenever their 10 man had the ball.
The Baggies struggled to get much joy from their crosses, with Kurt Zouma and Gary Cahill winning most aerial duels against West Brom’s strikers. Pulis’ side also lacked the quality in their finishing with most of their 12 attempts missing the target.
