WHEN Chelsea made the decision to appoint Enzo Maresca as their new head coach in the summer, there was some unrest among fans.
The Italian coach was unpopular among Leicester supporters despite leading them to promotion to the Premier League at the first attempt. He was still seen as a coach who lacked the experience needed to be successful at the highest level.
This unrest was also due to the fact that the previous Chelsea coach, Mauricio Pochettino, started to impress towards the end of last season and many felt he deserved more time.
However, it is fair to say that fans who were unhappy with Maresca's arrangement at Stamford Bridge will change their minds.
Not only are Chelsea currently third in the table, a huge improvement on the last two seasons, but they are also playing some very impressive football under Maresca.
The former Sevilla star was thought to be a disciple of the Pep Guardiola football school and has indeed spent time coaching in the City Group system.
However, at Chelsea he has quickly shown himself to be more tactically flexible than expected and has created several tactical systems built to get the best out of some of the specific talents he has in his squad.
Last weekend Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 3-0 in a comfortable win.
One of the most interesting aspects of the game was the fact that Maresca opted to deploy £115 million midfielder Moises Caicedo at right-back, even though he regularly moved into midfield.
This positional change for Caicedo was a masterstroke and saw him run things for Chelsea as he moved into midfield to create overload and create space forward for more attacking teammates.
It is this space that will be crucial for Chelsea and Maresca.
This is because this space can be exploited by Cole Palmer, who has developed into one of the most dangerous attacking midfielders in the game today.
By getting Palmer on the ball in space in more advanced positions, we are likely to see Chelsea become more dominant against opposing teams, both in terms of creating and scoring chances.
Palmer is key for Chelsea and therefore creating space for him is incredibly important.
Here's how Caicedo's positional change transformed things for the Blues and fooled Aston Villa.
CAICEDO CREATED SPACE FOR PALMER
In this match both teams lined up with slightly different shapes, but with three men in midfield.
Chelsea played in a 4-3-3 and Aston Villa in a 4-2-3-1 and were therefore evenly matched centrally.
Here, Caicedo's movement and positioning from right-back to midfield when Chelsea were in possession was crucial.
This move created a 4v3 advantage for Chelsea and freed up space for Cole Palmer to move in.
By creating this overload, Caicedo essentially released Palmer, Chelsea's most dangerous attacking player this season.
The English star's movement and positioning ultimately caused continued problems for the opposition as the Blues drove forward.
Moving inside into these positions we saw Caicedo take possession in and around the final third.
The movement to enter spaces and get on the ball gave him time on the ball and his ability to pass and break lines enabled Palmer's runs into space.
Chelsea continually managed to overload the central areas of the pitch in this match and lure Aston Villa's midfielders towards the ball.
This meant Palmer was free to enter the space between the Villa midfield and their defensive line.
In these situations we saw that Chelsea first wanted to play in midfield, where Caicedo and Lavia could gain possession, and then quickly force the ball to Palmer.
Here we see the way the central areas become congested, with many players gathering around the ball.
Caicedo can get on the ball and pass the ball to Palmer, who can then turn and drive forward in possession.
It's interesting that Maresca was able to create these situations while Caicedo moved in to create the space for Palmer to exploit.
Creating tactical solutions that free your most dangerous attacking players in this way is a sign that Maresca is a very capable tactical coach.
MIDFIELD OVERLOAD AND HOW IT FREES PALMER
During the match against Aston Villa, Maresca deployed a 4-3-3, with Romeo Lavia sitting as the deepest midfielder behind Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer as more advanced midfielders.
Moving Palmer from his position on the right flank would prove to be one of the keys to Chelsea's victory as the match progressed.
With Moises Caicedo, usually deployed as a deeper central midfielder, playing at right-back, we saw Maresca create an opportunity for the Ecuadorian to cut inside when Chelsea were in possession, giving them an overload in the center of the pitch.
Throughout this match we saw Caicedo move inside to form a double pivot with Lavia in the central areas and from these positions Chelsea were able to control and dominate the flow of the match.
Caicedo's timing as he moved in to create passing angles allowed Chelsea to play through Aston Villa's press with routine and ease.
Here we see Caicedo coming in early in the match as Chelsea were building from the back.
His timing of arriving in a tight space allows him to receive the ball from the centre-back and his ability to open up in possession and drive forward allows him to move quickly into space.
Of course, when Caicedo came into possession we saw him actively allowing Chelsea to advance the ball into the middle third.
But it was his ability once he received the ball in these situations that really made the difference.
When Caicedo gained possession centrally he was generally able to lose markers and step forward to advance the ball or make more progressive passes that broke the lines and moved Chelsea into the final third.
This movement to receive the ball and the ability to get the ball and progress in the game himself essentially saw Caicedo act as the key to Chelsea's system.
While Fernandez and Palmer were able to get forward, we saw Caicedo and Lavia come together to provide the platform for the Chelsea attack.
Here we see again the key role that Caicedo played for Chelsea in terms of ball progression.
With Marc Cucurella in possession at left back, it is Caicedo who crashes towards the ball to receive the pass between the lines and break the press.
By starting Caicedo at right-back and then timing his movements inside to receive passes and play forward, we saw Maresca create the structure to really dominate the game.
OUT OF POSSESSION
Despite being a central midfielder by nature, Caicedo is a player who is very strong from a defensive perspective.
He typically plays as the deeper midfielder in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 and his defensive positioning and movements are effective in breaking down opposition attacks.
Indeed, it was his defensive prowess and his ability to cover ground and be effective against the ball that really stood out when he initially came through in the England match against Brighton and Hove Albion.
This meant that when he moved to right-back for this match, we saw Caicedo play effectively in defensive moments as he covered a lot of space on the right side of the defensive unit for Chelsea.
He was aggressive and intelligent with his positioning, although the way he played defensively was not the same as we normally see from a right-back.
He was generally narrower and willing to be aggressive when stepping out and defending over longer distances than a typical right-back.
In this example we can see that Aston Villa were narrower in their defensive shape.
This meant that Caicedo was relatively narrow, but could move out quickly to attack the ball and apply pressure to the opponent who wanted to receive the ball.
It was interesting in this match that Chelsea were very aggressive against the ball for large parts of the game as they tried to press high and stop Aston Villa from playing comfortably from the back.
They were able to be so aggressive defensively because Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo were so comfortable defending in wide spaces from the right at the base of midfield.
In this example from the match we see how aggressive Chelsea are in pushing players forward and into advanced areas to pin down Aston Villa and prevent them from playing comfortably from the back.
With Villa's goalkeeper playing longer, it is Caicedo who is quick and aggressive in jumping and attacking over longer distances to regain possession.
The aggression and positional intelligence that Caicedo showed in this match playing as a right-back were crucial for Chelsea when it came to positioning against the ball.
CONCLUSION
It will be interesting to see if Maresca continues to use Caicedo in this role now that it has proven successful and if it can continue to work on creating space and time for Palmer to thrive.
However, there is no doubt that from what we have seen so far this season, Maresca is at the highest level of coaching.
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