Chelsea Team Guide - After Winter Update!

Chelsea
Team Guide: with Latest Squad & Transfers!

Chelsea - for FM Mobile 2023 (FMM23) - based on winter data update (March 2023)

 
Intro
⚠️ managing Chelsea is HARDER than expected ⚠️ 

• Huge squad - who should you pick?
• Many wonderkids - but which are good enough for you in season one?
• No striker - plenty of wide attackers, but who is your main goal-scorer?

Multiple people have STRUGGLED with Chelsea on Vibe + Discord … in real life they SACKED two managers this season … can YOU do better?!

 
Board Expectations 
“Qualify for the Champions League”. Likely you’ll need a top 4 league finish, which seems doable.

A HUGE £102m transfer warchest (plus an extra +£100k/wk wages) is available to support you …

… but where do you need to spend it … ? …

 
Goalkeepers
 3.5 stars (out of 5)

You have a great 1st choice GK, a decent backup keeper, and two decent-potential  young keepers. No urgent need to upgrade in season 1.

Spoiler

1st Team
30 year old Mendy is a solid keeper, with 14-18 attributes in all the right places 👍 

With 11 pace + 11 technique, he’s NOT an ideal sweeper keeper though.

2nd team
27 year old Kepa is a decent backup. However he’s not that good + is on almost £150k/week, so should be sold / replaced at some point in season 1 or 2.

Youth
You have two teenage keepers who have the potential to be a decent backup keeper for you. New signing Slonina also has an excellent personality. Both should be loaned out in your first few seasons.

Others
You have another FIVE backup keepers in your reserves (image above). As three of them having expiring contracts - you may want to recall + sell ALL of them.  
 

 
Center Backs
 4 stars (out of 5)

With two experienced stars + THREE wonderkids, your central defense will be one of the best in the leagues, so no investment needed - but how good are they right now?!

Spoiler

1st Team
Experienced 30 year old Koulibaly is your best center-back in season 1. Solid.

Partnering him should be Fofana - as the 21 year old is your best wonderkid center back.

2nd Team 
For your first season, I’d have your backup DCs as 37 year old Silva, wonderkid Badiashile, plus academy product Chalobah as a cheap versatile squad player. 

At some point you’ll want to sell / release elderly Vice-Captain Silva (10 pace!) but there’s no urgent need to do so.

Youth 
Your 3rd wonderkid DC is Colwill, who starts the game out on loan.

He’s not good enough yet for your team, so needs a season or two out on loan before you bring him in to replace elderly Silva.

🛑 Tactical Point 🛑   
You will notice most of your DCs have decent pace (13-15) and good aerial (14-17).

With the exception of when elderly Silva plays, this means they should be able to cope with any defensive line (low, medium or high).

Other
One of your 2.5 star DCs (Sarr or Ampadu) could both be kept / loaned out as backup, but the other center backs should all be recalled + sold before their contracts expire. 

 
Full Backs
 3 stars (out of 5)

You have TWO great 1st team wing backs. After them, the drop in quality is quite significant. So do you want to invest in better backup FBs for your 2nd team?!

Spoiler

1st Team
Chilwell + Reece James are easily two of the better wing-backs in the league.

2nd Team
Versatile Captain Azpilucueta + Cucurella are both decent backups, but nothing special. Both can be upgraded at some point in season 1 or 2.

As backups, you have Gusto + Maatsen out on loan, who can be recalled in an (injury) emergency. At sone point, both should be sold.

🛑 Tactical Point 🛑   
You will notice that all your WBs have decent (13-15) crossing, with slightly weaker dribbling, passing + tackling.

Therefore it makes sense to have them as WBs/FBs, assuming you have a high-aerial ST up-front?

Other
Again you have other full backs in the reserves, but none are that good. Sell. 
 

 

Next
We’ll cover the exciting positions in midfield!

Thoughts? 🙂 

Edited April 6, 2023 by DanEnglish

[DanEnglish]

Chelsea
Team Guide: with Latest Squad & Transfers!

Part 2
TWO managers this season got FIRED as Chelsea manager. Can you do better?!
 

Central Midfield (DM/MC)
 4 stars (out of 5)

You have really good players here, enough to meet expectations in season 1. But if you want to dominate England + Europe, you’ll need upgrades at some point.

Spoiler

First Team
He is 31 years old. He’s small. He’s not strong. He can’t really attack. He’s on £300k / week …

… but this World Cup winner is easily your best defensive midfielder - if you want to play with an Anchor, DM, or BWM.

Alongside Kante, you also have classy midfielders Mount + Kovacic - who can play in all the DM/M/AMC positions. Both are good passers, but …

• Mount is a better goal threat (shooting, movement) + should work harder (teamwork, stamina)
• Kovacic is a better dribbler (dribbling, technique + creativity), plus a better tackler (tackling + strength).

 
 

Second Team 
Alongside whoever you didn’t pick from the three players above, your 2nd team has wonderkid Fernandez - who looks pretty good!

Plus you’ve also got some decent squad / backup players:

• Gallagher is decent + will  resign a new 5 year contract for <£20k/week. Bargain. Keep.
• Loftus-Cheek + Bakayoko are on huge wages (150k + 100k/week) with contracts expiring in mid-2024. Sell.
• Loanee Zakaria is a decent defensive midfielder while you pay his £50k/week wages for the season. Keep? But don’t pay his £24m buyout option.

 

Youth
Wonderkid Santos could be pretty good in the future, while young Casadei’s highest attribute is his 15 aerial - perhaps could be the new Fellani?!  Both should be loaned out for a few seasons.  
 

 

Attacking Midfield (AMC)
 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Focused on the AMC positions - you have plenty of good options here. Though you may want to upgrade either your main or backup AMC in season 2 or 3?!

Spoiler

Star
Option 1 here is Havertz.

Probably your highest potential player - he’s fast, creative, good movement. Though his passing isn’t that good yet.

If you don’t want Havertz as an AMC - then you have 3 of the previously mentioned players who can also play here - Mount, Kovacic + Fernandez.

It depends where you want to play them.

Second Team
After them, you have 22 year old loanee Joao Felix + 29 year old super creative Ziyech. Both are good players, Felix can develop into a great player, but long term - can you can find better alternatives elsewhere? 

Youth
Your three younger / higher potential midfielders can all be loaned out … Wonderkid Hutchinson’s attributes don’t look that good - but on sone (most?) saves he’s labeled as a wonderkid - worth keeping an eye on. 
 

 
For your 1st team - here are your best players to pick between.

Next
Your attackers + goal scorers. Exciting!

Thoughts? 🙂 

Edited April 6, 2023 by DanEnglish

[DanEnglish]

Chelsea
Team Guide: with Latest Squad & Transfers!

Part 3
This season Chelsea signed lots of wide attackers, but no pure star striker! So who are your options … ?!

 
Wide Attackers / left-footed
 3 stars (out of 5)

These are your left-footed wide attackers - who you can play as wingers on the left flank, or inverted roles on the right flank.

You’ll notice three of them were also in the AMC position guide - so depending on ‘who plays where’ - you’ll likely need to UPGRADE here in season 1 or latest before season 2 starts.

Spoiler

1st Team
Along with being your best AMC - 23 year old Havertz is also your best left-footed wide attacker - though he’ll need some positional retraining to become a natural there.

2nd Team
You also have loanee Joao Felix (who actually is both footed) + super creative Ziyech for your first season.

Below you can see Felix has similar strengths to Havertz, as both have strong mentals.

• Suitable for an inverted role (AP, IW, IF), loanee Felix has better passing + dribbling, but overall is slightly worse than Havertz.
• If you want a winger, Ziyech has better crossing, with weaker passing + shooting. Ideally you’d sell + replace him.

Youth
New signing Madueke just isn’t that great. The 20 year old’s attributes are mediocre + his potential isn’t high enough. Loan out for a season / half-season, then sell. 
 

 
Wide Attackers / right-footed
4 stars (out of 5)

These are your right-footed wide attackers - some are suitable as creators (e.g. wingers, wide playmakers), while some are best as finishers (e.g. IFs) cutting in from the left flank.

You have too much choice here - some should be sold - while developing your multiple wonderkids + young stars of the future.

Spoiler

1st Team
According to the coach stats - new signing Sterling is your best right-footed wide attacker. He’s also you’re joint-highest earner, on a £350k/week contract!

However his technical attributes are weak - especially with just 13 shooting. Sometime after season 1, sell him when one of these younger stars have developed enough …

2nd Team
You have a choice - do you prefer a creator or a finisher?

• Creators - with higher crossing + passing, you have 23 year old Pulisic + wonderkid Mudryk.
• Finishers - with higher finishing, you have new signing 33 year old Aubameyang (sell!) plus young Broja who has 15-16’s for dribbling, finishing, movement + pace (!)

Youth
While five of the players above are young (23 or less), the only two not mentioned so far are wonderkid winger Hudson-Odoi + 19 year old Fofana.

Both have good potential - unless you want a traditional winger (Hudson-Odoi), then both  should be loaned out until they are ready for the Chelsea team.  
 

 
Central Strikers
 4 stars (out of 5)

You have one of the best all-round strikers in the game BUT no-one similar to him as a backup.

Then you have lots of decent specialists (finishers or creators), BUT only one of them can become great.

You have a choice - do you choose to spend your whole 1st season budget on a great, young ST … or invest in a cheaper backup target man? Let’s see your options …

Spoiler

1st Team
This man is your BEST all-round striker.

• 🔻 he’s not young (29 years old)
•  🔻 he’s expensive (your joint-highest earner on £350k / week)
•  🔻 he’s loaned out right now (but you’re still paying 60% of his wages!)

BUT he’s your best finisher ✅ he’s your best aerial target man ✅ he’s still very fast ✅ and generally still very good ✅ recall him back from loan!

If you want an 2nd striker, then your next best striker to partner Lukaku is probably Havertz.

Havertz is your only striker who can be BOTH ✅ a finisher (high pace, movement, finishing) AND ✅ a creator (high passing, technique, creativity). 

2nd Team
After Lukaku, Chelsea have NO other aerial ST. So then you have a choice:

• a Finisher - four of your (right-footed) wide attackers can play up front (P, AF, PF) - all with decent pace, movement, dribbling, finishing. Sterling + Broja are are best of this type …

• … or a Creator - three of your (left footed) wide attackers can play up front (DLF, Treq) - all with good passing, technique, creativity. Felix + Ziyech can both do this well BUT are not as good as Havertz.

 
🛑 TACTICAL 🛑 

Who you pick for your 2nd team depends on your tactic: 

• who do you want to be a FINISHER (Sterling / Broja) … 
• … and who as a CREATOR (Felix / Ziyech) - 3 examples below!

 
Youth
Both Broja + Fofana are young. BUT if you Havertz is your only striker who can do BOTH - he can be both ✅ a finisher (high pace, movement, finishing) AND ✅ a creator (high passing, technique, creativity). want to play an aerial threat, then you’ll need a younger, high aerial striker to eventually replace Lukaku - and as backup for him in season 1.

This may be your most important transfer priority for season 1.
 

 
For your 1st team - here are some of the best combinations you have:

Next
We’ll look at your tactical options - how we can pull this all together!

Thoughts? 🙂 

Edited April 6, 2023 by DanEnglish

[DanEnglish]

Summary of transfer needs / upgrades:

You may not be able to afford all three ‘season 1’ priorities (DR, FW left footed, ST) … but depending on your tactic you may not need to upgrade them!

• No WBs? Then no urgent need to upgrade backup DR / Azpilucueta.
• No AMC? Then no need to upgrade your left footed FW (as you can use Havertz + Felix)
• No aerial attack focus? Then no need for a new high aerial ST as a Lukaku’s backup (+ long term replacement).

£100m is a lot, especially if you can raise funds through selling players right away - but it may not be enough to upgrade all three priority positions straight away!

[DanEnglish]

Chelsea
Team Guide: with Latest Squad & Transfers!

Part 4
Which tactics can you use? With all those players, which combinations work best?!

Spoiler

note: all tactics below use a back 4 - which suits Chelsea’s players AND allows for more attackers on the pitch …

• … BUT the first two tactics have 3 central midfielders + 3 attackers …
• … while the latter two tactics have 4 central midfielders + 2 attackers …

Tactic A
Black Hawk’s 4123 (with IFs)

From @Black Hawk - available <here> with 3 midfielders + 3 attackers …

Spoiler

Setup:
This is a more ‘controlled’ tactic - with narrow width, normal tempo, short passing + work into box (amongst others) selected.

Experiences:
I struggled to get @Black Hawk’s tactic to work well with Chelsea 🔻using FBs + Kante as the RP.

But @gabimate7 did get it working well - finishing 2nd in the league ✅ with Lukaku as a Poacher, Mudryk as an IF, and midfielder Pelligreni from Roma.

Advice:

• ST - recall Lukaku from loan, + buy a backup younger ST with good aerial (Osimhen?!)
• DM/MCs - the RP role is crucial, which of your 3 midfielders would you prefer there? If you have the funds, you may want to buy a new MC? As you likely won’t be using Kante, Havertz or Felix here.
• DMC - you can sell Kante, he’s not needed, unless you want a backup DMC to bring on as a sub in an anchor / DM / BWM role late to defend a narrow lead.
• WBs - you’ll want crosses into Lukaku, so maybe a new backup WBR is needed to replace Azpilucueta. 
   

 
Tactic B
Very Solid Attacking 433 (with IFs)

From @KloppySeconds - available <here> also with 3 midfielders + 3 attackers …

Spoiler

Setup:
Similar roles to the Black Hawk, but note (1) the CF upfront, plus (2) the AP in midfield, plus (3) the DMC has been moved up to the MC position (in a more defensive BWM role)

Note - this has more ‘attacking’ selections - with normal width, fast tempo, mixed passing + shoot on sight (amongst others) selected.

Experiences:
@KloppySeconds tactic won the league, champions league + Carabao Cup with Chelsea - though I don’t know what transfers he made. Certainly he sold Lukaku + used Havertz as the central Striker!

Advice:

• ST - decide if you want an aerial threat upfront or not. If yes, buy a backup aerial ST for Lukaku. If not, sell Lukaku + decide if you want an upgraded ST or not.
• DM/MC - no urgent need to buy a new midfielder, as Kante can be your BWM.
• WBR - if you want a lot of crosses to an aerial ST, urgently buy a new backup DR. If not, Azpilucueta should be fine. 
   

 
Tactic C
442 Wide Diamond (with IFs, no ST!)

Found online + used by Nightwalker - details in spoiler - has 4 midfielders, with the ST moved back into the AMC position.

I think this originally comes from  @Ra.v 41212 tactic <here> 

Spoiler

Setup
Similar to the Black Hawk, but with:

• An SS (with no ST!)
• Two APs (instead of B2Bs)
• A BWM (instead of an RP)
• Two FBs (not WBs)
• Two BPDs (not normal DCs)

You’ll also notice it’s on ‘attacking’, narrow, fast, mixed passing - a mix of the two earlier tactics - though the defensive line is pulled back to ‘normal’ + an ‘offside trap’ on!

Experiences:
Nightwalker said this:

Advice:

• ST - no need for a central ST, so sell Lukaku.
• AMR / AMC - you’ll need to buy a new player in one of those positions, as potentially Havertz, Felix, Ziyech need to be spread across both these 2 positions.
• DR - without the need for a better-crossing backup WB, perhaps Azpilucueta will be ok, with no need to replace him yet.

 
Tactic D
442 Narrow Diamond (2 STs, no IFs!)

From @sscout - details in spoiler - this also has 4 midfielders, but now with 2 central STs!

Spoiler

Setup:
Similar to tactic C above, but:

• Two STs (instead of IFs)
• Two IWBs (instead of WBs/FBs)
• ‘Normal’ roles across the midfield four + defensive pair.

You’ll notice it’s attacking, narrow, mixed passing, center focus, but a SLOW tempo.

 
Experiences:
Scorpio kindly improved on someone else’s 442 diamond to help him out. Once he’d figured out the midfield roles, the results started to be consistently good.

Advice:

• ST - recall Lukaku + buy a backup aerial / all-round ST
• IFs - sell some of your wide attackers (particularly the right footed ones who can’t play in midfield)
• IWBs - you may want to replace your backups, to more suitable / all-rounders, especially on the right flank. 
   

 
Other Tactics
⚠️ of course - other tactics can also work with Chelsea - please share them in this thread ⚠️ 

But did you notice the COMMON ELEMENTS of the tactics above?

Spoiler

✅ Standard GK Role - as first choice keeper Mendy doesn’t suit a SK role.

✅ Defensive Back Four - while a back three could work (e.g. 3142), all these tactics had a back four, with relatively attacking FBs. As one of the league’s better teams, Chelsea don’t need a back 5 formation.

✅ Defensive Midfielder - all four tactics have either a DMC or a BWM in central midfield. These are key to stopping opposition AMCs + protecting our defense.

✅ 2 or 3 Finishers - all these tactics had a mix of IFs and/or STs - meaning multiple players had goalscoring roles. 

 
Plus all four tactics had:

• ✅ Control / Attacking - all four tactics have positive mentalities, as you’d expect from one of the leagues better teams.
• ✅ Narrow / Normal Width
• ✅ Short / Mixed Passing 
• ✅ Mid / High Press
• ✅ Run at Defense

Other tactics can work - but these are some common success points!

——————
SUMMARY
——————
This guide shows Chelsea’s squad + possible tactics.

How you use this is up to you - you may use different players + different tactics - but this may help those that are struggling.

Thanks to @gabimate7, @KloppySeconds, @sscout, plus Nightwalker on Discord for assisting with this, plus the original tactics from @Black Hawk + @Ra.v 

Thoughts? 🙂 

Edited April 7, 2023 by DanEnglish

[sscout]

Scorpio on discord would be me, I'd also like to add on that your IWBs will cross a fair bit if you're using my tactic (tactic D) say 10 crosses each on a good day. So don't get opposite footed players or players who can't cross. 

[DanEnglish]

@sscout - updated! Thanks for sharing 👍 

[AleThoHDFC]

this is the best team guide ever!

 

[DanEnglish]

Extra tactic …

Tactic E
433 Control Possession (41221)

From @1shotz - available <here> also has three midfielders + three attackers.

Spoiler

Setup
Slightly similar look to the black hawk, but this is a very different setup:

• WB/FB - different roles on each flank. 
• AP/CM - different roles in central midfield.
• CF + 2 IFs - the three finishers up front.

Experiences
@1shotz won the league with Chelsea 1st season and theee cups (Community Shield, Carabao, ECL)!

Alongside recalling Lukaku, it seems these players were also bought in: DMC Rice, IF Adeyemi, backup DR Livramento. 
 

Again - this shares the common elements:

• ✅ Standard GK Role
• ✅ Defensive Back Four 
• ✅ Defensive Midfielder 
• ✅ 2 or 3 Finishers
   
• ✅ Control / Attacking Mentality
• ✅ Narrow / Normal Width
• ✅ Short / Mixed Passing 
• ✅ Mid / High Press

The only difference was that @1shotz did NOT have ‘Run at Defense’ - instead ‘Through Balls’ was selected.

Interesting 👍 

[1shotz]

2 hours ago, DanEnglish said:

Extra tactic …

Tactic E
433 Control Possession (41221)

From @1shotz - available <here> also has three midfielders + three attackers.

  Reveal hidden contents

Setup
Slightly similar look to the black hawk, but this is a very different setup:

• WB/FB - different roles on each flank. 
• AP/CM - different roles in central midfield.
• CF + 2 IFs - the three finishers up front.

Experiences
@1shotz won the league with Chelsea 1st season and theee cups (Community Shield, Carabao, ECL)!

Alongside recalling Lukaku, it seems these players were also bought in: DMC Rice, IF Adeyemi, backup DR Livramento. 
 

Again - this shares the common elements:

• ✅ Standard GK Role
• ✅ Defensive Back Four 
• ✅ Defensive Midfielder 
• ✅ 2 or 3 Finishers
   
• ✅ Control / Attacking Mentality
• ✅ Narrow / Normal Width
• ✅ Short / Mixed Passing 
• ✅ Mid / High Press

The only difference was that @1shotz did NOT have ‘Run at Defense’ - instead ‘Through Balls’ was selected.

Interesting 👍 

It was my second season with Chelsea, in the first season I used more of a gegenpress style (with run at defence lol )  don’t have many screenshots of player stats… I did use haverts in strike as I didn’t recall lukaku. 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by 1shotz

[rseven]

Please do not call back Lukaku.

[rseven]

I will try this shape for Chelsea. Not tested but I think this shape is good for existing players.

[Ariza8]

Just finished 1 Season with Chelsea, no IGE, no reload, no unlockables. Only do limited transfer - as I want it to be as realistic as possible.

My formation : inspired by @Ra.v, with some minor changes.

I used Havertz and Mount as SS, so I decided to just bought Milinkovic-Savic as midfield maestro and Maehle as backup in both wingback position. I don't buy any winger because Chelsea got lots of new winger already in the squad - it won't be realistic to buy more.

In the winter window Liverpool bid my Gallagher for £40m, so I decided to sell him and bought Bellingham.

Won domestic treble but lost CL QF against Liverpool in penalty shootout. Got my revenge in FA Cup Final. 

Was undefeated all season before that CL QF, but my form fluctuated a lot after that. (3 injuries for my defender in 1 match against City didn't help) Thankfully the boys managed to get their shit together and we finished the season strongly.

And this match almost broke the season..City need to win to keep their title hope alive and they Pep instruct them to do anything and they almost succeed.

After that City game, 4 of my defenders injured and the rest isn't fit... Forced to field back 4 of Azpilicueta, Silva, Chalobah, and Fofana and absolutely get destroyed by Everton on counters... And they were the last team on the prem table at that time!

The SS definitely be the star of this formation, and Milinkovic-Savic proved to be best signing with double digits at Goals and assists. Bellingham disappointment as he only manages 4 assists.the wingers... Did OK. A mystery how usually in a match one player scored 1-2 goals, sometime 3, then went missing in 3-4 matches after.

Edited April 14, 2023 by Ariza8