Chelsea cruise against Huddersfield: 3 things we learned

It wasn’t pretty to start, but Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea eventually found their legs to breeze past Huddersfield in their Premier League opener.

Last year, Chelsea’s opening loss to Burnley was a harbinger of the difficult season ahead. If this campaign’s opening 3-0 win against Huddersfield is to be the same kind of forecast, then Maurizio Sarri’s men should enjoy a fine 2018-19 campaign. Given that the Italian only got access to his full squad on Wednesday,  and despite the manager’s proclamation that it would take three months to really click, it’s possible Sarriball is coming together already for the Blues. Here are three things we learned.

Awkward start, brilliant finish

Chelsea’s opening half was a dreadful display of soccer outside of their two goals. Through 30 minutes, despite hogging roughly two-thirds of possession, the Blues hadn’t registered a single shot, on target, into the nosebleed seats or in between.

Then, at about the 35-minute mark, N’golo Kante, in a break from his usual defend-everywhere-at-once style, got off an ugly finish that bounced once before finding the back of the net. Throw in a Jorginho penalty before halftime, courtesy of a bad Christopher Schindler challenge on Marcos Alonso, and Chelsea had a flattering 2-0 lead.

Maybe it was because they were up, maybe Sarri said something especially profound or maybe the talent gulf finally showed, but the Blues looked much better in the second half. The runs from Alvaro Morata were more incisive, Willian glided into space with the ease of a hot knife through butter, the passes were more crisp and Eden Hazard needed only 15 minutes to show his class (he was involved in the buildup leading to Pedro’s 83rd minute coup de grace).

Back four? It worked today

For the first time since the very beginnings of Antonio Conte’s run at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea weren’t using three central defenders and wing-backs. This raised dozens of eyebrows, especially regarding David Luiz, whose marauding style can be rough on the nerves. A classic rash challenge and yellow card aside, the Side Show Bob lookalike performed decently enough with Antonio Rudiger putting in a shift as well.

As for Kepa Arrizabalaga, the world-record signing didn’t have much to do, seeing away the only shot on target he faced, and getting bailed out by the bar when things got momentarily dicey in the 37th minute.

Full-backs Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta got forward and involved in the attack brightly, while never leaving the center-back pairing and Arrizabalaga exposed. Keeping both lack of data and opponent strength in mind, it’s not possible to call this system change successful yet. However, a clean sheet is the same whether your keeper withstands a barrage or spends more time handling his water bottle than pressure from the opposition.

New season, same Huddersfield

David Wagner’s Terriers were favored to finish rock-bottom of the league last year and surprised most of the soccer world by staying up with a  draw in their penultimate fixture, against Chelsea of all teams. The bookies have rewarded their survival with renewed expectations of relegation. Based on this performance, when they ran out of gas after a bright start, those predictions seem fair.

They put in a hardworking performance and gave Chelsea fits for the opening phase, but after conceding the second goal and hitting the bar with their best chance, they simply didn’t have the quality to keep chasing. This isn’t to say their body language was poor or that they gave up, but a Fiat isn’t beating a Ferrari in a drag race.

The reason the Terriers nearly dropped last season was the same reason that this fixture didn’t go their way: lack of firepower in the final third. Huddersfield’s 28 goals last year were the fewest by a non-relegated side and their lack of good chances today, even when they had free-kicks in favorable positions, will make continued survival an interesting proposition from the scrappy bunch.