The Tactical Analysis: Chelsea vs Bournemouth

The battle between Chelsea and Bournemouth was quite interesting. Both teams had similar play styles, relying on their build-up to progress the ball and attempting to win possession as high up the pitch as possible through a high press. Bournemouth’s manager stated in a Sky Sports interview, “The better the opposition, the more risk you have to take if you want to press them.” They press every team better in build-up play. The squad is the third-youngest in the Premier League, bringing energy and physicality to their game. The gains from the high press are: 1) gaining the ball close to the opponent’s goal, and 2) taking advantage of the opposition being more open when they lose the ball.

On the other hand, Enzo Maresca aims to play with controlled possession, influenced by Pep Guardiola. He prioritizes a solid set-up to bypass the high press and seeks to utilize Cole Palmer and Jackson’s tactical dribbling skills to overcome the opponent’s press.

The battle between Chelsea build-up  vs Bournemouth press

Bournemouth pressed in a 4-1-4-1 shape, with their pressing triggers initiated when Sánchez had the ball. The Bournemouth striker, Ouattara, pressed from inside to outside starting on the right-hand side. This approach had two main objectives: first, to block the goalkeeper’s preferred foot (in this case, his left), and second, to exclude the better ball-playing centre-back, Colwill.

When Sánchez passed towards Acheampong, the right-back, Bournemouth’s wide forward, Semenyo, pressed from outside to inside. He simultaneously blocked the passing lane towards the winger (Madueke) and applied blind-side pressure on Acheampong, forcing him into uncomfortable options—either a long ball or a central pass. Meanwhile, Bournemouth’s midfielders tightly marked Chelsea’s pivots, and one of the centre-backs pushed forward from the backline mark between the line player(Enzo) to create a man-to-man defensive setup.

Chelsea employed a 4-4-2 pressing structure in the second half, aiming to defend zonally. Cole Palmer was tasked with pressing Adams, whose body shape when receiving the ball was open body shape l. In this scenario, Adams had two  passing options:

The passing lane available for Adams and the numerical advantage

1. A pass back to the centre-back.
2. A pass to the other pivot, Christie.

Jackson, Chelsea’s forward, found himself caught in a dilemma—unsure whether to mark the pivot or press the centre-back. This confusion contributed to Bournemouth’s second goal. Chelsea’s defensive shape out of possession lacked cohesion at that moment. Whether a team is in a low block, mid-block, or high block, maintaining compactness is crucial.