Brighton – Chelsea: All About The Midfields As Lampard’s Late Tweak Trumps An Otherwise Mature And Impressive Brighton Display (1-3)

Graham Potter’s effect on Brighton’s attacking style continued, and impressively so. Were it not for wasted openings and missed chances, Lampard’s own tactical adjustments might not have been enough to fully disrupt an opening match day result for Brighton.

Tactical analysis and match report by Peter Munnelly.

Looking to improve on last season’s fifteenth-placed finish, the head coach named recent acquisition Adam Lallana in his side as the forward-most midfielder of the central trio in a 3-5-2 system. Also on the team sheet was former Chelsea academy graduate Tariq Lamptey, who signed from them in January, and featured at right wing-back

Lampard was also keen to further his team’s prowess following last season’s third-placed finish with the immediate introductions of his two big German signings – Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. They featured alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount in the top half of his 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 formation.

Hosts settle play to their own tempo

The hosts took initiative of the ball throughout much of the first half, with the ease of their positional and formational interchanges being instrumental in the ways they threatened Chelsea.

Goalkeeper Mathew Ryan was at the center of a number of buildup sequences, from which Lewis Dunk would shift wide to the left of him, and the overall shape would adjust to be able to outnumber Chelsea in various areas. But even when playing out without this tweak in structure, Brighton were incredibly patient and willing to play riskier square passes into the feet of the midfielders in their attempts to pick holes . . .

Get access to this article and all other quality content of Between the Posts!

Start your two-week free trial now!

Completely ad-free exclusive articles from our expert tactics writers, plus a complete match plots page to explore.

Membership Plans

Already a member? Log in

Peter (20), lives just outside of London. He’s been writing about tactics and such for over a year now, contributing to a couple of sites during that time. His main club is Arsenal but he’s also followed Real Betis quite heavily since Quique Setién took over last year. This form of writing has become a great passion of his and, although he’s unsure of what his end aim is, he’s enjoying being given new opportunities to continue doing so. [ View all posts ]

Comments

Go to TOP