Gameweek 4: The Post Mortem QPR v CHE, STK v MCI

QPR 0 Chelsea 0, Stoke 1 Man City 1

Summary: 

Chelsea started deep and utilised the front four of Torres, Hazard, Bertrand and Ramires to break down QPR initially. The introduction of Moses and Sturridge did create tremendous width and generated more chances, but QPR saw it coming and kept Chelsea's chances at a minimum. QPR show a decent plan A, an executable hard pressing defensive plan and a possible plan B in the introduction of Cisse into a 4-3-3. However, for all the money they have spent on players, the fullback area is the one lacking in depth the most, and Hughes will be dipping his hands in the transfer market for those surely. They have missed Taiwo.

City's new deployment of Sinclair, as well as Maicon and Clichy as wingbacks were nullified against a resilient Stoke side, who pressed, fouled and fought to the bitter end. City's plan B worked to a certain extent, but the sight of Tevez being hauled off for City means that Mancini might do the same for tough away games, where City will be under the same amount of pressure. Stoke's fitting of Charlie Adam didn't exactly work wonders against City, but only time will tell if Adam is a hand-to-glove fitting for the Targetman strategy.

Lineups: 

QPR finally sticks to the same XI that started against Man City the weekend before, compared to the 4 changes they made after Norwich. Mark Hughes seems to be happy with Faurlin partnering Granero in midfield. Chelsea, however, with the midweek game against Juventus in mind, started Bertrand to cover Ashley Cole on the flank, while Ramires was stationed on the right flank to work with Ivanovic. In the centre of the park, Eden Hazard was in charge of linking the midfield duo of Mikel and Lampard with lone forward Torres. While it is no surprise that Fabio and Bosingwa are not known for their defensive capabilities, going forward they will look quite dangerous, and Roberto di Matteo (RDM) has recognised that by nullifying that threat and aiming to dominate the game through the centre of midfield, where Hazard, Mikel and Lampard clearly outshine Granero and Faurlin. QPR can be positive about the way Atletico Madrid beat Chelsea for pace last Wednesday though, and if any of the forwards can have a run at Terry or Luiz, chances could surface for the R's.

Tactical Notes:

• Hazard and the front three stealing the show early, but QPR's dilligent hard pressing game 

In the early exchanges, while QPR's defence sat deep, Chelsea relied on Hazard to create their opening chances. If Hazard wasn't linking up play to create and finish chances (he initiated an attack off an Ivanovic throw in and darted straight into the penalty box only to be equalled by Julio Cesar), he was taking advantage of QPR's deep defense and hard pressing midfield; bringing Ramires and Bertrand into the game by allowing them to dribble at the QPR defense. Torres also tried to take advantage by dropping to receive the ball, and either replicating Hazard's role or taking some early shots himself.

There were a lot of fouls conceded early by QPR, mainly on Ramires' side of the pitch due to his direct running, as well as Faurlin and Granero tracking back late (being naturally not defensive minded) while pressing hard. QPR's pressing did occasionally pay dividends though, especially when Chelsea were dispossessed in their own half, Cech did have to make a couple of saves himself. Any fouls conceded by QPR were also managed well by their defensive clearances and Julio Cesar was reliable in handling shots from outside the box. QPR's hard pressing game proved to be a double edged sword, however, as Chelsea did have some justified penalty shouts, both coming from their hard pressing in the first place.

• QPR become narrower, Mackie's and Zamora creating more chances from directness

Now i will speak about both sides' second half performances. Onouha replacing Fabio did make QPR's formation deeper and narrower, and Hazard did try to to take advantage by dribbling the ball there and running at him. Mackie's appreance for Andrew Johnson proved more fruitful; Mackie's directness in shooting, while Johnson had the tendency to outpace defenders before shooting, showed that he complemented Zamora's off the ball running and shot early off Zamora's passes instead of taking another touch as Johnson would do. Similarly, while Ivanovic is naturally a centerback, he was rather awkward in defending the flanks, as Park Ji Sung occupied the space left vacant by him and managed to put in a couple of crosses, and even had a header on goal himself when he drifted in, not being mared by Ivanovic at all. 

Ivanovic's narrowness also prompted Bosingwa to advance time and time again, sometimes NEARLY beating Ramires to send in crosses. RDM in that sense had played his cards right, for if he had played an orthodox advanced winger like Mata, Chelsea's right flank would've been horribly exposed. Another feature of Chelsea's defence to note is that their central midfielders, Mikel and Lampard tend to back off when pressing is required; QPR's efforts mainly stemmed from Granero or Faurlin receiving the ball with relatively little pressure, looking up and playing direct passes at their forwards/wingers who drifted in.

• The effect of Chelsea playing orthodox wingers on the flanks

Two interesting substitutions then, in Moses replacing Bertrand, and Cisse replacing Wright Phillips for QPR. QPR now had 3 forwards and were now playing a narrow 4-3-3 with Park tucking in alongside Granero and Faurlin, and Chelsea had an orthodox offensive winger, but only on one side. Moses operated on the right wing, which stretched QPR's left flank, something that Ramires was not able to offer and duly had a shot at Cesar while going up against Bosingwa. Cisse's presence also came to effect when QPR's forwards' positioning allowed Zamora to stay advanced enough for him to chase down a sloppy backpass. Shame he didn't finish that. 

As Chelsea started realising they needed to chase the game, they started surging men forward, and we started seeing Mikel and Ramires making random runs into the box, and Lampard starting to have more efforts on goal. Hence the introduction of Sturridge; while his direct running style is different from Torres, Torres started his runs from a deeper position than Sturridge, cutting in to finish himself, while Sturridge was not afraid to push wide and cross, which made it easy for the advancing central midfielders to lap up crosses. QPR's narrowness was again exposed at the death, when Hazard was unmarked inside the box but shot high.

Fantasy Implications:

Hazard is starting to get more and more 90 minute games, and with his roles in creating, linking and finishing chances, is almost a certain must have in teams. In this Chelsea formation however, how Bertrand (who was taken off) and Ramires are differentials worth considering, RDM might tinker around a bit by utilising Mata and Moses a little more. Torres is looking more and more like a form player, and as attractive as his spot in Chelsea's team may be, you'd probably find better value elsewhere. As for QPR, Granero as a chief creator is assist worthy, but is lack of tendency to shoot will lower his value a bit. Worth monitoring though. Everyone else in the squad probably can't be recommended now until QPR hit a patch of goal scoring form. Ryan Nelsen at 3.9 looks like a decent differential if he can maintain his run in the squad.

P.S. The whole handshaking saga is looking a bit childish if you ask me. The bickering that goes on is almost sitcom like. There was an article about abolishing pre-match handshakes that I read that stated a very sensible point: If you wanted to show respect towards your opponent, play the 90 minutes, earn it from them and then go up to them and shake their hand. I have a feeling that someone made a lot of money banking on who shook/ignored who''s handshakes XD

Stoke 1 Man City 1

Lineups:

Interesting developments as Tony Pulis integrates Steve N'Zonzi and Charlie Adam into his side for the first time. Walters was pushed out wide right replacing Jermaine Pennant, as Charlie Adam is shifted into an advanced link up role in the center of the park behind Crouch. Michael Kightly keeps his spot on the left, while N'Zonzi takes up the middle alongside Glen Whelan instead of Geoff Cameron. Man City, however, sought to make use of Stoke's deep lying midfielders and the isolated Crouch by fielding Maicon and Clichy in advanced wingback roles, a tactic used later in the Champions League against Real Madrid. 

Nasri and Scott Sinclair were the widemen for City, with Yaya Toure and Javi Garcia occupying the center. At first glance, Walters and Kightly have a lot of work to do to protect their fullbacks from the likes of Maicon/Nasri or Clichy/Sinclair, and since the middle of the park also looks like a City favouring mismatch, Stoke will probably have the best chance of scoring by counting on Adam and Crouch to link up front to create chances. Adam and Walters have a lot of ground to cover though, but with key battles along the flanks, in the center of the pitch as well as in defenders v strikers, Stoke's resistance will be thoroughly examined this game.

Tactical Notes:

• City and Stoke showing poor passing quality caused by Stoke's frequent stoppage of play through hard pressing

The opening exchanges were cagey, with both teams nullifying each other in open play and passing quality being poor, both teams relied on set pieces or winning individual battles to create chances. An interesting thing to note is that although both teams tried playing the short passing game in the final third, Stoke won the aerial duels when long clearances were made, but City were usually faster to the second ball. However, incessant Stoke pressure (combined with fouls) meant that City were never able to utilise that second ball, resulting in frequent stoppages of play. Also, Stoke only started pressing City near the half way line, which reduced the amount of running Crouch, Walters and Adam had to do, and subsequent the supporting central midfielders. As long as Stoke were dilligent, aggresive and alert, they were more than happy to concede possession to City. Stoke themselves had Crouch for an attacking avenue, but his passes were so poor that usually the attacks broke down to nothing when Crouch had to play the ball.

So at this point, the obvious game-deciders were there: The team that makes use of its set pieces will create the better chances. Stoke's goal came from a corner where Walters got to the second ball first, crossed back and Crouch beat Kompany in the air, and avoided the whistle of the refs to score. Handball aside, Stoke confirmed that Crouch is certainly able to win aerials duels regardless of position, but it shows that City were quick enough to the second ball (and the third) but were just plain unfortunate to concede. City's goal came from a free kick that Balotelli won when he dropped to receive the ball and cut in to have a run at Wilkinson. To Stoke's credit, they didn't give in under City's momentum and kept the scoreline level at half time thanks to their own diligence and Asmir Begovic's solid goalkeeping.

• Mancini's infamous plan B: but with more midfielders compared to last season

In the second half, both teams began as they ended the first half, the quality of passing never improving. Mancini then deployed his usual Plan B of attempting to shift his entire midfield, especially Yaya Toure forward. Usually he takes off an attacking midfielder like Silva or Nasri and brings a defensive midfielder on, but in this case, he took off Tevez for Barry, which implies that Tevez, who initially played behind Balotelli, had been occupying the space that City's midfielders flooded into. Immediately Yaya Toure was seen marauding in the box, and with Nasri and Silva operating on the edge of the box, the likes of Balotelli and Barry frequently sought the flanks as an avenue to cross to Toure, or Nasri/Silva to shoot. 

With keeping City's midfield narrow in mind, he ordered Nasri to tuck in, and he took off a wing forward, Scott Sinclair, for Silva to cut in and create chances, now that his midfielders were starting to dominate the center of the park. Stoke, who responded by bringing on like for like, failed to seize the center and as a result their widemen failed to receive the ball and attack City on the counter. It was all one way traffic from here on; Chances were Spurned by Nasri, Balotelli, Javi Garcia and particularly Dzeko, who burned Marc Wilson for pace late on (from a Nasri long ball) and the heroics continued from Begovic and Shawcross.

Fantasy Implications:

With the City's defence largely untested, its hard to say whether they are worth investing in at the moment. Attacking wise, Tevez's set piece taking duties are a new plus, but Mancini's current plan B will be a worry for Tevez's fantasy owners, unless until Aguero gets back. Maicon and Clichy are now potential differentials, but we have to wait for a run of a couple of games in City's blueprint to tell whether they are investment worthy too. Silva and Nasri's stock will no doubt remain monitored, as opposition that kick the opposition themselves rather than the ball would limit their Fantasy potential. For Stoke, Crouch is the tried and true pick of the bunch, with Walter's new position now affecting his Fantasy potential. Adam will be monitored for the next few games, as it is too early to judge how he'll fit in Stoke's new system.