How Morgan Rogers Unlocks Cole Palmer At Chelsea

Morgan Rodgers has joined Chelsea for a record fee but this signing is worth so much more than a lot of cash. From recreating Alonso's double 10s at Leverkusen, bringing traits that Chelsea seriously like and getting Kul Parma back to his very best. I'm Jacob Horsfall, 442's resident tactician and this is why Morgan Rodgers is the perfect signing for Xavi Alonso's Chelsea. To understand the impact of Rodgers signing for Chelsea we first got to understand the basic principles of Alonso's football. The 3-4-3 formation is tagged to Alonso's name. Both attacking wingers operate extremely narrow and act as two 10s with the wing backs taking up true winger positions. This creates a front line of five and allows them to pin the opposition's defence extremely narrow opening up those wide flanks which then pull the opposition's defence wide opening up the speeds for the cutback to those narrow front three players. Now at the moment without Morgan Rodgers I don't think Chelsea have the profiles to play in that way. Giovanni Quenda and Rhys James operate as the wing backs feels right. Quenda brings the running and directness that we saw from Jeremy Frimpong at Leverkusen. Last season Quenda averaged 16.8 sprints per 90 Frimpong had just 2.6 more. Then on the other side you've got Rhys James whose delivery doesn't need to be spoken about and neither does Grimaldo's. But in Alonso's system one of these wing backs has to be the control variable the one who's going to keep play moving be able to put in a killer ball on a regular basis and that was Grimaldo at Leverkusen and it's going to be Rhys James at Chelsea. The problem Alonso currently has is that actual attacking front line that front three. João Pedro is the leading striker hands down and then Cole Palmer takes one of those number 10 roles drifting on the inside being able to get in behind drifting into the wide spaces having the to be Cole Palmer but there's a hole for the partner in number 10. Ganatchio isn't someone who can combine in tight space and operate in the pocket Pedro Neto is pretty much the exact same their only option really would be Estevão however he's still a little bit raw yes he's great and I really do think Alonso will love Estevão but there is a gap for a proper number 10 profile in the which begs the question could Cole Palmer and Morgan Rodgers reunite and will it work? Ben Jacobs reported that Chelsea pitched the left wing position to Rodgers telling him he'd play on the left alongside Cole Palmer which is so so important to consider because Morgan Rodgers himself told Gary Lineker that he loves to play more central so he's involved in the game which suggests he isn't going to Chelsea to be a conventional out and out winger but instead to be an Alonso winger. A classic 4-2-3-1 with Rodgers through the middle and Palmer moved out wide would have made sense on the face of it but then you've got Cole Palmer not being able to play at his best. The use of two 10s gives both Palmer and Rodgers the autonomy and freedom to have their own pocket of space both centrally and out wide but also they can just move freely and do what they want. For example Rodgers wants to be everywhere his Villa heat map shows that he loves to drift into that wide left area because that allows him to use his pace and power to get him behind and then chop onto his preferred right foot and wrap it into the far corner. However we know Rodgers strengths positional tendencies and creativity does more suit that of a number 10 someone who can play through the middle get on the ball regularly. If we revisit his heat map you see he drifts into that left pocket and operates across the whole outskirts of the opposition's 18-yard box so it wouldn't make sense to pigeonhole him into being a winger who just stays by the wing who's by the touchline or as a number 10 who is only in that central space and is purely just a facilitator. You just wouldn't get the best out of Morgan Rodgers in either of those two roles. Alonso instead pushes positional fluidity within the system Florey inverts as the 10 being this deep pulls open space between the opposition's midfield and defense for other Leverkusen players to get into. They then can combine quickly to then pull even more space for one of their teammates to go in behind which if it translates to Chelsea as you would expect it would allow both Morgan Rodgers and Cole Palmer to find pockets of space around and inside the opposition's block on a regular basis which means at times you could see Rodgers and Palmer on top of one another pulling the opposition out before quickly combining to send one of Rhys James, one of Jao Pedro, one of Quenda in behind the opposition's defense. Equally you could expect to see Morgan Rodgers in this position getting on the ball in a deep area using his ball carrying to drag his side forward and forcing the opposition to engage with him which in turn would create more space for Cole Palmer, give Cole Palmer central space to operate in. If Rodgers drops deep, teams will track him due to his threat when ball carrying which would allow Chelsea to overload the back line or maybe the opposition will drop in due to Palmer's threat which then allows Rodgers to make something happen when carrying the ball. The new Chelsea man ranked fifth in the Premier League for take-ons attempted last season which can be devastating. If you give Rodgers space to carry into, space to run at, he will hurt you but this isn't all just about Rodgers. The rotations of from this front three and even the wing backs will certainly help Rodgers shine but it could also roll back the clock for a certain cold bloke called Cole Palmer. The 24-year-old had his best ever season in the 2023-24 campaign in which he was given complete freedom to rotate in and out of the attack, get into the pocket he wanted to be in and just do what Cole Palmer wanted to do. Palmer operating with Nicholas Jackson who always occupies multiple defenders at once with also having two wider more natural wingers allowed Palmer to get on the ball in any pocket he wanted to whether it be the right half space through the middle or outside on the left with space to create a score. I can imagine that now that Xabi Alonso has got Morgan Rodgers similar to how he did with Florian Wurz and the other number 10s and wingbacks he had at Leverkusen will give Rodgers and Palmer that freedom to pick up the spaces they want to be in which is great and this front three that we see here has the positional fluidity to drift around rotate with one another and be devastating against so many different sides but both Palmer and Morgan Rodgers will have to adopt and adjust to a new stylistic way of playing. Bayer Leverkusen ranked third in the Bundesliga for through balls attempted under Xabi Alonso. They used overloads and tight grouping to bait out players of the opposition and attack space rather than constantly pinning teams inside their own box and trying to meticulously break them down which will be a huge change for a lot of Chelsea players going from Maresca and Liam Rossini. However in the unbeaten season Alonso had at Leverkusen they took more touches than anyone else in the Bundesliga and completed over 200 final third passes per game which shows Alonso's tactical flexibility but will mean that Rodgers will have something almost entirely new to get used to. Aston Villa's whole game plan was jamming the first phase and therefore pulling the opposition out with Rodgers being basically a target forward operating 1v1 and targeting space in beyond. Aston Villa sat sixth for average possession in the Premier League last season in comparison to Chelsea who sat in third which isn't necessarily a stylistic difference between you know Maresca and Unai Emery but it's just something that naturally comes when you have the reputation of a team like Chelsea versus an Aston Villa. Chelsea fears teams who minimize space in a low block and double up on their players which means attacking players have to find little pockets of space with their back to goal. Here Palmer from the goal so that he can pull Burnley players out and unsettle their low block before playing through and completely breaking what Burnley were trying to do. Rodgers hasn't regularly had to be in that way he's not really been a player who's always receiving back to goal on the edge of the box with three or four players around him because at Villa he was always the direct attacking fast moving player with space to attack and operate in. Therefore Rodgers against these low block teams needs a lot of freedom because he can dart into the box which will pull the opposition deeper and create space for Cole Palmer or João Pedro to drop out and get on the ball on the edge of the box which as we know if you've watched Morgan Rodgers he has that ability to do that box crashing sort of role. It won't be his permanent role or the only thing he's good for but it could be a way to unleash the shackles of Cole Palmer in these low block games which is something that he kind of struggled to do last season under both Maresca and Rocinha. Now don't get me wrong it's early doors for this summer window and Chelsea I am sure have a load more business to do. This potential team you see here will more than likely not be the team that starts the opening game of the season. Now Pedro, Palmer and Rodgers as a front three are incredibly balanced and incredibly chavvy Alonso based but the two midfielders that come behind them are equally as important. Alonso likes to use some sort of a box shape when he's sidering the mid third of the pitch the two deeper midfielders need to be capable of rotating with the two 10s within that box structure. So how Morgan Rodgers performs doesn't just rely on him, doesn't just rely on Palmer, doesn't just rely on chavvy Alonso it also relies on who's going to end up playing behind him, who's going to be his safety blanket. That's just something we don't know and it's something you never really know with Chelsea because they are so unpredictable but there is a few things we can say for certain. Morgan Rodgers is a good goal scorer, he's a good creator and he's someone who when it comes to ball carrying is almost second to none in the Premier League and they are things that you want from a big money player, someone who has that star quality can grab a game by the scruff of the neck. That's what chavvy Alonso will want, it's what Chelsea probably do need. Now again there's a lot that still needs to be decided and it all depends on how Chelsea finish this summer window but I do think that Rodgers should be a decent signing if we ignore the mental fee that's been put on his name but I do want you to let me know in the comments down below how many goals do you think Rodgers gets next season and will he get the best out of Cole Palmer? I've been Jake of Allsport, this has been 442 and we'll see you all again next week for more brilliant analysis. Peace.