It's time for a midfield revamp at Chelsea
Chelsea have one of the best midfield’s in Europe. Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, and Mateo Kovačić are a rotating three which is supplemented by fringe players. While it is a great midfield it is one dimensional and a case can be made that it is time to move on from it. This holds true for Jorginho and Kante in particular. With two years remaining on their contracts Chelsea need to move on.
Through this article we will look at four key areas. Passing, goal and shot creation, defensive action and possession. They will be compared to Chelsea’s two rumored primary targets in Declan Rice of West Ham and Aurélien Tchouaméni of AS Monaco. Conor Gallagher and Billy Gilmour have also been added to the fray as they stake a claim to a spot in next season's team.
Chelsea's passing game
Since Maurizio Sarri took over, Chelsea have transitioned to a possession-based team. Sarri brought in Jorginho and moved Kante to play further forward. Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel have continued that trend. Jorginho is always going to rank in passing because his game is to build up play. He is the metronome at the center of the pitch. Kante’s injuries stunt his statistics though.
Jorginho continues to rank in the top three this season when it comes to completed passes and pass completion percentage. 1044 passes, and 88.8 % puts him third and second respectively. Tchouaméni ranks highest with 1138 passes while Rice is second with 1097. Rice ranks highest with a 89.4 % pass completion while Tchouaméni sits at 87.3. Kante has 555 and 84.5 % respectively.
Tchouaméni and Rice also rank in the top two in terms of total progressive distance of passes. 5714, and 5357 respectively with Jorginho sitting third at 4527. All three are also adept at short and medium range passes but Jorginho falls short when it comes to long range. Kovačić and Rice dominate the assist count with five and four respectively.
Jorginho is great at this aspect of the game but his lack of pace and physicality means that he is a liability and can get caught out. It is one of the reasons Chelsea play with three at the back to create a shield around Jorginho. The stats show that Tchouaméni and Rice are more than a match for this aspect and they provide the pace and power needed to anchor that midfield. They are quality potential replacements.
Goal and shot creating actions
In the aforementioned two attributes, Conor Gallagher is clear of the players mentioned with statistics of 11 and 69 respectively along with a per 90 of 3.74. It is an indication of his tendency to play further forward and be a threat in and around the box. The rest all sit at six in terms of goal creating action. Shot creating action is a different story with Kovačić, Tchouaméni, and Rice all sitting in the 40’s. Jorginho sits at 35 and Kante sits at 24.
What this shows is that Tchouaméni and Rice are better at showing attacking intent, probably because they have the ability to cover more distance physically. This is an area where Kovačić thrives as well, often breaking the opposition press and creating chances. Another tick in the box for change.
Defensive actions
Pundits and statisticians most often associate these attributes with defensive midfielders or players in this position. Kante in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 season was a dominant force posting 80+ tackles won in each season. Since then it’s been a steady decline, mainly due to injuries. The Frenchman is hardly available for a full season these days. Chelsea do have plenty of possession which means that tackles don’t have to be made too often.
🤯 Aurelien Tchouameni is now the most in-form player in Europe's top 5 leagues. He is 22 https://t.co/YUs1GQVu79
Tchouaméni, Rice and Kovačić rank highest with 43, 36, and 34 tackles won respectively. Jorginho sits at 29. It’s an even spread over the defensive and midfield thirds of the pitch. Gallagher ranks highest in the defensive and attacking thirds of the pitch - an example of the workrate he possesses. Jorginho has also been dribbled past 43 times this season, while Tchouaméni, Rice and Kovačić sit in the 10’s.
Another metric is pressures but pressing is something that only works when the team does it together. For example, Gallagher has the highest number of attempted pressures with 445 but only 29% have been successful. Tchouaméni has a 38.3% success rate while Jorginho and Rice sit around 32%. Tchouaméni and Rice also rank highest under interceptions with 71 and 68 respectively. Jorginho has 40.
Jorginho is never going to match up to the physicality that Tchouameni and Rice would bring to the midfield. Jorginho still does well on many occasions to retain possession but it’s more down to mentally being switched on. Kante does well enough but is not consistently available. Tchouameni and Rice though, are more than capable replacements in the defensive phase.
Possession
Possession is a good area to see how good a player is with the ball at his feet. Tchouaméni, Rice, and Jorginho dominate in terms of touches with 1540, 1444, and 1342 respectively. All three players control their teams. Tchouaméni and Kovačić rank high with successful dribble percentages of 83.9, and 82.1 respectively. Jorginho and Kante rank low in this metric and also fall short in dribbling past players.
“He doesn’t go forward” 🤦🏻♂️ Amazing stat for @_DeclanRice https://t.co/IGUkH3jjsg
Tchouaméni, Rice and Kovačić have dribbled past 25, 25, and 24 players respectively while Gallagher out ranks them all with 31. Rice blows everyone out of the water when it comes to progressive distance with the ball at feet sitting at 4147. Tchouaméni sits second with 2430 and Kovačić third with 2010. Jorginho and Kante rank low in this metric as well.
Jorginho might have several touches but moving with the ball is not his strong suit. While Kante has the ability to dribble but is rarely on the pitch to show it off. Kovačić is adept but not at the levels to which Tchouaméni and Rice have shown this season.
Jorginho, Kante and Kovačić are a good trio but they support one another. Each of the three are good at individual aspects while Kovačić can do everything sufficiently. This means that Chelsea are usually left needing to field a combination of three and there by stunt the attacking output.
Declan Rice and Aurélien Tchouaméni would change that and allow Chelsea to play with a four at the back and increase their offensive output. Rice is the best option because he is a Chelsea fan, and he knows the Premier League. The 20 million gap in the rumored price between the two would be worth it. Tchouaméni is more than a match but the transition is always an uncertainty.
Jorginho is at the peak of his career and this summer would be the best time to cash in on him. The Italian would thrive back in Italy and Chelsea would create space for one of the aforementioned players. Kante is quality but is hardly ever available and if you can’t play it doesn’t matter how good you are.
Adding one of Rice or Tchouaméni to Kovačić, Gallagher, etc would be a brilliant bit of business. If Chelsea could somehow add both, they would have arguably the three best midfielders in the league. Three midfielders that were able to do every aspect of the game and allow Chelsea to be more expansive. It is a revamp that would send Chelsea to another level.