How Chelsea won the midfield battle against Arsenal
Chelsea's hard-working duo of Sjoeke Nüsken and Erin Cuthbert have been a key asset to Sonia Bompastor's side
When a new manager takes charge of a team, it can take a while to get a sense of their team as they learn about their players and how they will respond to their methods. Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea have impressed throughout the season with Sunday’s 1-0 win over Arsenal only the latest in their unbeaten run since the start of the season. Despite the impressive results, we are only really starting to see what Bompastor’s team might look like going forward, and the win over Arsenal gave an intriguing insight into what is to come.
One of the obvious disjunctions between Bompastor’s past coaching philosophy at Lyon and Chelsea’s squad make up was in midfield. For all of their spending, Chelsea do not have an elite single pivot midfielder. Sophie Ingle is most suited to that kind of role but tore her anterior cruciate ligament in pre-season, whilst Chelsea signed Oriane Jean-Francois from Paris Saint-Germain but the 23 year old has been slowly returning to match fitness following her own long term absence due to injury.
In Erin Cuthbert and Sjoeke Nüsken, Bompastor has had a ready made double pivot who are an elite out of possession duo. Cuthbert has long been known for her tenacity off the ball whilst Nüsken shone last season for her ability to deputise in seemingly any position. They were essential to Chelsea’s best performance last year - their 1-0 win against Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final - and they were key against Arsenal to ensure that even when the Gunners wrestled back possession of the ball, they struggled to progress it in the middle of the field.
Arsenal have a lot of players who like to occupy what is known as ‘zone 14’ - the area just outside the opposition penalty area, directly in line with the goal. Alessia Russo is a striker who likes to drop deep, Mariona is a creative player who started as the 10 here but also likes to move inside if she is playing on the wing. With neither Caitlin Foord (two goals in 12 WSL appearances) or Beth Mead (four goals in 12) in great form right now, it was clear that it would be crucial for Chelsea to protect these more central areas and funnel Arsenal possessions out to the wing.
Cuthbert and Nüsken were crucial to that. The duo played in tandem with each other, with Nüsken positioned slightly further back.
The tandem nature of Bompastor’s Chelsea is becoming a theme. Sandy Baltimore and Niamh Charles were used on the left-hand side against Arsenal, a clear opportunity to allow the two to dovetail with each other, with both able to play in either the left wing or left-back position.
Cuthbert and Nüsken repeatedly nicked the ball off Arsenal players’ toes in central areas, with it being clear from the map of Arsenal’s forward passes into the final third how much they clearly struggled to access that space at the top of the penalty area.
They were also essential to Chelsea’s initial 15 minute blitz at the start of the match. Chelsea’s intensity under Bompastor has increased significantly, with their Passes Per Defensive Action rising from 12.1 last season to 9.5 this campaign.
Whilst there is still a balance to be found between their all-out approach that clearly cannot be sustained for a full match, and a more passive attitude that they had adopted under Emma Hayes, players like Cuthbert and Nüsken are essential for the way they win the ball back together. There was a great example of this only two minutes in, when Arsenal midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross, trying to play out from the edge of her own penalty area, was first challenged by Nüsken and then Cuthbert. They eventually won the ball back and put Chelsea in an advantageous attacking situation.
Both Nüsken and Cuthbert’s off-ball work-rate can be seen in the data, with Nüsken ranking fifth in the WSL for tackles and interceptions and Cuthbert in 14th. This is particularly impressive given the way Chelsea dominate the ball in the majority of games that they play in the league. There are only four other players from ‘top four’ clubs in the top 15 - Lucy Bronze, Mariona Caldentey, Celin Bizet and Grace Clinton.
Nüsken in particular has looked far more settled this season - as is to be expected as she enters her second year at the club - with far fewer turnovers, better passing accuracy and better reading of the game. Whilst Chelsea could still do more to hold onto the ball against elite opposition, their work off it is limiting those teams from creating good chances.
It will be interesting to see how Bompastor develops this midfield duo, because for all their off the ball ability, neither of them are particularly accomplished passers and right now this Chelsea team relies on its left-back in particular to progress the ball.
There has been a suggestion that Chelsea will compete to sign Keira Walsh when she becomes a free agent in the summer, but received wisdom appears to be that Arsenal are first in line. This week, BBC Sport reported that Chelsea are interested in Portland Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey. It could be a hectic end to an already expensive transfer window.
If Bompastor can accept that she might have to progress the ball differently, the out of possession dominance that Cuthbert and Nüsken wield is a force to be reckoned with.
really interesting read. gotta admit that as an arsenal fan watching the game my eye was naturally more drawn to what my team were doing in midfield and think KCC had one of her most standout performances to date in an arsenal shirt - but this piece also made me reflect on how a lot of that may have been a response to the nusken/cuthbert pairing's effectiveness in breaking up arsenal's short passing game in there and how that helped to stifle little, mariona and maanum, which made it all the more notable that kyra was often deploying these more direct longer passes to overcome that.
As a Chelsea supporter, I’d been excited at the thought of Walsh but worried that it would leave Cuthbert - my favourite player - a bit out of the running, especially with Kaptein looking like an attacking midfielder with huge potential. However, I think Walsh could fit the central attacking/holding role with Cuthbert given more free range and Kaptein playing as a free-flowing back to front winger. But I think she’ll go to Arsenal, who really need a midfielder of her calibre, plus it’ll link her up with other Lionesses in time for the Euros. Exciting times, whatever happens. And looking forward to seeing the Bright/Girma/Bronze/Charles back line in action.