Win against Swansea: Chelsea have advanced from Old Trafford Impeccably

Today, A week on from a thrashing at Old Trafford Chelsea fans can breathe at ease.A 4-1 win over Swansea was refreshing after some choking early season and with Torres improving his goal tally by 50% the positives outweighed negatives yesterday.

He is the man!

Villas-Boas’s sound midfield

Frank Lampard has been a stalwart in the Chelsea midfield for years,but his influence in assists and goals has deflated.In the AVB 4-3-3 formation Frank has found it difficult to slot in and his demotion to the bench was no surprise against Swansea.He will be the first to admit that for the Mata’s to succeed at Chelsea he will have to give up his throne as the playmaker.

In the first 15 minutes, Swansea saw most of the possession as Chelsea only managed 105 passes with all passes being thwarted in the attacking third.

In the next 15 minutes,Chelsea had 156 potent passes,especially near the penalty box.Mata’s assist for Torres’s goal was one of his 17 passes during that period where he and Meireles got much of the ball,

After Torres’s goal till the end of the game,Swansea used their numerical advantage to make 366 passes to Chelsea’s 261.

Mark Gower was Swansea’s best passer with 51 passes and an assist, a role which Meireles did effectively for Chelsea

The formation that Chelsea played was tweaked from the previous games with Ramires playing a much more attacking and effective role.John Mikel provided anchor in midfield and was supported by Meireles and Ramires when making interceptions.

Juan Mata was able to drift laterally in advanced midfield,making short and quick passes.Nicolas Anelka after showing good awareness to pick up Torres last week played a similar role to Mata.

The balance of midfield of attacking and then dropping back to defend was magnificient,even after Torres was sent off.Anelka had to play as the lone striker but the lively Ramires was running his heart out and went on to be their best attacking outlet.

The secret of Chelsea’s win was no doubt their midfield, and finally Chelsea seem to have found the blossoming formula to catch the Manchester clubs.

Mikel was a welcome additon to the team