In the end, Carlo’s big day out came good. A Drogba cross to the back post floats over Boaz Myhill and Chelsea sneak it with a couple of minutes to spare. Just like Big Phil Scolari, Ancelotti got off to a winning start in his Premiership debut, but 2-1 at home to Hull should hardly breed confidence in the Stamford Bridge faithful. Or should it?
In a new Scout feature, we plan to use the Guardian Chalkboards tool as a means not only of dissecting some of each week’s big Premiership talking points but also to weigh up the benefits of your FPL choices…
Carlo v Big Phil, Day One
With Ancelotti’s new diamond formation coming into effect, Chelsea’s play, and resultantly how each individual Chelsea player adapts to their position within the XI, will differ from what has gone before.
In spite of any gloom and doom, however, this first chalkboard shows that although the final score was only one goal in Chelsea’s favour, they had far more attempts at goal than they did in the opener last year. Saturday was just simply one of those days where their shooting boots were left firmly at home.
By clicking on each chalkboard, you can check the individual player stats to see how certain players have instantly adapted to the new system quicker than others. Between them Didier Drogba, with a staggering 10 attempts on the Hull goal, and Michael Essien, (despite playing some of the match at the base of the diamond) had 6 attempts, which is half of the team’s total shots.. Getting both of them on your FPL watch list is the least you should so.
A classic example of how some players applied themselves more to the system than others is Nicolas Anelka. His continual insistence that he’s best played as part of a front two held no water at the weekend, when playing in tandem with Drogba, Le Sulk ended up with just 2 shots at goal during his 78 minutes on the pitch.
Lamps for Carlo and Big Phil, Day One
And as for Frank Lampard? Hmmm. It seems the main bone of contention already amongst many Scout posters seems to be his presence in their teams. The new role at the tip of Ancelotti’s diamond, having been previously regarded as a license to run riot this season, clearly did not suit Frank on Saturday.
This second chalkboard (showing his shots on Saturday and his shots against Portsmouth in last year’s opener) indicates that Lampard is perhaps playing too close to the front two pairing of Drogba and Anelka. The ability he has to make runs from deep is cut out from his game if he is played too close to the opposition’s goal. It’s early yet, though, and someone as prolific as Lampard will surely come good.
Distribution
Ancelotti will be looking for his team to start matches from the outset in the way they set about Saturday’s second half . Watching the game live, it was clear to see that Chelsea developed a greater sense of urgency to their game after 45mins, and, although continuing to dominate possession, their passing became more penetrative as Hull were pressed further and further back.
This final chalkboard is a half by half comparison of successful Chelsea passes against Phil Brown’s boys. It is clear to see that in the second half the passes were less congested in the middle third of the pitch and were connecting more towards the Hull goal. Ashley Cole’s forays down the left gave the team more width from the back and brought about a better balance, as did Ballack’s introduction at the expense of the insipid Mikel. Chelsea’s attacks were relentless, meaning the winner, when it finally came, had a distinct air of inevitability about it, complete fluke or not.