4 hours ago
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Sunderland had not started a game of football with a back five this season. Enzo Maresca knows this, because in preparation for their Premier League visit to take on his Chelsea side at the weekend, he watched back all nine fixtures they had played in all competitions in 2025-26.
Sure, they had switched to that system for the last 10 minutes when they had the odd lead to defend, but never from the beginning. Then, they turned up at Stamford Bridge.
Regis Le Bris’ line-up dropped at 1.45pm. Maresca was in his coaches’ office at the back of the changing room at the time, also used as the debrief bunker where he and Chelsea’s hierarchy including co-owner Behdad Eghbali hold meetings after every home match.
The team sheet told Maresca that Sunderland were set to start with a back five for the first time when all his preparations had centred on the visitors fielding a back four.
Maresca called a team meeting. He had 10 minutes until the players needed to leave to start warming up. He told them they may as well throw their tactical prep in the bin because now, they had to take on new instructions in time for the 3pm kick-off.
It was too late. Sunderland pressed aggressively. When that press was beaten, they built a brick wall which resembled a 5-5-0 at times. They were the better team at the Bridge overall, even if they did rely on Chemsdine Talbi scoring the winner after 93 minutes.
Enzo Maresca cannot bear to look as his Chelsea side are beaten by Sunderland at the weekend
Pedro Neto looks to the bench for answers during the defeat by Sunderland, whose tactical plan baffled the Blues
Maresca departed frustrated. Not for the first time, he left feeling as if opponents are ripping up their regular tactics because it is Chelsea who they are facing. The Blues boss suspects that is partially because of what they achieved last season – finishing in the Premier League’s top four, winning the Conference League and becoming world champions.
After the Sunderland loss, Maresca set his analysts a new task. He asked them to look over last season’s losses to sides who set up in this way for clues. In particular, he wants to find new ways in which they can break down those stubborn sides who place bodies behind the ball.
It has been an issue, after all, and Sunderland were not the first to spring a surprise on this Chelsea side who cannot wait for Cole Palmer to return to help unlock troublesome back lines.
Tonight, Maresca’s side travel to Wolves in the Carabao Cup, and it is worth looking at the win which sent them into this fourth round: a less-than-convincing 2-1 victory at Lincoln. Michael Skubala is only 42, younger than Maresca, and Lincoln is his first permanent position as a head coach. But he too identified ways to frustrate the life out of Chelsea.
Namely, Lincoln switched to a back five, pressed aggressively, and had Freddie Draper man-mark the visitors’ holding midfielder Andrey Santos so that he would struggle to receive passes from centre backs Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah. When Draper performed that role, his team-mates pressed up in tow. With a focus on getting the ball into the box via long throw-ins and the like, Lincoln could have led by at least four goals at half-time rather than only one.
Chelsea’s quality told in the end. A goal from Tyrique George in the 48th minute and another from Facundo Buonanotte in the 50th led to a 2-1 win but this contest was telling. It was a League One side coming up with a purposeful plan to pose problems for their Premier League visitors.
Sometimes, Chelsea have been able to overcome the challenge of a back five at short notice. Maresca thought Nottingham Forest would use a back four, for example. He had bumped into Ange Postecoglou at the LMA awards in September. They talked tactics for a while, with Maresca telling Postecoglou he had never seen him use a back five in a game except for the final 10 minutes of Tottenham’s Europa League final win over Manchester United.
Postecoglou responded by saying he hated using a back five. Maresca assumed Forest would use a back four when Chelsea visited the City Ground earlier this month, therefore. But he was wrong. Postecoglou started with a back five. Chelsea were fortunate to go in goalless at half-time. They were only able to win 3-0 after half-time tweaks including a triple substitution. Postecoglou was sacked immediately afterwards as his Hail Mary failed.
Maresca gives instructions to Estevao - but he had to rip up his pre-match plan for Sunderland when he saw their team sheet
Chemsdine Talbi of Sunderland celebrates scoring a late winning goal at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea also won 5-1 at West Ham but in other clashes against sides fielding a back five, they drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace, 2-2 at Brentford and lost 2-1 to Manchester United.
It has been a problematic system for Maresca, and a pattern which you imagine has not gone unnoticed by Vitor Pereira, who is scrapping for his Wolves future going into tonight’s game.
The same goes for Tottenham boss Thomas Frank, who usually uses a back four but switched to a back five in order to frustrate Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup final. Spurs took a 2-0 lead in that clash, only to draw 2-2 and lose on penalties.
With sides showing a greater willingness to surprise Chelsea with their set-ups, Maresca may now realise he can no longer risk only planning to play a singular tactical system. There are no guarantees that the opponent will help you by cooperating, after all.
