We Ain't Got No History - Premier League Match 1: Burnley vs. ChelseaChampions of Europe!https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52884/21_SBN_002_We_Aint_Got_No_History_Favicon_32x32..png2014-08-21T21:44:58+01:00http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/rss/stream/57834462014-08-21T21:44:58+01:002014-08-21T21:44:58+01:00Match Analysis: Chelsea at Burnley
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<figcaption>Clive Brunskill</figcaption>
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<p>Chelsea at Burnley</p> <p style="padding-top:60px"><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea's</a> 2014/15 campaign began with a comfortable 3-1 win at Burnley. It was the most impressive display produced by any Premier League side on opening weekend, and has the Blues sitting atop the table: there was plenty to like about Chelsea's display. The response to going behind was excellent, <span>Diego Costa</span> broke his duck 17 minutes into his Premier League career and Andre Schurrle capped off a fantastic team move with an excellent goal that also turned out to be the winner.</p>
<p>The emphatic superiority that the Blues demonstrated between Burnley going ahead and halftime underlines their credentials as serious title challengers, but the media reaction has been predictably overblown. Chelsea are by no means going to walk away with the title on the strength of this performance, no matter how much we're told they are. For one, it's Burnley, a team Chelsea should be beating comfortably, home or away. And for two, the scoreline and attacking flair glosses over some very real holes in the play.</p>
<p>Let's try to cut through the hype and look at this for what it is -- a good, but not awe-inspiring win that promises happy things to come but also contains some worrying flaws. Time to dig in properly.</p>
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<h4>Burnley</h4>
<p>#1: <span>Tom Heaton</span> (GK), #2 Keiran Trippier (RB), #4 Mike Duff (CB), #5 <span>Jason Shackell</span> (CB), #6 Benjamin Mee (LB), #8 <span>Dean Marney</span> (CM), #10 <span>Danny Ings</span> (CF), #14 <span>David Jones</span> (CM), #15 <span>Matthew Taylor</span> (LM), #19 <span>Lukas Jutkiewicz</span> (CF), #37 <span>Scott Arfield</span> (RM).</p>
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<span class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea</span><br>
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<p>#2 Branislav Ivanovic (RB), #4 Cesc Fabregas (CM), #8 Oscar (CM/CAM), #10 <span>Eden Hazard</span> (LF), #13 <span>Thibaut Courtois</span> (GK), #14 Andre Schurrle (RF), #19 Diego Costa (CF), #21 Nemanja Matic (CM), #24 <span>Gary Cahill</span> (CB), #26 <span>John Terry</span> (CB), #28 Cesar Azpilicueta (LB)</p>
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<p>Chelsea were ostensibly lined up in 4-2-3-1, but they refused to stick to a rigid formation for much of the match, mostly thanks to a fascinating interchange in midfield. Oscar started as a traditional no. 10, but as the match progressed it soon became apparent that he was nothing of the sort — he had significant responsibilities in maintaining possession during buildup play, with Cesc Fabregas taking a more advanced position and Chelsea’s defensive shape tended towards 4-3-3.</p>
<p>This was most obvious in the first half, when the Blues were actually playing — more on that later — but it’s clear that Oscar’s contributions to this team probably shouldn’t be judged by his place on the team sheet. He had, as indeed all footballers do, a more complex role than that.</p>
<p>Let’s circle back to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2014/08/mourinho--quality-counts.html">an interesting Jose Mourinho quote </a>from last week:</p>
<p>"People talk about tactics and systems, 4-4-2, 4-5-1, but i<b>n a simple way to analyse football everything depends on space and time.</b> In certain matches, when you don’t have space and time to play, you need more quality. We are working in that direction, to play against teams with low blocks and who are very compact, to play against teams with 10 players behind the ball."</p>
<p>The obsession with systems makes for interesting reading but doesn’t necessarily tell us what a player is meant to be doing. Granted, what a player actually does doesn’t necessarily tell us what a player is meant to be doing either, but given the lack of screaming from Mourinho at Oscar during the game we can tell he was more or less sticking to the plan. Which, therefore, looked something like this:</p>
<p><b>Chelsea in non-transition possession: </b>Drop back into midfield and circulate the ball with Fabregas and Matic. Pulling away from Burnley’s central midfield gave Chelsea an overload in the middle of the pitch in which to hold the ball; if Burnley’s players tried to chase them down that opened up space in the centre for the wide forwards to attack. If they didn’t, there was no threat to the attack.</p>
<p><b>Chelsea in transition possession: </b>Immediately engage Burnley’s central midfielders, exchange passes with wide players or Diego Costa to break through the first line of the Claret’s defense. Baiting challenges opens up space to hit on the counterattack.</p>
<p><b>Chelsea committed to attack: </b>Free role whenever Chelsea are encamped in final third. Find and exploit space as appropriate.</p>
<p><b>Burnley in possession: </b>Drop back into midfield with Matic and Fabregas, attack ball if feasible but deny space in centre if not.</p>
<p>The first two aspects are the most interesting, because combined they meant that Oscar wasn’t really pulling the strings of this Chelsea side, a job that instead belonged to Fabregas. Instead, Oscar was in charge of the transition game — and with Burnley being Burnley he didn’t get a chance to spring the counterattack too often.</p>
<p style="padding-bottom:30px">He will be judged, of course, on goals and assists, and it’s true that Chelsea weren’t good enough on the attack, managing just three shots on target at Turf Moor. But Oscar’s presence allowed the team to flip between modes of play fairly seamlessly, and there are few No. 10s who can have been as important across the pitch as Oscar was on Monday.</p>
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<h4 class="special">Issues in the air</h4>
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<p class="insert-caption">Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images</p>
<p style="padding-top:60px">One worrying sign that won’t have escaped the attention of astute viewers is that Burnley were on the attack far more often than a team of their limited calibre ‘should’ have been against a Chelsea side playing well in midfield. Sean Dyche set up his side to play a little like Pulis’ Stoke, deliberately bypassing the central zones and bombarding Chelsea with high balls.</p>
<p>This is not something that has tended to work very well against the Blues, particularly not Jose Mourinho’s version of them. Chelsea fielded the tallest team of the Premier League’s opening weekend; out of the back six four (John Terry, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic and Nemanja Matic) are known for their ability in the air. But, curiously, Burnley had by far the better of the Blues whenever the ball was above head-height.</p>
<p>Within the first fifteen seconds, Lukas Jutkiewicz beat Terry in the air, setting up a snapshot that went well wide of Thibaut Courtois’ right-hand post. The Burnley goal also stemmed from Terry being beaten in the air, this time leading to a free kick that went for the fatal corner. And although that goal wasn’t an obvious problem with aerial play, it was certainly a defensive issue — Terry didn’t follow Matic’s clearance out of the box, leaving three players onside. The consequences were inevitable.</p>
<p>Chelsea’s inability to deal with anything over shoulder-height (Courtois, who was excellent on crosses, is excluded) wasn’t just a defensive problem. It also led to issues retaining possession: long balls out of the box from Courtois, which were normally aimed at Ivanovic and Diego Costa, were routinely turning into possession for Burnley. Naturally, this changed after Didier Drogba came in, but by then the game had been long-since dead.</p>
<p>The fact that Burnley were able to do so much damage in the first half probably informed Mourinho’s decision to kill the game after the break. Chelsea, who had been fluid and adventurous before halftime, did essentially nothing that they didn’t have to following the restart, keeping their shape as compact as possible to ensure that knockdowns weren’t being chased down by Burnley’s midfielders.</p>
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<p>Chelsea’s issues on this front is probably the most important takeaway from the match. That a fluid, Fabregas-centric attack carved open a not-particularly-defensive newly-promoted side is entirely unsurprising, and without any surprises it’s impossible to learn much about our attacking play. This team is what we thought they were going forward, and we won’t know how well that actually works until we face sterner tests (<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://fosseposse.sbnation.com/">Leicester City</a> might park the bus at Stamford Bridge, and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a> away after that is definitely going to be more problematic).</p>
<p style="padding-bottom:40px">That the defense struggled in the air throughout the match is a surprise, and an unpleasant one. With Chelsea not looking particularly defensively sound throughout preseason, there should be serious concerns — and Mourinho didn't look <i>that</i> happy at full time — about how we deal with more potent teams in the future. Please don’t be broken, defence.</p>
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https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/8/21/6049101/match-analysis-chelsea-at-burnleyGraham MacAree2014-08-20T06:52:37+01:002014-08-20T06:52:37+01:00Burnley vs. Chelsea: Player Ratings
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<figcaption>Laurence Griffiths</figcaption>
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<p>Summer signings making instant impact.</p> <p>
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<b>1. CESC FÀBREGAS</b> - MC</td>
<td style="width: 50px; height: 50px; vertical-align: middle; font-size: 30px; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black;"><i>9.3</i></td>
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<span class="statwords">Minutes played</span><span><b>90</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Touches</span><span><b>106</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Passes</span><span><b>78**</b></span><b>/89</b>
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<span class="statwords">Through balls</span><span><b>2/2</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Shots</span><span><b>0/0</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Tackles</span><span><b>3/5</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Blocks + INTs</span><span><b>3</b></span>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Mourinho hailed the incoming ex-<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://theshortfuse.sbnation.com/">Arsenal</a> man as our midfield saviour, and so far, he's once again proving to be absolutely right. It's taken Fàbregas exactly one game to better all but three of last year's individual player performances. And if we look back over the two-year history of the WAGNH Player Ratings (<a href="http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2013/5/30/4371460/wagnh-2012-13-chelsea-fc-season-community-player-ratings">2012/13</a>, <a href="http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/5/25/5719574/2013-14-chelsea-community-player-ratings-player-of-the-year">2013/14</a>), Fàbregas's 9.3 rating is good for seventh all-time, tied with André Schürrle's game-changing performance against PSG in last year's Champions League quarterfinals. That's not a bad debut by anybody's standards.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Deployed next to Nemanja Matic in what is likely to be our ideal midfield pairing unless playing against the league's and the continent's elite, Cesc controlled the game, wasn't afraid to get involved on defense (leading the team in whatever it is that Opta defines as "interceptions"), and had a hand in all three <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea</a> goals. It was his sublimely nonchalant backheel that opened up the space for Branislav Ivanovic to cross on the first goal; it was his absolutely scintillating first-time threading of the needle that provided the assist for André Schürrle's goal (secondary assist: Ivanović), and it was his well-taken corner kick that was thumped home by that man again, Branislav Ivanović. Yes, Bane had a hand in all three goals as well -- an attacking tour-de-force from the right back! (At the cost of forgetting a bit about defense, much like the rest of his defensive colleagues.)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">While I doubt that Fàbregas will keep up this level of performance throughout the rest of the season, if he does come anywhere near it, we'll most likely live up to our preseason billing as Premier League favorites.</div>
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<b>2. DIEGO COSTA </b>- ST</td>
<td style="width: 50px; height: 50px; vertical-align: middle; font-size: 30px; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black;"><i>8.5</i></td>
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<span class="statwords">Minutes played</span><span><b>90</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Touches</span><span><b>60</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Passes</span><span><b>40/49</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Shots</span><span><b>1*/2</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Fouls committed</span><span><b>3</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Aerial duels</span><span><b>3/10</b></span>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Like Kellogg's is a part of this complete breakfast, <span>Diego Costa</span> is a part of this complete football team. Except <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AdjacentToThisCompleteBreakfast">unlike the breakfast claim</a>, this one's actually true and healthy in every sense of the word. And it's a way better thing that this joke I just attempted on the whole "complete striker" business.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">(Wait, wait, are we counting it again this season, too? Because so far it's Chelsea strikers 1, Lukaku 0...)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">All that aside, it was lovely to see Diego Costa get off the mark in his first official Chelsea match simply by being at the right place at the right time. All his other work -- including the penalty kick that he should've been awarded, but for which he was booked instead -- was just the gravy on top.</div>
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<b>3. ANDRÉ SCHÜRRLE </b>- AMR</td>
<td style="width: 50px; height: 50px; vertical-align: middle; font-size: 30px; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black;"><i>8.3</i></td>
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<span class="statwords">Minutes played</span><span><b>77</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Touches</span><span><b>63</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Passes</span><span><b>33/38</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Shots</span><span><b>1*/5</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Take-ons</span><span><b>0/2</b></span>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">The Summer of Schürrle continues; the Champion of the World goes from strength to strength. He finished last season on a high, carried that form through the World Cup and now he's already opened his goalscoring account for this year.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Perhaps a touch over-exuberant at times -- he ignored obvious passes, especially to Diego Costa, and finished with almost half of all Chelsea shots taken (5 of 11) -- but while André carries on with this hot streak (and he was a bit unlucky not to score another goal), nobody's going to complain (much).</div>
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<p><i>OTHERS:</i><br>Courtois (<b>7.6</b>), Azpilicueta (<b>7.3</b>), Terry (<b>6.8</b>), Cahill (<b>6.9</b>), Ivanović (<b>8.1</b>), Matić (<b>7.7</b>), Hazard (<b>7.7</b>), Oscar (<b>7.1</b>)</p>
<p><i>SUBS:</i><br>Mikel (<b>6.2</b>), Drogba (<b>6.9</b>), Willian (<b>6.4</b>)</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/8/20/6047073/burnley-chelsea-player-ratings-man-of-the-matchDavid Pasztor2014-08-19T17:08:36+01:002014-08-19T17:08:36+01:00Breaking down Schurrle's goal vs. Burnley
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<figcaption>Clive Brunskill</figcaption>
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<p>Andre Schurrle's winner against Burnley is, so far, the most exquisite goal scored in the Premier League this season. It has almost everything you could ask for except a difficult finish, and that's more than forgivable considering the intricate team play that went into building that chance. But there's more to the goal than Schurrle's sliding finish, or Cesc Fabregas' volleyed flick, or <span>Eden Hazard's</span> clever run -- the passage of play ran through four distinct phases, each of them important. Let's dig in.</p>
<h5>Phase 1: Transition</h5>
<p>Players: Cahill, Ivanovic, Matic<br>Time: 19:48-19:52</p>
<p><span>Thibaut Courtois</span> punts upfield, Burnley hack clear. The ball stays in play, floating down the pitch to the extreme <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea</a> right, so <span>Gary Cahill</span> comes across to deal with it. This is the first touch of the attack, and it happens at 19:48.</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/663226/schurrle_1.0.png"></p>
<p>It's difficult to know exactly what Cahill has in mind with his clearance. Under pressure from Lukas Jutkiewicz, he doesn't have time to control the ball, hitting it down the line with his first touch. It's probable that he meant for the ball to get to Branislav Ivanovic, who was still a long way upfield after the Courtois kick, but this is primarily a clearance rather than a pass. That's not to take away from Cahill -- properly directing your clearances is an extremely important skill for a defender, and it worked to perfection here.</p>
<p>Faced with the ball coming at him at pace, Ivanovic does well to flick into the centre, where there are a pair of blue shirts waiting. Nemanja Matic takes control, shooing Oscar up the pitch and running into the central third. Chelsea have now transitioned from a (very weak) Burnley attack to having possession in the middle third. The next phase must therefore be an attempted counter.</p>
<h5>Phase 2: Attempted counterattack</h5>
<p>Players: Matic, Costa, Hazard, Oscar<br>Time: 19:52-19:59</p>
<p>Matic has the ball in the centre circle. Seeing that <span>Diego Costa</span> is ahead of him and in a position to receive the ball, the Serbian threads a neat pass through Burnley's midfield to pick him out. Costa immediately knocks back to Oscar and moves to engage the defence; Oscar exchanges passes with Eden Hazard before giving up on the counterattack (which makes sense -- Burnley's showing down their left was a mostly non-threatening long ball and they hadn't committed bodies forward) and knocking the ball back to Matic.</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/663248/schurrle_2.0.png"></p>
<p>Failing to find an avenue through which to counterattack, Chelsea switch into a slower passing regime: they need to establish control of the middle third and probe for weak links. Time for phase three.</p>
<h5>Phase 3: Midfield control</h5>
<p>Players: Matic, Azpilicueta, Fabregas, Oscar, Hazard, Cahill<br>Time: 19:59-20:31</p>
<p>There probably isn't much incentive to map out <i>exactly</i> what happens here. It's by far the longest phase of this play, and by its very nature will feature a lot of safe passes designed to move the ball while retaining possession rather than giving Burnley any immediate problems. But there are some general things we can learn from it regardless -- perhaps the most important being the Oscar-Matic-Fabregas midfield triangle.</p>
<p>Thus far, with Chelsea playing quickly, we hadn't seen Cesc Fabregas involved at all. Now is his time to get into the action. Although the Blues are in theory playing a 4-2-3-1, in reality we're looking at a hybrid system with Oscar joining the central midfield during buildup play, giving us a passing triangle which Burnley were loathe to disrupt for fear of opening up space for Hazard, Schurrle and Costa to attack. So the trio passes around, using Hazard, Cesar Azpilicueta and Cahill as occasional outlets.</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/663246/schurrle_3.0.png"></p>
<p>Since Burnley aren't coming out of their shell, it's up to the midfielders (specifically Fabregas) to determine when the optimal time to change tempo is. His decision came when Schurrle and Hazard converged in the centre, ending a 13-pass, 31-second sequence in which Chelsea controlled the ball without looking to test Burnley. Now it was time to delivery the killer blow.</p>
<h5>Phase 4: The big push</h5>
<p>Players: Schurrle, Hazard, Ivanovic, Fabregas<br>Time: 20:31-20:43</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/663242/schurrle_4.0.png"></p>
<p>Chesea have a number of weapons by which they can attack teams. Each member of the midfield trio is capable of picking out a Diego Costa run; Andre Schurrle can use his speed to exploit a hole on the flank; the fullbacks can make overlapping runs and cross. But none of those options is quite as good at sending defenders into panic as an Eden Hazard dribble. At full speed, it's impossible to defend him without losing one's shape, and that's how Chelsea chose to begin the real part of their attack.</p>
<p>Fabregas passed up to Schurrle in the centre. With Hazard already accelerating, the German lays the ball off, leaving Hazard in possession and accelerating into the final third. This is more or less the first time Chelsea have been in Burnley's defensive zone during this possession, and it throws the Clarets into chaos. Lukas Jutkiewicz and Mike Duff both lunge in and fail to make the challenge, and for a moment it looks as though Hazard might just go it alone.</p>
<p>But no. Instead, having sucked four defenders into him and leaving a fifth in the dust, he lays the ball off to Branislav Ivanovic, steaming up from the right wing.</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/663238/schurrle_5.0.png"></p>
<p>At this point, both Schurrle and Fabregas are unmarked. The entire Burnley midfield has collapsed onto Hazard's run, and with an Ivanovic cross having led to a Diego Costa goal all of four minutes earlier, the back line is assuming that the right back will try something similar on this possession. He goes for a much better option instead.</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/663244/schurrle_6.0.png"></p>
<p>Dinking the ball to Fabregas here is quite frankly the last thing I was expecting Ivanovic to try. He's hardly an elite passer (or crosser, for that matter), but Fabregas is in so much space that it can't hurt to give it a shot, so that's exactly what he does. Chelsea are of course used to their midfielders making these sorts of runs, and the obvious thing for Fabregas to do here is shoot.</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/663240/schurrle_7.0.png"></p>
<p>He doesn't, because as the ball is coming to him he sees Andre Schurrle making a clever run behind the Burnley line. A half-volleyed pass finds the German in his stride, and Chelsea are 2-1 up.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">* * *</p>
<p>What can we take away from this? There are a few things. The first is a better understanding of Oscar's role in this attack. He isn't playing like a pure number ten and probably shouldn't be judged as one: he'll score goals and get assists, but his primary purpose for much of this game was to help Chelsea keep the ball until the forwards create space.</p>
<p>The second is the role of Hazard. Like Oscar, he's been accused of having an underwhelming match, which might be fair, but his run is what triggered the goal, completely destroying the structure of the Burnley defence and allowing the Ivanovic-Fabregas-Schurrle connection to bear such wonderful fruit. Hazard remains the team's most potent weapon, even when he's not involved in the final couple of passes.</p>
<p>And third is: that was really awesome. 25 passes, with everyone getting a touch bar Courtois and <span>John Terry</span>? I could watch this goal for weeks.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/8/19/6044795/andre-schurrle-goal-burnley-analysis-breakdownGraham MacAree2014-08-19T06:25:17+01:002014-08-19T06:25:17+01:00Mourinho gives Courtois verdict, Čech expectations
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FpOL6A4nUcYfWr1ihJQkwy5mfZw=/0x470:3065x2513/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/37145782/453785118.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Laurence Griffiths</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For just the second time since opening day 2004, <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea</a> started the season without Petr Čech in goal. Unlike 2006 however, when Big Pete was finishing his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery and was replaced by Carlo Cudicini temporarily, this time feels a bit more final. Mourinho chose to go with young super-talent <span>Thibaut Courtois</span>, a move that surely wasn't just decided by a coin flip.</p>
<p>Despite the conceded goal -- one that may not have been saved even if we had both goalkeepers standing back there -- Courtois was steadily impressive, especially in the air. On the TV, Martin Tyler's co-commentator Danny Mills couldn't stop talking about the "8-foot" wingspan. But what's the boss's verdict on the 22-year-old's first Premier League appearance and, by extension, his own decision to initiate a changing of the guard at the position that has practically become shorthand for Petr Čech?</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"I do not like to say it is for the rest of the season. He was the first choice today and he played well enough to be my first choice in the next game but, when you have a top professional like Petr, if you do not perform you are in trouble. I am not in trouble, Chelsea are not in trouble. I am safe, Chelsea are safe."</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><i>-Jose Mourinho; source: <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fteams%2Fchelsea%2F11042500%2FPetr-Cech-will-fight-for-his-place-at-Chelsea-despite-Thibaut-Courtois-starting-at-Burnley-says-Jose-Mourinho.html&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fweaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com%2F2014%2F8%2F19%2F6043887%2Fmourinho-gives-courtois-verdict-cech-expectations" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Telegraph</a></i></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, Mourinho might not be able to have his cake and eat it, too. Keeping two world class goalkeepers happy and rearing to go at a moment's notice if needed is a task that may be beyond even his fairly sizable man-management skills.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"[Čech] didn't ask [to leave] and I hope he does not ask. I want to keep him and hopefully he stays. No player is happy when not playing every game. Sometimes they are not happy when you give them a rest and rotate."</p>
<p>"I do not know one player not unhappy when not playing but I have known Petr for 10 years. He will not relax and say, 'I have no chance'. He will be exactly the opposite so I expect him on Wednesday to go to the training ground and be a top professional and go back to work."</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><i>-Jose Mourinho; source: <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fteams%2Fchelsea%2F11042500%2FPetr-Cech-will-fight-for-his-place-at-Chelsea-despite-Thibaut-Courtois-starting-at-Burnley-says-Jose-Mourinho.html&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fweaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com%2F2014%2F8%2F19%2F6043887%2Fmourinho-gives-courtois-verdict-cech-expectations" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Telegraph</a></i></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Well that certainly is the ideal, "professional" scenario. I suppose we'll find out soon enough how close reality comes to matching that.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/8/19/6043887/mourinho-gives-courtois-verdict-cech-expectationsDavid Pasztor2014-08-18T22:38:55+01:002014-08-18T22:38:55+01:00Chelsea cruise at Turf Moor
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<figcaption>Laurence Griffiths</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Football is back. And, judging from the way we played while the game was still in doubt, good football is back. Granted, Chelsea went down 1-0 thanks to completely botching a defensive corner, and granted we did absolutely nothing in the second half, and granted we looked calamitously inept whenever the ball was above shoulder height, but those are worries for another day. This day is for enjoying.</p>
<p>But we should start from the beginning. The beginning of this match featured the ball bouncing around like crazy and Burnley's Lucas Jutkiewicz smash a long-range snapshot well wide. Thibaut Courtois' first Chelsea goal kick occurred a grand total of 15 seconds into the match. It was abundantly clear that the hosts' strategy would be to hoof the ball and hope they got some bounces in their favour.</p>
<p>And 14 minutes in they got a fairly major bounce. Chelsea really only had themselves to blame, however -- John Terry didn't follow out Nemanja Matic's clearance from a corner, leaving Matty Taylor free to race to the byline and cross once Burnley had knocked the ball back in. Everyone was onside, the defence was scrambling back, and that left Scott Arfield free at the edge of the box. One lovely volley later and Burnley were 1-0 up.</p>
<p>By this point, the Blues had already shown some measure of attacking threat. Andre Schurrle, fed by the excellent Cesc Fabregas, had seen a shot from just outside the box deflected just wide for a corner kick early on; the team knew more of that would be required. And so they provided it.</p>
<p>Perhaps Chelsea were actually helped by Burnley going ahead so early. Intent on defending their lead, the hosts abandoned their frenetic pressing game and actually let the Blues have the ball higher up the pitch. This proved to be a fatal error -- Fabregas ripped them open with a backheel for Branislav Ivanovic, whose cross was deflected by a lunging Clarets defender, bounced off Tom Heaton's right-hand post and fell to Diego Costa, lurking with intent in the area of the box marked 'here be dragons' in the goalkeeping manuals.</p>
<p>The new signing didn't flinch, smashing his shot off Jason Shackell and in to make it 1-1.</p>
<p>It was an encouraging goal, but the job wasn't nearly done. Chelsea had travelled to Turf Moor to claim three points and get what will hopefully be a special season off on the right foot, and 1-1 after 20 minutes wasn't what anyone had in mind. The 21st minute brought far happier things.</p>
<p>Consider, if you like, Eden Hazard in full flow. The ball glues itself to his feet, his low centre of balance and surprising strength allowing him to skip past opponents as though they aren't there, slipping through defensive blocks as though he's half-liquid. Eden Hazard did that.</p>
<p>After Hazard's scurrying run through the centre, the ball came right to Ivanovic. He met the pass with a clever dink to the unmarked Fabregas, who decided to add a rather larger dollop of clever to the play with a one-touch chip over the defence to Andre Schurrle, who stabbed past Heaton to give Chelsea a 2-1 lead.</p>
<p>It should have been three shortly thereafter when Benjamin Mee decided that his response to the Schurrle goal would be to commit metaphorical suicide. A weak backpass in the vague direction of the goalkeeper was seized upon by Costa, whose touch took him around Heaton before being brought down by an outstretched arm. A penalty would have been the appropriate response. Instead, Michael Oliver gave the striker a yellow card for simulation.</p>
<p>No matter. Ivanovic was on hand to grab the third when Burnley forgot to mark him on a corner kick -- not an error that teams typically get away with -- and Chelsea went into halftime both with a commanding lead and what seemed like the ability to cut Burnley apart at will. Unfortunately for spectacle's sake, they decided to forgo the second part of that equation, coming out after the break with the intent of killing off the match. Which they did.</p>
<p>Courtois had a decent stop from Arfield, but the only really significant event of the second half was the re-appearance of one Didier Drogba, whose previous competitive game for Chelsea was on May 19th, 2012. Here, he was under far less pressure, but he still seemed to revel in the occasion, on one point shrugging off a defender to take and volley (wide) a long clearance from Courtois. It's good to have him back, even if he isn't what he once was.</p>
<p>And it's good to have Chelsea back too. This was a performance of quality, good enough to secure the points before the interval and disciplined enough to conserve energy afterwards. The 3-1 lead leaves us top of the table after week one, and although that means almost nothing, I'd rather be there than anywhere else.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/8/18/6037031/chelsea-vs-burnley-final-score-result-match-reportGraham MacAree2014-08-18T21:52:10+01:002014-08-18T21:52:10+01:00Burnley 1 - Chelsea 3: Initial reaction
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vyQmjKImEITJKwoB_xZOUZ1l9zk=/0x50:4000x2717/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/37121590/453783548.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Laurence Griffiths</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Chelsea put a bit of a scare into us early, going behind early against a team they should beat with ease. Unlike the Chelsea squads of past seasons though, this group managed to be clinical enough in their finishing to effectively end the contest by the halftime whistle.</p>
<p>Chelsea were easily the most impressive team in the Premier League this weekend, and will sit atop the table tomorrow morning as a result of their excellent play. Here are my first thoughts after watching Monday night's game:</p>
<ul>
<li><span>I was surprised a bit by the lineup today. I fully expected to see <span>Thibaut Courtois</span> starting, but was surprised to see <span>Filipe Luis</span> on the bench. With a tough goalkeeping decision like that though, I can see the appeal of going with a back four with plenty of chemistry in front of the new keeper.</span></li>
<li><span>I was less surprised that Oscar and Andre Schurrle were fit enough to start tonight. Really, did anyone ever doubt that the pair would put in the work required to be (close enough to) fully fit sooner than expected?</span></li>
<li>It took exactly 30 minutes for the first truly terrible refereeing decision of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea's</a> new season. Michael Oliver decided to yellow card <span>Diego Costa</span> for diving when the center forward was clearly tripped by the goalkeeper in the box, a decision which probably would have put the game to bed with an hour left to play. No matter though, angry Bran took care of that just minutes later.</li>
<li>Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas were just excellent today, weren't they? It would be silly to make too many judgments based on one game against a lousy opponent, but it was a very good game for both nonetheless.</li>
<li>So much for a World Cup hangover from Andre Schurrle.</li>
<li>Welcome back, Didier Drogba. You've been missed.</li>
<li>This season is going to be fun. While the shortening days at the end of the summer are always sad in a way, the return of Chelsea football certainly makes the sun seem to stay out a bit later into the evening.</li>
</ul>
<p><iframe marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" height="500" width="760" src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/146wF4UOE4jIesXxdmygME8bVuBcB4emFQbY15WfJrNA/viewform?embedded=true">Loading...</iframe></p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/8/18/6031709/burnley-chelsea-initial-reaction-community-rating-formStephen Schmidt2014-08-18T20:50:34+01:002014-08-18T20:50:34+01:00Burnley vs. Chelsea: Second Half Thread
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_ctQBZGISLXXDaqo9fuASudYi-4=/0x320:4000x2987/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/37118690/453783416.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Laurence Griffiths</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It's more fun when it's a comeback.</p> <p><i>In the jungle, the mighty Turf Moor, the lion sleeps tonight...</i></p>
<p>Well, we <b>were </b>sleeping. And then we gave away a corner goal -- on a rather sumptuous <span>Scott Arfield</span> striker it has to be said -- and the sleeping lion woke up and decided to tear all things to Clarety bits.</p>
<p>Ignited by new boys Cesc Fabregas and <span>Diego Costa</span>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea</a> are up 3-1 at the half and continue looking for more. Costa opened the scoring with a poacher's effort (a striker in the right place at the right time? <i>HEAVENS TO BETSY!</i>), before Fabregas orchestrated <a href="http://gfycat.com/SandyRevolvingAquaticleech">one of the most beautiful goals you'll ever see</a>. Champion of the World Andre Schurrle made no mistake. The third was a bit more old school, Branislav Ivanovic thumping home a header off of a Fabregas corner.</p>
<p>And so, despite the Chelsea defense not looking their most solid (I'm looking at you especially, JT), the Blues are cruising in our first Premier League match of the season. Top of the table, even, for the nothing that's worth just yet!</p>
<p><iframe src="http://gfycat.com/SandyRevolvingAquaticleech" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="532" height="300" style="-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;-webkit-transform: scale(1);"></iframe></p>
<p>(And it could've been, perhaps should've been even more if the referee makes the correct call on the Diego Costa "diving" incident, which was at best a no-call and probably a penalty most of the time.)</p>
<p>Doesn't matter. Let's get a few more.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/8/18/6032895/burnley-vs-chelsea-second-half-threadDavid Pasztor2014-08-18T19:05:29+01:002014-08-18T19:05:29+01:00Burnley vs. Chelsea: Lineups & Game Thread
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/F0l2nEZJ86XQZPrp6NEMNx4Gous=/0x140:4000x2807/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/37108910/485911505.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Chris Brunskill</figcaption>
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<p>Finally, the wait is over. We've seen everybody else play their first game already, now it's finally our (and Burnley's) turn! Begone, anticipation! Hello, reality!</p>
<p>(Hopefully it's not a harsh reality.)</p>
<p>Speaking of which, plenty of history to continue on opening day for <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea</a>:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>In their last 10 opening day fixtures <a href="https://twitter.com/chelseafc">@chelseafc</a> have dropped 2 points from a possible 30 and have conceded 3 goals <a href="http://t.co/JsdhMAv53H">pic.twitter.com/JsdhMAv53H</a></p>
— MatchStory (@MatchStory) <a href="https://twitter.com/MatchStory/statuses/499176093648429057">August 12, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<p>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</p>
<p>---</p>
<p><b>Burnley starting lineup (4-4-2):</b><br><span>Tom Heaton</span> | <span>Ben Mee</span>, <span>Michael Duff</span>, <span>Jason Shackell</span>, <span>Kieran Trippier</span> | <span>Matthew Taylor</span>, <span>Dean Marney</span>, <span>David Jones</span>, <span>Scott Arfield</span> | <span>Lukas Jutkiewicz</span>, <span>Danny Ings</span></p>
<p><i>Substitutes from:</i> <span>Matt Gilks</span>, Cameron Dummigan, <span>Kevin Long</span>, <span>Ross Wallace</span>, <span>Michael Kightly</span>, <span>Marvin Sordell</span>, <span>Ashley Barnes</span></p>
<p><b>Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1):</b><br><span>Thibaut Courtois</span> | Cesar Azpilicueta, <span>John Terry</span>, <span>Gary Cahill</span>, Branislav Ivanovic | Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas | <span>Eden Hazard</span>, Oscar, Andre Schurrle | <span>Diego Costa</span></p>
<p><i>Substitutes from: </i> Petr Cech, Kurt Zouma, <span>Filipe Luis</span>, Mikel, Willian, <span>Fernando Torres</span>, Didier Drogba</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>And so the new era begins. Thibaut's in net, Diego Costa up top, Fabregas in the pivot. The rear guard is last season's tried and true and well-tested one, the attacking band is as expected especially considering the Summer of Schurrle.</p>
<p>Plenty of options on the bench as well, including Didier "out for 6 months" Drogba.</p>
<p>Here we go then. UP THE BLUES!</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/8/18/6031399/burnley-vs-chelsea-confirmed-lineupsDavid Pasztor