AC Milan did not have the best of visits to London as they were beaten 3-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (as seen below) have published an average position map from the game that highlights some rather worrying trends which no doubt contributed to the struggles that Stefano Pioli’s men had.
Firstly, there is a big gap between Fikayo Tomori and both the left-back Fode Ballo-Toure and his centre-back partner Pierre Kalulu, something perhaps seen in the build-up to the second goal.
Then, playmaker Charles De Ketelaere is essentially between Ismael Bennacer and Sandro Tonali showing how deep he was forced to drop from the No.10 role. The further away from goal he is, the less damage he can do.
Olivier Giroud is also deep which reflects the frustrations he endured, with the Frenchman having an average position that is actually quite far behind Rade Krunic and Rafael Leao who were the wingers. Overall, it looks like more of a 2-5-1-2 than a 4-2-3-1.
This article confirmed my thoughts during last night’s game. What did krunic do in the middle of the field to collide with giroud and CDK and leave Dest alone on the right without help?? Tactics??
I don’t think average position is a good tool for any kind of sensible anaysis.
If anything, they should split this to show average position in possession and out of possesion. Aggregating them makes no sense.