Chelsea's first opponent in the Premier League in 2014-2015 was Burnley.

Founded in 1882, this veteran team is a founding member of the English Football League in Burnley, Lancashire, England, and its home stadium is Turf Moor.

They won the FA Cup in the distant 1913-1914 season and even won the English top flight in 1920-1921 and 1959-1960.

In other words, if you exclude the title won by Abou after taking charge of Chelsea, in fact, Chelsea and Burnley have similar ancestral honors.

However, Burnley are not as lucky as Chelsea, with an owner who loves the club and is willing to invest in it.

They are just a small club that plays in the second and third divisions all year round.

After finishing runners-up in the Championship in 2008-2009 and making their first Premier League appearance, they immediately experienced the dangers of the Premier League and were relegated back to the Championship the following year.

Last season, in 2013-2014, Burnley were runners-up in the Championship again and were able to return to the Premier League this year.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are their first opponent after returning to the Premier League.

Burnley is currently coached by bald manager Sean Dyche.

The 43-year-old began managing Burnley in October 2012 and was instrumental in leading the team back to the Premier League.

In fact, Sean Dyche was one of the more successful managers in the Premier League, having managed Burnley for 10 years, during which time he also lifted them to seventh place in the league and qualified for Europe for the first time in 51 years.

So he's not like the media who only follow the trend and think Chelsea are an easy opponent to deal with.

Speaking at a press conference the day before the game, Sean Dyche said the results in the warm-up games were not enough to prove Chelsea's quality.

"If you've actually led a professional team, you know it's not a big deal to lose in a warm-up game."

"Especially for a coach like Pan Yi, I can see that he is not particularly interested in the results of the warm-up matches, but uses such competitions to practice various routines."

And from their last two warm-up games, it was clear that Chelsea were on the right track and started playing the football that Pan Yi wanted them to play. So, they will be a dangerous opponent! ”

Sean Dyche also said that he had also studied the Chelsea games led by Pan Yi, and he also felt that Pan Yi's Chelsea was very different from Mourinho's Chelsea.

'This Chelsea team is younger and more dynamic. It is surprising that Pan Yi dares to use so many young players at once, but it also makes people admire his courage. ”

'He's proven to have a knack for coaching young players and he's probably looking to replicate his success at Milan and Hamburg at Chelsea.'

'The new centre-back system he showed in the warm-up games made me feel like Louis van Gaal or Bielsa, and some of the ideas of Tuchel and Antonio Conte, but it didn't seem to be the same. Whether it is offensive or defensive, it obviously has Pan Yi's own imprint. ”

Tomorrow will be Pan Yi's first game under Chelsea. Therefore, we have to be careful against Chelsea to avoid falling into their rhythm. In the past two years, Pan Yi has proved in Hamburg that once the game goes at his pace, the result of the game cannot be changed. ”

When asked what he expected for tomorrow's game, Sean Dyche admitted that when leading a Premier League newcomer like Burnley against a strong team like Chelsea, it would be a luxury to take all three points, even at home.

Therefore, striving to get a point and get a good start to the Premier League journey in the new season is the most pragmatic goal of the Burnley team! ——

Seeing that Sean Dyche also seems to have a "fan brother" plot for Pan Yi, the British media was ready to spray Pan Yi's firepower and suddenly had no support.

As a direct opponent, people are not so angry, you are really the emperor is not in a hurry, the eunuch is in a hurry.

It's just that if you want to look at Pan Yi, you can still find an angle.

"The Sun" believes that although Pan Yi has played against some Premier League teams in Europe, teams like Manchester City and Manchester United actually play very differently from the middle and lower teams of the Premier League.

In the case of Burnley, who Chelsea face in the first round, their personnel position means that the team is destined to play in the traditional English style.

In last season's Championship game, they mainly used the aerial superiority of the two centre-forwards to seize counter-attacks and set-pieces.

Even though Burnley finished second in the Championship, they had an average possession rate of only 40 per cent, and the total number of passes and the percentage of passes completed were the lowest among the more than 20 teams in the Championship.

Giving up possession and playing as easy as possible is a tactical philosophy that Shaun Dyche adheres to, after all, few of the midfielders in Burnley's squad are known for possession.

Therefore, the defensive counterattack in the new season is still Burnley's tactical idea, a simple long pass and a hanging, and the fastest way to solve the battle.

In one statistic, Burnley are the top of the Premier League.

Burnley completed a total of 822 successful aerial duels last season, and letting the ball fly in the sky for a little longer is the pace of the game that Burnley wants, and this style of play may remind us of the "Sky City" Stoke City.

In order to adapt to the high balls, Burnley have one of the best attacking combinations in the Premier League, with striker Barnes contributing a terrifying 80 successful aerial duels last season.

Chelsea, on the other hand, have a squad full of technical players like Eden Hazard, Oscar, including Cesar Azpilicueta, who are clearly weak in terms of aerial and power confrontation.

Including the young players introduced and promoted by Pan Yi later, such as Cancelo, B seat, etc., also have the same weaknesses.

Moreover, the pace of the Premier League is very fast, especially against mid-table teams, where hand-to-hand clinching and physical duels are essential and don't give you any time to react, which can be a serious problem for Chelsea's technical players.

Many managers come to the Premier League with a period of discomfort and eventually Waterloo before leaving the Premier League in disgrace.

As a result, The Sun concluded that a somewhat idealistic manager like Pan Yi would inevitably follow in the footsteps of these managers and lose in the high-flying and stalking-in fight of a practical team like Burnley.

But for these despised remarks, Pan Yi faced them with a calm smile at the press conference before the game.

'It's normal for a new manager to come to the Premier League and be questioned.

'I'm a foreign manager, I'm a dragon and even if I have won the treble, but being in the Premier League to coach a team like Chelsea is always a little uncomfortable for some people.

"But just as I proved in the Champions League that I can beat the big teams in the Premier League, I can also show that I have a way to deal with the so-called mystical teams in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League."

"I won't refute their doubts because I want to be able to prove myself on the pitch!"

——

Evening of August 19, Burnley, Turf Moore Stadium.

In the first round of the 2014-2015 Premier League season, Chelsea's away game against Burnley is about to begin.

In the home dressing room before the game, Burnley manager Sean Dyche was given the visitors' starting line-up.

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Bernardo Silva.

Midfielders: Marcos Alonso, Kante, Nemanja Matic, Cesar Azpilicueta.

Defenders: John Terry, David Luiz, Gary Cahill.

Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois.

Sure enough, it is the 343 formation that Pan Yi has been practicing in the warm-up game, and the strength of these starters is really strong!

Not to mention stars like Terry, David Luiz, Gary Cahill, or Hazard and Nemanja Matic, who have been famous in European football for a long time, even Lukaku, Courtois and others, who have just been loaned back, have all proven their strength during the loan period, and their value in Germany has reached tens of millions of euros.

That is, Bernardo Silva, Marcos Alonso and others that Pan Yi just bought are a bit confusing about their strength, but according to Pan Yi's past buying experience, they must also have two brushes before Pan Yi takes a fancy to them.

As for this group of players, or whether Pan Yi can adapt to the Premier League......

Sean Dyche thinks it's really all media.

The value and weekly salary of these players are ranked here, and many players are veterans who have played in the Premier League for many years, where is there any problem of adapting or not adapting?

In terms of strength, the two teams are even more different.

Look at Burnley's top salary, which is attacking midfielder George Boyd, who earns 27,000 euros a week.

And Hazard in the Chelsea team, the weekly salary is 250,000 euros! That's almost ten times as much as him.

If the comparison isn't obvious......

The lowest salaries in Chelsea's first-team squad are Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen, who have just been promoted from the youth squad, but they also earn €30,000 a week.

In other words, the lowest wage in the Chelsea squad is higher than the highest in the Burnley squad.

How does this kick?

Of course, football is round, and it is true that the winner of a ball game cannot be determined by its value alone.

But the problem is that Sean Dyche is the first person in the Premier League to face Pan Yi and Chelsea today, and Burnley is also the first team to face Chelsea in an official match.

So Sean Dyche felt a little unlucky.

If not, he may be able to study the real style of play of Pan Yi's Chelsea team again, and then develop an effective targeted defence.

And now, on the contrary, other teams in the Premier League are staring at this game to see what kind of performance Pan Yi will perform in the first game after coming to the Premier League.

Because everyone wants to see how the new Chelsea team that Pan Yi "only" spent 80 million euros to build is different from Jose Mourinho's Blues last season?

Will their form be as volatile as in the warm-up match, or will they be as ferocious as a tiger descending a mountain as soon as Pan Yi used to be in Hamburg?

So, as Shaun Dyche said in his pre-match press conference, he prepared for this match very carefully and thoroughly.

Defensively, in particular, he stressed that his players should be aware of Chelsea's surprise attacks on both flanks, as well as the central strikers' chance-grabbing points.

In terms of formation, Sean Dyche also made a little tweaking to his usual 442.

That is to keep the central midfield position unchanged, let the front and rear positions be formed in the front line, and let the number 10 Danny Ince drop back a little bit to achieve an actual 4411 formation to be able to defend better.

——

And at almost the same time, in the away team's coach's box, Pan Yi also got Burnley's starting lineup list.

Forwards: Jutkiewicz, Danny Ince.

Midfielders: Taylor, Marney, Jones, Ivoith.

Defenders: Benjamin Rice, Shaker, Michael Duff, Trippier.

Goalkeeper: Tom Heaton.

The line-up, which was slightly different from the media's prediction of a starter, saw the burly striker Ashley Barnes not play.

Pan Yi also saw Sean Dyche's tactical intention, which is to defend well against a strong team like Chelsea, and then show their regular style of playing high and high after stabilizing their position.

Perhaps, this will also be the mentality that many mid-table teams will adopt when they meet Chelsea this season.

But Pan Yi was also prepared for a long time.

Looking at the Chelsea players in the dressing room who were all sitting in their seats, Pan Yi was not prepared to do much mobilization.

Although this is his first game in the Premier League, and it is also the first Premier League game for many of the players here, Pan Yi doesn't think it's anything special, and he doesn't want to put too much pressure on the players.

They are only up against Burnley, a team that is far inferior to them in terms of quality.

Then, Pan Yi believes that as long as the Chelsea players can kick their own things, they can hold on to today's victory tightly!

Therefore, after making the final tactical emphasis, Pan Yi just waved his hand lightly to everyone:

"Guys, let's start today's show!"

It was obvious that the expressions on everyone's faces relaxed when they heard this.

One by one, they stood up, cheered each other on, and just walked out of the locker room steadily!

——

"Fellow spectators, welcome to Turf Moore Stadium for the first round of the 2014-2015 Premier League season."

'Burnley will be wearing their traditional red shirt at home to Premier League upstart Chelsea, with Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu giving you live commentary on the game.

"This will also be the first official game for our famous coach Pan Yi after taking charge of Chelsea."

"Today's game was not a big conversation, but it still attracted the attention of the media and fans throughout the Premier League and even around the world."

The reason for this, of course, is Pan Yi. Everyone wants to know whether Pan Yi will be able to continue his magic when he arrives at Chelsea this summer with the title of the world's highest paid player after his success in Milan and Hamburg. ”

"In this summer, Pan Yi did not use cheques to disrupt the entire European transfer market, as everyone expected, but only spent 40 million euros to bring his favorite Kante from Hamburg and 40 million to bring three lesser-known youngsters."

"In his team building policy this year, he has adopted more of a recall of loan players and the promotion of youth team players. And this initiative has also been supported by the local Chelsea fans. ”

"It is widely believed that Chelsea is gradually changing its image as a mercenary by using a large number of its academy players this season, and is becoming more rooted in the local community and becoming the real home team of Chelsea fans!"

'That's why more than 5,000 Chelsea fans travelled north to Turf Moore Stadium despite tonight's away game.

"They all can't wait to be the first to see Pan Yi's debut, and at the same time, they also want to show their support for the team and the new head coach!"

'Considering the Turf Moore Stadium itself can only accommodate more than 20,000 spectators, Chelsea fans today also have an anti-guest posture.

"Now, the players of both teams have walked out of the tunnel under the guidance of the referee and come to the pitch!"

There was a burst of cheers and applause, and a large part of them were given to the team and Pan Yi by Chelsea fans!

"Pan Yi, a young head coach who just turned 28 this year, is already a triple crown winner. He also applauded the blue phalanx of fans in the visitors' stands. ”

"Let's look forward to today's game! Let's see what kind of football he will show us when he arrives at Chelsea! ……”

——

After a polite handshake from the head coaches of both sides, the game officially began.

Sure enough, Burnley's players followed Sean Dyche's instructions and started very cautiously, quickly ceding possession, and then concentrating a large number of personnel in their own midfield to defend.

This is also a coping strategy that Sean Dyche came up with after studying Pan Yi's tactics.

Because Pan Yi liked to attack at the opening when he was in Hamburg before, it was really uncomfortable to swing the "three-board axe".

And Burnley, as a weaker side, if they are injured by such an "axe" and lose the ball when they come up, then they don't have to play in the later games.

So, defense is their first priority after the opening.

Of course, just because you give up the ball doesn't mean you don't have it at all.

When a Chelsea player has dribbled past half-time, Burnley, led by retreating striker Danny Ince, will press the Chelsea ball carrier with high press.

This will prevent the Chelsea players from being comfortable organising an effective attack, and Burnley's defenders will not be scrambled to make mistakes when defending.

And if the top pick is unsuccessful, the Burnley players will quickly retreat and form a tight defence at the edge of the box.

And for such a scene, Pan Yi has long been mentally prepared.

He sat down in the coach's seat, took out a spicy strip and ate it to himself.

The two assistant coaches sitting next to him had solemn faces.

Steve Holland is fine, he just doesn't think it's easy to play at Burnley's home stadium and is thinking about how to give better advice to his manager.

And Scaloni is really nervous!

After all, this is the first official professional game of his "rookie coach".

He used to play as a player, but what he didn't expect was that sitting on the sidelines was more tiring than going up and playing in person!

The main reason is that there is a lot of psychological pressure.

He came to Chelsea inexplicably with the favour of Pan Yi, the world's top coach, and has always been trembling, conscientiously preparing for training and matches, and of course hoping for a good result to prove that his work was not in vain.

In this way, he can also repay Pan Yi for his kindness! But it's not like a player can retire and become an assistant coach at a big club like Chelsea......

His eyes were fixed on the players running on the field, his hands were tightly grasped, and his palms were already full of sweat.

"Calm down, come, eat a spicy strip, right?" Pan Yi saw the nervousness of his assistant, and smiled and handed a spicy strip to Scaloni.

"Oh...... No, thanks. Scaloni was a little embarrassed and pointed to the field, "But, boss, are you really not worried at all?" Now they're doing a good job defending, and we can't seem to get it down......"

"Why should I worry?" Pan Yi smiled, "We can't help much!" Besides, we said everything we had to say in training, and now it's time for the players to perform. ”

"But ......"

"Do you know why I'm using the 343 formation?" Pan Yi asked suddenly.

"Because it's more aggressive? Having an advantage against such a defensive-oriented team? Scaloni thought for a moment and replied.

"That's half right." "When attacking, I can throw almost everyone up front and leave two centre-backs behind. And when defending, you can quickly turn into a back five and tighten the fence. This flexibility is the main reason why I tried to use the 343 formation this season. ”

"So......" Scaloni still seemed to understand.

'So, when I'm playing a defence like Burnley now, I can also use the wide attacking players who have a lot of people up front, use their ability to break through and tear holes on the opposition's wings. Pan Yi calmly explained, "In this regard, the 343 formation has a unique advantage over both 433 and 4231......

Before Pan Yi's words fell, there was a sudden exclamation from the stands.

It turned out that on the left side of Chelsea, Marcos Alonso and Eden Hazard played a delicate combination.

Hazard stepped forward as soon as he knocked the ball back to Alonso, and Alonso also understood it and handed the ball to Hazard without stopping.

Burnley's right-back Kieran Trippier rushed over to defend Hazard, only to be shaken off by the deft Belgian winger with a nice feint before smashing straight into the box.

This breakthrough is the reason why the Burnley fans at the scene exclaimed.

And this is exactly what Pan Yi said, when their 343 formation can play a special role in the face of such a dense defense as Burnley.

As Chelsea's two wing-backs, Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta, can be like two wing-backs, or even two wingers, at the edge of the Burnley penalty area.

Their support for Chelsea's attack, particularly the two wingers, Eden Hazard and Bench B, has been very strong.

So they can play at any time and then form an advantage of playing more and less locally.

In the ball just now, the wing-backs and wingers "bullied" Burnley's full-back Kieran Strippier, and then created an attacking threat.

And at this time, the offensive continued.

Eden Hazard slotted into the box and Burnley's centre-back Duff rushed over to make up for it.

The other centre-back, Shakel, was pressed tightly behind by Chelsea's centre-forward Romelu Lukaku, unable to move.

Hazard didn't continue to use his footwork to break through at this point, as he had seen a better opening.

In the middle, wing-back Cesar Azpilicueta and winger B on the other side have reached the top of the box, while there is only one left-back Benjamin M next to them.

Eden Hazard spotted the opportunity and sent the ball straight over.

Azpilicueta missed a shot in front of him, Benjamin Mi was in front of him, and behind him he picked up his right foot and fired a powerful volley!

The ball was like a thunderbolt, and it slammed into the left side of Burnley's goal.

Goalkeeper Heaton made a direct sideways pounce, but couldn't save the ball at all.

The ball goes into the net!

In other words, Burnley's defense lasted less than ten minutes before it failed!

(End of chapter)