When you are playing in a back five and you give up a goal on the far post, who is at fault for the goal? The answer is the entire team, and this is a perfect example from West Ham against Chelsea.

It starts off as a normal play, passing out from the back. Then Lucas Paqueta is bodied off the ball. Now West Ham are immediately under pressure in full reaction mode. Get into position; prepare to defend against the immediate chance.

I want you to watch two players for Chelsea: Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez.

They should prioritize Enzo Fernandez in the center of the box first, which they do. Thomas Soucek should be sprinting to cut off that pass into Enzo.

Then they need to ensure the cross is blocked to the far post. I don’t care if they have it covered, in my opinion, the pass to Pedro Neto should be blocked. Reason being, it is a very awkward pass to defend for the far side center-back, Jean-Clair Todibo.

This is the first mistake made. Nayef Aguerd comes out to help Thomas Soucek cut off the pass on the ground, towards the penalty spot, to Enzo Fernandez. Aguerd likely realized there was a gap for that pass and he tried to close it down, a gap that Soucek should have covered, but he didn’t have it covered.

Once Aguerd shifts over, the entire backline shifts over with him. Now there’s a massive space behind Jean-Clair Todibo.

The entire game now rests on Aaron Wan-Bissaka covering for Todibo and filling that space, not allowing the cross into Pedro Neto on the far post.

It is a domino effect. If Soucek cuts down the space in time, and Aguerd doesn’t shift over as aggressively, then the rest of the defense doesn’t shift over, and they’d have the far post covered by Todibo and Wan-Bissaka, not just Wan-Bissaka. If Todibo covers the far post, then Wan-Bissaka doesn’t have to cover Pedro Neto as tightly, allowing him to help close down Enzo Fernandez, another central forward ahead of Enzo, or help double-team Pedro Neto.

James Ward-Prowse sees the pass into Enzo Fernandez is shut off; he then backs off to cover the top of the box to defend against a cutback.

Aguerd and Soucek allow the cross to the back post; they don’t block the cross from Joao Pedro to Pedro Neto. Aaron Wan-Bissaka doesn’t get in front of Pedro Neto, allowing him to score easily on the far post.

It is easy to pass blame on Aaron Wan-Bissaka. He is the obvious scapegoat. But it is a crime to allow this type of goal to be scored when your team is using a back five, and you have to place full blame on the entire team for the goal. They lack appropriate communication.

If Wan-Bissaka isn’t going to tightly mark Pedro Neto, he should be telling Todibo to drop back. That would trigger Max Kilman to shift back.

Soucek can see the rest of the box and should be telling Aguerd to block the cross at all costs because the back post is not covered. Soucek would then cut off the pass into Enzo Fernandez, and James Ward-Prowse would then try to track back more with Enzo Fernandez to make sure that pass is cut off.

Everyone is assuming Aaron Wan-Bissaka has fully covered the back post, but there’s too much assuming happening.