Michael Cox: Chilwell’s acceleration offers Chelsea exactly what they need
The easiest way of explaining Chelsea’s pursuit of Ben Chilwell is very simple — Frank Lampard wants a left-back capable of both attacking and defending.
Until now, Lampard’s options haven’t ticked both boxes.
Marcos Alonso was signed on the strength of his performances at wing-back for Fiorentina and was the greatest beneficiary of Antonio Conte’s switch to 3-4-3 early on in his first campaign as manager. Over just shy of four seasons with Chelsea, Alonso has 20 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League, a hugely impressive return, but in a defensive sense he is constantly bypassed too easily.
Cesar Azpilicueta, more of a natural right-back and certainly capable of tucking inside to play in a back three, has also featured on the left. He was regularly deployed there in the second Jose Mourinho era, when Mourinho wanted a solid defender to largely remain in position and allow Eden Hazard the freedom to attack solo. But while Azpilicueta has developed into a good crosser from the right, he offers little in an attacking sense when fielded on the other side.
Then there’s Emerson Palmieri, who doesn’t quite offer the requisite level either with or without possession — he was hauled off after just 34 minutes when Chelsea travelled to Arsenal in December, the starkest sign that Lampard isn’t convinced.
Chilwell is a more complete left-back — solid defensively, a good crosser and, in particular, very useful at attacking transitions.
His pace isn’t necessarily the first thing you notice when watching Chilwell play, but his combined acceleration and speed of thought have been extremely useful in helping Leicester City switch from defence to attack with just a couple of touches.
Here are a couple of examples.
The first comes from a 3-1 defeat away to Arsenal early last season, when Claude Puel was still in charge. Leicester scored the opening goal that Monday night, which is in the books as a Hector Bellerin own goal. The credit, though, goes almost entirely to Chilwell.
With Alexandre Lacazette playing as Arsenal’s right winger, Chilwell spotted an opportunity to storm past the striker when Wilfred Ndidi had possession in the middle.
Again, it’s not necessarily the speed of Chilwell’s run that proves crucial but the timing of it. Ndidi’s pass is perfectly weighted, Chilwell takes the ball past Bellerin with his first touch, gets in behind, and then his attempted cross deflects off the Arsenal right-back and trickles in.
Leicester went from having the ball in midfield to having the ball in Bernd Leno’s net, essentially courtesy of a good run and a good first touch.
Here’s another example, from August’s 3-1 victory over Bournemouth. This time, Chilwell doesn’t need to make a run, but it’s the same principle. A Bournemouth cross is headed clear and he collects a bouncing ball inside his own half.
He controls it with his first touch and moves forward a little, before launching a huge pass over the top for a typical Jamie Vardy run.
The ball is so well weighted that Vardy doesn’t even need to take a touch — he simply watches it bounce and then lobs it over Aaron Ramsdale to make it 1-0. Again, there’s a neat efficiency here, no touches are wasted.
While team-mates Vardy and Ayoze Perez collected hat-tricks on the night, Chilwell was arguably Leicester’s most impressive player in the famous 9-0 thrashing of Southampton in October — he was involved in the first seven goals, getting the first himself.
That goal, although ultimately a rebound from a saved shot, was another example of his ability to arrive at the right place at the right time — when Ndidi plays this square pass, Chilwell is out of shot and James Maddison thinks the ball is for him.
But Chilwell’s burst of acceleration means he suddenly comes into the picture, plays the ball first-time for Harvey Barnes, and then is on hand to tuck home the rebound.
Chilwell later showed his crossing ability, not merely showcasing technical quality to whip the ball into the box, but demonstrating great vision to pick out Perez, making a run from the opposite flank to the far post, where he volleyed home.
Chilwell has benefited from having a good on-pitch relationship with many of his Leicester team-mates. Ndidi, as well as often finding Chilwell on the run with some good passes, has also offered cover when he’s stormed forward on the overlap. Maddison, when fielded from the left flank, drifts inside to open up space. It’s easy to imagine him developing similar relationships with N’Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount or Hakim Ziyech in these respects.
Chelsea don’t quite have a striker as adept at making runs into the left-hand channel as Vardy, however, while Chilwell has also benefited from the good passing range of his centre-backs. He often used to sprint onto the end of Harry Maguire’s straight passes in behind — Chelsea don’t have such an obvious defensive playmaker since David Luiz’s departure last summer.
Chilwell has generally been solid without possession since breaking into the Leicester first team. He notably struggled against former team-mate Riyad Mahrez in Manchester City’s 3-1 victory just before Christmas, although this was partly because Kevin De Bruyne was making his typical runs into the channel just inside Chilwell and, much like many other sides this season, he was faced with having to track two runners simultaneously.
It’s also worth pointing out that Chilwell, along with Hamza Choudhury, was dropped for the 2-1 loss away to Burnley in January after turning up late for a training session, although this appears to have been an isolated incident.
His acquisition would be a good upgrade for Chelsea rather than a truly game-changing one, but with the 23-year-old on one flank and Reece James, who isn’t 21 until December, on the other they would have their full-back options sorted for much of the next decade.
