London is Blue Dispatch #045

There is perhaps, not enough appreciation for how quickly teams in the PL are found out and forced to switch up. Opposition analysts, set-piece coaches, even throw-in connoisseurs – the age of specializing and micromanaging has never seen a bigger boom. It was one thing to laud Mauricio Pochettino for tweaking Marc Cucurella’s position to inverted FB and helping Chelsea win the next two-and-a-half games. The more important questions were – a) how soon would a team test this new tweak and b) would Pochettino have a response to their retort?

Against Nottingham Forest, manager Nuno Espirito Santo, attempted to test the tweak by replacing the right winger (Anthony Elanga) with a center-mid (Morgan Gibbs-White.) Gibbs-White looked far more comfortable centrally on Cucurella than any opposition fullback had looked before, and the extremely narrow shape coupled with a back 5 made things tight in the center and gave Mudryk and Madueke an extra defender to beat. Chelsea struggled and limped into the break level on the scorecard.

Pochettino’s Plan C was to erase Plan B, which took courage, and took Forest by surprise, freeing up the flanks for progression. Just before the hour mark, Poch threw on Gusto exploit the space out wide, and he threw on Nkunku to add quality in the congested center. To blunt Forest’s dangerous left wing with ex-Blues duo Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina, he brought on Reece James. Callum was asked to attack, track Reece James without the ball AND keep an eye on Gusto inverting. The exhaustion led to Callum following Gusto, Reece bombing unmarked into the final 3rd to supply the cross for Jackson’s winner.

Brighton offered a sterner challenge in terms of teams that were well-equipped to dominate the center, and familiar questions hovered over the manager’s head. How would he fare tactically against a peer linked with his coveted job? Brighton, despite their injury challenges, came to exert heavy pressure. Their 4-2-3-1 pressing structure ensured that Caicedo and the inverting Cucurella were outnumber 2v3 in the center, with their double pivots catering for Palmer and Gallagher. This left their back 4 on our front 3, with only the far-side fullback spared as the non-immediate threat. This made playing out from the center tougher and riskier.

In what has now become emblematic of the club’s resurgent form, of a young team maturing rapidly and of Pochettino’s insistence on empowering his youngsters to make decisions for themselves rather than spelling out things, little sparks flew. Multiple discussions took place between manager and the players, and between players themselves. At one point, something happened that hadn’t been seen before – BOTH fullbacks inverted, with the central mids dropping to fullback.

Caicedo, the target of heavy criticism through the season and a raucous chorus of boos from Brighton fans, noticed that Simon Adingra’s mind was split between keeping an eye centrally and wide on Gusto. Twice, the Ecuadorian peeled away elusively from the young Ivorian, receiving with space to gallop into. Gusto moved from right-back to right attacking midfield, using Madueke’s distraction of Brighton’s left-fullback to break the press.

With the left wing again looking threatening thanks to João Pedro and Adingra, Poch again brought on Reece for Madueke, but a red card for the captain set up a torrid finish. This season, Pochettino 4, De Zerbi 0.

After 40-odd games of looking like a squad of misfits that communicated using walkie-talkies receiving and transmitting on thirty different frequencies, finally, it felt as if they had figured out how to be on the same wavelength. Poch’s amorphous game model has drawn heavy criticism for being too volatile and too ambiguous, but a squad that has felt like a basketful of lemons has been used really well by a man who knows better than most what to do with them.

If the praise from players like Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Conor Gallagher and others have lavished upon their manager hasn’t made it abundantly clear, the biggest difference between day one and today has been gradual buy in. Cole Palmer may not have liked his first outing as a ten with Madueke on the right, but the two have built up a quick rapport. Palmer’s hattrick came as a 10, dropping deep, dictating and drifting as he pleased.

In his first three months at the club, Nicolas Jackson picked up 7 yellows. In six months since, he has only three, the third coming against Forest, three months after the one before. His goal tally has taken a similarly positive trajectory. Many fans may vehemently disagree with affording any credit to Poch, but fortunately, the players seem to recognize this.

Four wins in the last four has launched an unlikely surge from 11^th place last year up to a possible zenith of 5th. One point is needed to seal 6^th place and guarantee European football next season; one goal needed to double last season’s goal tally of 38. One game left to put the finishing touches on a launchpad that will hopefully propel a machine to the heights of yesteryear.