It all starts with defensive discipline.
Matić holds in front of the center backs, usually alongside Fàbregas. Oscar drops in to create a 4-1-4-1 shape or steps up to pressure with the target striker in a 4-4-1-1. Eden Hazard stays higher on the left to provide a quick outlet for the counterattack, but he doesn’t neglect his defensive duties under pressure. At the same time, while Chelsea isn’t necessarily a counterattacking side, Mourinho stresses the importance of transition moments between attacking and defensive phases. Chelsea is in position to connect passes immediately upon regaining possession or to regain the correct shape after losing it.
Dynamic players with backgrounds in explosive attacking systems allow the team to transition at lightning speed. Alongside Fàbregas, Matić, the firecracker Hazard, Oscar, Willian and Diego Costa drive an attack devoid of English players.
The central focus of the top six players in the 4-2-3-1 attack allows Chelsea to overload the central channel and fullbacks Branslav Ivanović on the right and Filipe Luís or César Azpilicueta on the left to overlap freely. Hazard roams as he pleases, at times changing flanks with Willian or joining him on the same side to create opportunities for combination play.
Oscar has developed into a facilitating No. 10, drifting to fill gaps as other players move rather than creating the majority of opportunities himself.
He balances Hazard and Willian’s inside cuts, steps up to pressure with Diego Costa after Chelsea loses the ball and comprises the opposite side of the midfield triangle as Fàbregas advances.
The Fàbregas-Matić pairing has been one of the most dangerous in Europe. Matić stays closer to center backs John Terry and Gary Cahill, protecting them as the fullbacks advance and dropping between to receive the ball and distribute.
The FM 2015 tactic
Includes: player instructions, set-pieces for corners, free-kicks and throw-ins.
For me this tactic has been very stable and I've used it alongside a 4-2-3-1 tactic.
Feel free to critic and leave your input of what's good/bad.
Cheers and KTBFFH
