Three key strengths that gave Tuchel complete performance
Leicester City 0-3 Defensive trio
Table-topping Chelsea are yet to concede more than one goal in any game this season. Individually and as a unit, Chelsea’s back three were magnificent again, with each man bringing something different.
In the centre, Thiago Silva – the defender’s defender – nullified Jamie Vardy. The 37-year-old, three years Vardy’s senior, made the striker look old. Trevoh Chalobah, the instigator of Chelsea’s second and third goals, may be a young pup of 22 who spent the past three seasons as the wandering loanee, but he outsmarted that most wily of forwards, Harvey Barnes.
Finally, Antonio Rudiger – scorer of the first goal – did not give Ademola Lookman a chance in the first half, instead breaking up Leicester’s attempts to gain traction down their inside right channel and thwarting any notion Marc Albrighton might have had vis-a-vis getting forward.
Rudiger is out of contract in May, and although a new contract worth £7million a year is on the table, the German is seeking parity with Chelsea’s highest earners. Thomas Tuchel, the manager, is hopeful a resolution can be found.
He said: “Toni was strong today. He has been outstanding from day one and he’s getting better and better. We want him to stay and he knows it. He is fully committed to Chelsea right now. We demand a lot from him, but he delivers a lot.”
So effective as a collective,silva, Rudiger and Chalobah moved as one, caressing the ball between them when they needed to slow things down and, crucially, depriving their hosts of any hope.
Flying wing-backs
Silva, Rudiger and Chalobah defended so well that Ben Chilwell and Reece James did not have to. Tuchel loves a wing-back and indeed there were two of them on the bench in Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso in case of emergency. With Leicester incapable of building up any real momentum, James and Chilwell would not be called upon to turn a back three into a back five and so were given licence to roam, with a side order of ensuring their counterparts, Timothy Castagne and Albrighton were occupied almost exclusively with firefighting defensive duties. James and Chilwell were the catalysts for the most admirable aspects of an admirable team performance. James seemed to glide rather than run, but when Boubakary Soumare dallied, James turned daylight robber.
Chilwell had a ball. In the wake of his acrimonious Leicester departure last year, he was repeatedly jeered by the home fans before they turned on their own team. The hostility galvanised him and as early as the fifth minute, he was rampaging down the left and hitting Kasper Schmeichel’s bar. Unlike James, he spent more time in the opposition penalty area than ostensible attacking midfielders Callum Hudson-odoi and Mason Mount. Like James, Leicester simply could not handle him.
Can-do Kante
No Premier League player has been so unobtrusively brilliant for so long as N’golo Kante. Yet, the France midfielder keeps adding new dimensions to his game. Having stagnated under Frank Lampard, Kante has flourished again under Tuchel. He scored Chelsea’s second, albeit with the assistance of some laissez-faire defending, but in a crowded Chelsea field, he was the game’s outstanding contributor.
Rather than merely being an enforcer and Jorginho’s water carrier, Kante has been deployed in a slightly more advanced role, with the freedom to drop back to make things happen. And what a catalyst he has turned out to be.