An infamous story from Graham Potter's tenure at Ostersunds, in Sweden, is having his players stage a production of Swan Lake.
On the off-chance you don't know, Swan Lake is a Russian ballet that tells the story of a princess transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse, needing true love to break a spell which prevents her existing in human form in daylight.
At home to Leeds United on Saturday, left wing-back Ben Chilwell was cast as the transformed swan and Potter the sorcerer. But, most importantly, the winless curse was broken. Chelsea won for only the second time in 2023, again by a 1-0 scoreline; their first victory in 48 days and seven games across all competitions.
Act one: Return to the 3-4-3 and Ben Chilwell in-behind
Potter's tinkering with the starting XI has been much about trying to find the right attacking formula and fit new signings in as it has been adapting to a growing injury list.
But more significant than the three changes he made from the loss away to Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday was the tweak to the team's shape.
Against Spurs, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was deployed as one of the two central midfielders in a double pivot, with Chelsea playing the same 4-2-3-1 they have used since the season's post-World Cup restart. This allowed Joao Felix to roam wide left but Chelsea were predictable and stagnant in possession — 44.9 per cent of their attacking-half touches were down their left, but they failed to pick apart the home side's 5-4-1 defensive block.
Against Leeds, Potter instead played Loftus-Cheek at right wing-back in a 3-4-3 — the same shape and individual role his predecessor Thomas Tuchel had used in August's reverse fixture. Kalidou Koulibaly, centre, was positioned between Wesley Fofana, right and Benoit Badiashile in the back three.
This system switch was likely a mitigation for Reece James' latest absence, as he was rested as a precaution, but the approach ended up unlocking left wing-back Chilwell, with Chelsea's front five overloading the Leeds back four.
Chilwell's advanced positioning (highlighted with the red dot below) consistently put him in space out wide or in behind Leeds right-back Luke Ayling.
Of all Chelsea players, he had the most open-play crosses (10) and passes received in the final third (22) and the joint-most touches in the Leeds penalty area (five, with Raheem Sterling) — he had more touches in the opposition box in 90 minutes on Saturday than in over 400 minutes across his previous seven Premier League appearances combined (four).
Inside 30 seconds, Enzo Fernandez had found him in behind, but his cross was cleared.
These right-to-left diagonals occurred all in the first half, with Chelsea playing over Leeds' 4-4-2. Fernandez alone attempted six such passes to Chilwell.
Chilwell looked at his best when Joao Felix played close to him, making runs in the channel between full-back and centre-back.
There were times Chelsea found Chilwell via Joao Felix, who kept pulling Ayling narrow to make space for the wing-back to overlap, though in the sequence below he should cross earlier — Tyler Adams recovers to block it.
Leeds adapted by dropping their wingers deeper, into a temporary back five at times. This did not stop Chilwell, who Potter said “has been working really hard and contributed in a good way in the first half in how he attacked”.
The best of his runs in behind came on 31 minutes. Kai Havertz drops deep and finds the England left-back with a chipped pass over the defence…
…but he rushes the final action. He has time and space to control and finish (with his left foot) at the near post, or pass sideways for Joao Felix to tap in (red arrows), but can only put the ball out for a goal kick.
Chelsea's build-up approach had defensive benefits too.
They lost possession in advanced areas where they matched or outnumbered Leeds, able to counter-press to limit transitions and make regains to sustain attacks — Chelsea's nine high turnovers, which Opta defines as sequences where possession is won in open play 40m or less from the opponent's goal, were their most in a Premier League game under Potter.
Act two: Scoring, transition, and low-block defending
Chelsea's failure to (again) score in organised possession was alleviated by threats in transition and at set pieces.
Wesley Fofana's 53rd-minute header — the game's only goal, and his first in the Premier League — was from Chilwell's outswinging corner. The France Under-21 centre-back had headed over from an identical near-post delivery in the first half. Incredibly, only Arsenal (14) have had more different Premier League goalscorers this season than Chelsea's 13.
Chelsea showed versatility to attack at pace following deep regains.
This season's top-scorer Havertz missed a big chance after Sterling released him. He opted not to pass across to Joao Felix and instead tried to finish one-v-one on his non-dominant right foot, shooting straight at goalkeeper Illan Meslier. In another counter-attack, Joao Felix hit the crossbar from a Sterling cutback.
As solid as Chelsea were in possession, Leeds asked them too many questions defensively in the second half, where Potter felt the “game got stretched”.
Loftus-Cheek struggled when they dropped into a 5-4-1, with Leeds routinely able to one-two their way in behind Chelsea's right wing-back, and get into crossing positions.
Despite Jack Harrison overhitting this first cross from their left, Ayling is at the back post and sends it back in, with No 9 Georginio Rutter's shot getting blocked by Koulibaly.
Question marks over substitutions — his first two saw Potter replacing No 10s Joao Felix and Sterling with defensive midfielders Conor Gallagher and Denis Zakaria — are fair. Chelsea have conceded 13 times beyond the 60-minute mark in Premier League games this season, more than 11 of the 19 other sides, and they have only scored nine goals in the final half-hour of matches.
Chelsea have not scored twice in a match since the 2-0 home win over Bournemouth in their first game after the World Cup, and they did not truly look like doing so on Saturday.
They are finally building performance foundations but these will now be tested by Borussia Dortmund, who have won all 10 of their games in 2023. However, Chelsea could manipulate and exploit their 4-1-4-1 mid-block defensive approach in a similar way, especially considering the volume of possession Potter's side are expected to have.
Chelsea, trailing 1-0 from the first leg, need to score on Tuesday night to keep any Champions League quarter-final hopes alive.
No pressure.