“Tactical masterclass from Rosenior” undone in second half by Pep tweak

“Tactical masterclass from Rosenior” undone in second half by Pep tweak

Liam Rosenior’s attempts to contain Nico O’Reilly ended in failure when the full back headed in the opening goal on Sunday.

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Jon Mackenzie has put out a really interesting piece for the Athletic looking at Nico O’Reilly and how Chelsea tried to stop him during the 3-0 defeat on Sunday.

In a similar role to the one we saw Marc Cucurella take up at times last season, O’Reilly was nominally a left back, but attacked the box regularly when City were able to progress the ball to the byline.

Liam Rosenior’s solution was to deploy Andrey Santos really deep when Chelsea were out of possession, which successfully blocked O’Reilly from finding space between the lines.

“When the half-time whistle blew, it looked very much like this had been a tactical masterclass from Rosenior,” he writes.

Second half sees Rosenior’s idea exploited

The issue was when the ball was out wide and Santos was one on one with O’Reilly. As we saw for the opening goal, the Brazilian couldn’t match his opponent for size and strength, especially when the England international was able to make the first move.

It was still pretty weak by Santos to let him score, and we all know what happens when Chelsea concede first against a good team.

In other news…

Chelsea’s accounts are out, and they show vast increases on pay for directors and executives at the club last year.

The stunning numbers from Chelsea’s accounts also show the new ownership are making a mess of things off the pitch in terms of player sales, most of which are being spent on paying for those same players.

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