Pundit Joe Cole has shared what he noticed about Chelsea’s defensive shape against Manchester United last night.
He claimed during his coverage for TNT Sports that he saw the Blues operate in a completely new system against their opponents at Stamford Bridge.
A rollercoaster game between two of the big dogs in the Premier League saw Chelsea record a monumental victory.
Palmer saves Chelsea
From going 2-0 up through Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer, they thought they had rescued a point with a last minute penalty to make it 3-3.
This was quickly followed by Palmer’s winner, the latest goal to win a game in Premier League history.
Defensively the Blues were an absolute disgrace, and this saw the atmosphere turn extremely toxic inside the stadium.
Cole claimed that he believes he saw the Blues in a new shape early on, with them actually operating in more of a back three.
Cole thinks Chelsea played new system
He said: “Really interesting, it’s the first time I’ve seen them do this. Cucurella, Badiashile and Disasi, when they have good possession Chelsea, it’s a back three and Mudryk has kept his width.
“The goal came from there and Manchester United haven’t been able to get to grips with that.”
The result was a real boost to the Blues’ fading European hopes, and therefore the hopes of Mauricio Pochettino to remain as Chelsea manager.
The substitutions made by the boss were extremely questionable too, with him deciding to bring on Trevoh Chalobah and Alfie Gilchrist when they fell behind in the second half.
Many will have been asking why they were brought on ahead of Noni Madueke, who had to wait until near the 90th minute to be brought on despite playing well for club and country recently.
However, the impact the winger had was key late on for the Blues, and may well have been key for the manager for easing the pressure on him again.