On the fifth time of asking, Leicester City won an FA Cup final, as Brendan Rodgers overcame Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea to lift the prestigious domestic cup for the first time in Foxes history.
It was perhaps the perfect final in many respects; Youri Tielemans’ goal will go down as one of the all-time great FA Cup final strikes, some world-class goalkeeping from Kasper Schmeichel, and even some pivotal – yet correct – usage of VAR to rule out an offside goal in the last few minutes of the game. In those moments, it didn’t feel perfect, I prefer the description of stressful, nauseating and nerve-wracking, but it’s was those emotions that made the full-time whilst even sweeter.
Tactically, it was a really interesting fixture. Considering the flexibility of Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City side this season, that was always going to be a crucial component of the tie, and since taking the reigns from Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel has clearly demonstrated his tactical nous in the English system – after proving his worth across multiple different competitors in Europe.
Leicester City’s setup was fairly expected – the, almost dependable, 3-4-1-2 structure remained intact from the Foxes previous game. Ayoze Pérez has played the number 10 role much more effectively than James Maddison has in recent matches (especially in the 3-4-1-2), and Luke Thomas deservedly maintained his starting spot from the Manchester United game. Aside from that, full strength from Rodgers.
Out of possession, Leicester would shift into their favoured 4-4-2 pressing shape, although there was an intriguing twist to its deployment versus Chelsea. Because of the position rotations to allow the change of shapes, most notably Pérez moving from occupying a central location (in the hole), to a left-midfield position. What this does, is it creates an asymmetrical 4-4-2 for the Foxes – as on the right-side it’s the wing-back advancing into a midfield position to make the “4”, but they’re always positioned slightly behind the midfield block.
To achieve maximum results inside the asymmetrical structure, Leicester City forced Chelsea into building through their defensive right – mainly Reece James/Cesar Azpilicueta, as Pérez’s high position in conjunction with Vardy’s desire to drift into the channel to press the opposition – and the proactive nature of Thomas as the full-back, gave the Foxes numerical superiority down that side. To replicate this on the right, Timothy Castagne (RCB) needed to play as the full-back, with Marc Albrighton as the wing-back and Kelechi Iheanacho as the pressing forward – this doesn’t come as naturally to these three players.
Throughout the fixture, Leicester City were good at manipulating the progression of the ball (from the oppositions POV) to allow this “trap” to thrive. Although, Tuchel’s 3-4-3 system didn’t help Chelsea build in different sequences, as the front three played very compactly and high (evidence being the reception of the balls in advanced areas one-vs-one with the Foxes CB’s), and the double pivot struggled to find spaces centrally versus Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi.
To counter this, Chelsea played through the lines directly, effectively skipping the midfield and pinning the Foxes defensive line back. Mason Mount was key to this, playing as part of the front three (right-wing) but essentially given a free role to roam into pockets of space, he dictated the early exchanges by dragging Caglar Söyüncü into areas of uncertainty. Thankfully, Tuchel’s side didn’t utilise these scenarios to their maximum potential and often took premature shots – relieving the pressure.
The winning goal – and only goal for that matter – was a by-product of the Foxes “trap”, proactively reacting to a rushed pass out of the Chelsea backline – as Pérez intercepted (LM) and Thomas received possession (LB/LWB), before Tielemans exposed the space centrally in transition. Again, the strike was unbelievable – worthy of winning any single game of football, but poetic that it’ll always be the goal the Foxes faithful can recall and turn too when reliving this historical occasion.
Yes, there was heroics from Schmeichel and VAR correctly ruled out Ben Chilwell’s equalising goal, but as a general rule the London-based side didn’t convert their domination of possession into anything meaningful. The compact block from Leicester City – forcing Chelsea into rotating possession through the wings – was effective and it will need to remain that way for the tie on Tuesday.
The “bigger” of the two has been won by Rodgers and Leicester – the one rewarded by silverware, but the fixture at Stamford Bridge has major financial implications. Perhaps more significant – financially – than the final in Wembley, as the East Midlands outfit eye UEFA Champions League football at the King Power Stadium next season. Undoubtedly, revenge will be high on the shopping list for Tuchel’s side, but will the momentum swing in the favour of the Foxes?