Chelsea played a 4-1-4-1 formation against
Arsenal as they had in their previous games.
Chelsea had lost to Liverpool the week
before, but that was nothing compared to
what Arsenal did. Arsenal torched Chelsea’s
back line in the first 45 minutes, and after
that rode the wave.
Antonio Conte took advantage of Arsenal
coasting to try out a new plan. He switched
players and formation to set up a 3-4-3 for
the remainder of the match. Though it did not
propel Chelsea to a historic comeback, it did
prevent Arsenal from embarrassing Chelsea
any further.
It was hard to tell at the time, but the change
would prove to be one of the masterstrokes
of the season. Conte went from a manager
rumored (foolishly, of course) to be facing the
sack to being the best manager in the league.
Conte truly tailored Chelsea as he said a good
manager must, creafting the formation that
brought the best out of his players.
Now, after 11 games and just over two
months, Conte is evolving the formation to
the one he favored most at Juventus: the
3-5-2. The players are staying the same as
Chelsea gradually drop a forward into
midfield for a 3-5-2.
The 3-4-3 formation that started against Hull
peaked against Everton. The Blues so
completely crushed the Toffees that day. The
formation had to have been perfect. An
international break followed the Everton
match. With the extra training time, the shape
began to change upon the Premier League’s
return.
Real life positioning as symmetrical &
accurate as magnets on a white
board.
The first signs of the switch were against
Middlesbrough. This strange game saw
Victor Moses with plenty of room to run
forward. Pedro – nominally the winger in
front of Moses – dropped deep to receive the
ball and facilitate Moses’ runs. This could be
more of an unusual circumstance that Boro
allowed, but signs of it continued in the
following games.
Against both Spurs and Manchester City,
Chelsea had opponents that favored
aggressive presses. This cut off the supply
to the front three from midfield. In response,
Pedro dropped deep and central. This put him
on the ball more often, creating the
opportunity to get it forward to Eden Hazard
and Diego Costa.
The pattern of Pedro dropping deep and
central continued against West Brom and
Sunderland. Pedro’s average position has
become more and more like that of a center-
midfielder or an attacking midfielder. So is
this just a Pedro peculiarity, or the next
Chelsea suit from Il Sarto ?
The Crystal Palace game is the greatest
example of it being Conte’s masterplan and
not Pedro flitting about. Namely, because
Pedro did not play Willian got the start over
the Spaniard, and did the exact same thing.
He dropped deep and central while Hazard
stayed forward. Two players with very
different skillsets and tendencies have now
both done the same thing. This reveals the
hand of Antonio Conte.
Formations are fluid, by nature. A 4-1-4-1
easily becomes a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1. But
formations are also a great way to explain
player instructions. If a player is instructed to
be in the middle and receive the ball, they
cannot be called a winger. Conte has slowly
been moving Chelsea into this direction.
3-5-2 is the most “balanced” formation
Chelsea play. 3-4-3 is set up to attack, and
5-4-1 is set up to defend. The 3-5-2 is the
middle ground. It makes Chelsea a squad
capable of handling virtually any situation. It
also gives Chelsea some unpredictability. The
third center-midfielder can take a variety of
forms. It could be a playmaker such as Cesc
Fabregas, a highly mobile and technical
player such as Pedro or a defensively sound
option such as Chalobah.
NEXT: Chelsea should do
everything in their power to land
James Rodriguez
Antonio Conte is showing that even on the
back of 11 consecutive wins, he is still
tailoring the formation to get the best out of
the squad. Such changes have taken Chelsea
to the top on Christmas, something that
seemed like a long shot months ago. If such
changes continue to propel Chelsea, it will
see Conte taking the Blues to very lofty
heights in the coming months.
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