Mauricio Pochettino changed the game with this one key substitution

This game really was a tale of two halves for the Blues, with a relatively un-inspiring first half, littered with individual errors, tactical questions and forced changes, becoming a bright second half performance, with simple tactical tweaks, sustained pressure and the positive result to match.

Chelsea won the game on penalties after a late equaliser from substitute Mykhailo Mudryk, pouncing on a Kieran Trippier error in his own box.

The Blues then showed extreme poise for a young group of players, dispatching four out of four penalties, before Dorde Petrovic stepped up to save Matt Richie’s penalty and secure the victory.

But what was poor about the first half from a tactical perspective? And what changed in the second half? Let’s take a look.

Lack of width:

For a manager who was known for his bombing fullbacks at Spurs, turning Danny Rose and Kyle Walker/Kieran Trippier into huge attacking threats, offering his side width, overlaps and continuous channel threat on either side, it has certainly been not that under Pochettino thus far.

In contrast, Chelsea lined up with a back four of four natural central defenders, fielding Axel Disasi at right back, and Levi Colwill at left back again.

This is how the team looked after the Enzo Fernandez substitution after 32 minutes, bringing Armando Broja on, and shifting Nicolas Jackson out wide (which we will speak about later).

Having this back four left Chelsea very flat in wide areas, both fullbacks unnatural at offering the overlap, allowing the Newcastle defenders to happily trap the wingers against the touchline, triggering the ball to shuffle backwards and reset.

During build up, we saw the 4-1 in the first phase as we have seen recently, with the back four staying set in a four, and Caicedo being the centre point in a solo pivot. Gallagher would then push up alongside Palmer, looking to relieve the ball between the lines, in behind the Newcastle midfield line.

This set up gave Chelsea problems on both ends, the distances between the fullbacks and wingers was too big for counter pressing purposes, allowing Newcastle to find the gap between the two as their out ball.

It also meant Chelsea couldn’t create those 2v1 overloads out wide to attack the Newcastle fullbacks, and on the rare occasions they did, it ended with a central defender such as Axel Disasi in the crossing position (which is not optimal for chance creation purposes).

First half Broja + Jackson usage:

I was not a fan of the Broja and Jackson usage in the first half. The two were often rotating, one making that run in the left channel, and the other being the box presence.

However neither of which are natural out wide, Jackson shows glimpses of what he could do from the left, but is much more effective peeling from the middle out to the left channel as an outlet pass, to then use his ball carrying ability to get Chelsea up the pitch in transition.

But when this change was made, bringing Broja in for Enzo Fernandez, and shuffling the front four around, it took away even more of the wide threat, which is an area Newcastle have struggled to defend this season.

This decision left a natural touchline winger in Mudryk on the bench, which I believe would’ve been a much better substitution at this point of the game, putting Palmer central and having Sterling and Mudryk on either flank to attack the fullback.

Second half changes:

Now the second half change made all the difference for the Blues, bringing Malo Gusto on at left back for Levi Colwill, and it was this change that affected every aspect of the game.

This change was a minor tweak, but it positionally made all the difference.

By having Gusto, a much more natural and attacking fullback in this area of the pitch, he could push high and wide, overlapping Jackson, and providing that left side width.

This then allowed Jackson to drift into the middle from the left, creating more of a two striker look for the team alongside Broja, with Palmer in behind, and Sterling floating on the right for width.

It also helped during build up, as Gusto unlike Colwill and Disasi who are central defenders by trade, has the ability to drive forward, negating the initial Newcastle press and getting Chelsea into the opposition half far quicker and with more efficiency.

By getting high and into that 2-4-2-2 shape on screen quickly, it allowed the Blues to sustain pressure in the Newcastle half, as the structure was set faster, and with closer distances for counter pressing purposes.

The fullbacks being higher when the ball turned over meant there was no longer space for the Newcastle wingers to receive the ball between the winger and fullback of Chelsea. Instead the entire team was able to counter press with great effectiveness, with distances being closer.

Newcastle dropped into this 4-5-1 mid block when Chelsea had possession and this meant the fullbacks could remain high in the press on the wingers, the midfield pivot could go man for man with the central midfielders of Newcastle, whilst Palmer covered Bruno G.

This left Callum Wilson extremely isolated, with either Benoit Badiashile or Thiago Silva stepping up onto Wilson whenever they tried to go long and use him as an outlet, where the Chelsea defenders won the majority of their duels (10/12 duels won between them).

Sustaining pressure in the opposition half not only allowed Chelsea to attack wave after wave, but also started to deplete the energy of Newcastle who have been competing in Europe this season, and have many more minutes under their belt this campaign.

Super Subs:

As well as a superb performance from Malo Gusto off the bench, we also saw Mudryk score from the bench, and a competitive debut for Christopher Nkunku.

Mudryk and Nkunku both dispatched penalties for the Blues in a cool fashion, Nkunku also managing a shot on target inside the 90 minutes, heading on from a cross which Dubravka easily caught, and of course Mudryk scoring the equaliser in the 92nd minute.

For me Malo Gusto was the real super sub of this game, changing the way Chelsea played on both ends of the pitch, driving the team forwards, helping sustain attacks and providing width to create more space inside for others.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, there were negatives in the first half, but positives in the second. The changes made a difference, and Chelsea did deserve this victory.

Gusto gets my MOTM for changing the game, whilst I also thought the midfield two of Gallagher and Caicedo were pivotal in this one for sustaining pressure with their counter pressing in the middle, and not allowing the Newcastle midfield to breath on the ball.

Whilst the Blues only managed to create one big chance, they did have 11 shots from inside the box, held 78% of possession and managed nearly quadruple Newcastle’s total shots (15 to Newcastle’s 4).

This is a positive result for Chelsea, now into the Semi Final of the Carabao Cup, and this could be an important building block for this young Chelsea side, fighting back to equalise late in a game, and having the mental strength to then go on and win the game on penalties.