Chelsea’s 3-4-3 alternatives: A four man defence in the 4-3-3

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Antonio Conte, Manager of Chelsea gives his team instructions during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Everton at Stamford Bridge on August 27, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

In the latest look at alternative Chelsea tactics, we examine the 4-3-3 and whether Antonio Conte could effectively set up his men in this formation.

It would take something drastic for Antonio Conte to switch to a four-man defence, although one cannot simply rule out its return. He could resort to it if a string of losses occur, or if he wants to bleed a few Chelsea youngsters in an irrelevant cup game. He could also use it to keep his best players fresh for an important upcoming Champions League clash. He did use 4-2-4 to great effect against Bari, after all.

The 4-3-3 is probably one of the simplest systems in football to understand. In this variation of 4-3-3, the center forward is flanked by two wingers and a trequartista is relieved of his defensive duties by two central midfielders.

Let’s take the following line up as an example.

Often, one of these two midfielders is a potent creative force and acts as a deep lying playmaker, hence offering that extra bit of creativity without sacrificing defensive stability. This role could perhaps suit Danny Drinkwater and would definitely suit Cesc Fabregas.

Wingers with explosive speed are critical to this formation. The opponent’s two center backs and central midfielders would usually do a good job of keeping the lone forward quiet. Hence, the wingers need to have the pace to exploit the inside left and right channels and latch on to the long balls furnished by the deep lying playmaker.

If the opponents are of the lower quality, the wingers can tuck inside and slip the ball to the oncoming full backs. Then they can join the attack themselves to have a better chance of scoring.

Defensively, this formation looks pretty much like a 4-2-3-1, with the two central midfielders dropping off and the three men behind the striker engaging in a synchronised defensive press. The lone forward, meanwhile, has the responsibility of either closing down opposition or cutting down passing lanes.

The wingers often move into central areas of the pitch, in a bid to divert the opposition’s attacking impetus to the flanks. The full-backs follow suit and aim to cordon off the central areas by forming a low defensive block, along with the two center backs and the two retreating central midfielders.

An interesting alternative look of this formation is the variant wherein a defensive midfielder plays behind two central midfielders. This formation provides a great attacking thrust and can be quite helpful when Chelsea are chasing a game. This formation was used by Chelsea when they had to somehow fit in the talents of Lampard, Ballack and Makelele in the same midfield.

The current Chelsea squad would adopt a different attacking style to that one, a model perhaps slightly similar to that of Spurs. A creative central midfielder is the beating heart of this formation, with someone like Cesc Fabregas pulling the strings. This formation often relies on creating attacking overloads in the final third with a playmaker supplying crosses from the wide areas.

It is also imperative to have a wide player capable of drifting inside to make up an extra man in attack. The creative central midfielder slips into the space that is vacated, drawing in his full back and hence creating space for the creative central midfielder to swing in pinpointing crosses.

Defensively, this formation requires the other central midfielder to drop in and for rest of the players to assume respective positions in a traditional 4-3-3.