Chelsea, of their Premier League loss to Arsenal, deployed a hybrid system with 5 gamers defending zonally: Jorrel Hato and Trevoh Chalobah on the close to publish, Cole Palmer on the close to facet of the six-yard field, Pedro Neto on the penalty spot and Joao Pedro behind the goalmouth, with 5 others man-marking Arsenal‘s harmful threats.
It’s a setup that Nicolas Jover, Arsenal‘s set-piece coach, would have famous earlier than devising his personal attacking plan.
Zonal defenders maintain their place reasonably than following gamers with the rationale being they’re in harmful areas of the field that must be protected.
The close to publish is usually a zone the place attackers look to flick the ball on from and Pedro’s place is usually the place groups, together with Arsenal, look to reach earlier than heading the ball house.
Having the ability to predict the defensive positions of sure gamers from corners helps attacking groups create routines that look to open up and exploit current area.
With three Chelsea gamers locked to the close to publish, Arsenal knew the again publish can be in need of numbers.
