The main point to take away from the 2-0 loss to Chelsea is the fact that Manuel Pellegrini has had his worst tactical period of the season.
The Chilean manager is indeed one of the brightest and benevolent minds in the sport, but his team have been useless to begin games for over a month now and that negative falls squarely on Pellegrini.
Desperate to see his side show a consistent offensive pulse from the opening whistle, Pellegrini should have known that playing both Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez up fronts plays into the Mauricio Sarri formation’s hands in the midfield. Both Eden Hazard and Callum Hudson-Odoi helped their midfield three of N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jorginho to cause constant problems to Mark Noble and Declan Rice.
Instead of playing an aggressive 4-4-2 looking for intent, Pellegrini should have played a 4-1-4-1 that was clearly successful in the second half. The Hammers were the better side in the latter 45, but it was too much conceded in the first half. Another Hazard goal was something the Hammers were always vulnerable.
Manuel Pellegrini has to regain being a tactical ace and not badly get his plans wrong as he did vs Chelsea on Monday.