It’s hard to remember a Premier League champion who has taken on the task of defending their title so literally. Chelsea, after comfortable winning the division in 2016/17 with an innovative 3-4-2-1 formation that surprised opponents with the use of two number 10s, have clearly become more defensive-minded this campaign.
As early as spring 2017 Antonio Conte hinted that a change of system was coming, suggesting that teams were working out how to nullify Eden Hazard and Pedro in those inside forward positions, but instead of increasing the attacking options around these two Conte has clearly taken a step backwards. For most of the season it has been a 3-5-1-1 with Tiemoue Bakayoko and N’Golo Kante in central midfield. The reasons for doing so remain a mystery.
Hazard, increasingly crowded out last season, has struggled even more as the sole focus of the Chelsea attacks, and this issue is only getting worse as the Belgian begins to play alongside Alvaro Morata in a flat 3-5-2. Chelsea’s laborious 0-0 draw with Leicester City last weekend was the starkest example yet of why Conte’s alarmingly negative tactics are holding the club back – and could see them finish outside the top four.
Leicester consistently broke through the ranks in central midfield, largely because the 3-5-2 was so awkwardly flat, meaning Riyad Mahrez only needed to shimmy slightly to find space between the lines of defence and midfield. Bakayoko’s ambling start to life at Stamford Bridge certainly hasn’t helped this problem, but this only asks more questions: if Bakayoko is playing so poorly, then why isn’t Conte starting one of his number tens ahead of the Frenchman?
One might assume that a more robust, conservative central midfield would free the wing-backs to surge forward more readily to support Morata, and yet this evidently hasn’t happened. One of the reasons Chelsea have failed to score in each of their last three league matches is Victor Moses’ poor form, coupled with Morata’s failure to respond positively to the demands of being a first-team regular – a position he has never before experienced.
All of which tells us Conte must change his tactical approach. Defensive football that grinds out narrow wins cannot last a whole season and it surely will not leave the champions with a greater points tally than Liverpool, Manchester United, or Tottenham Hotspur. Perhaps a switch to a back four would refresh this side (after all, so many Premier League clubs have copied Chelsea’s back three that most know how to exploit its vulnerabilities) and allow Conte to play Willian, Pedro, and Hazard behind the striker. Alternatively, Chelsea could look to add a more chaotic, line-breaking attacker during the transfer window to give Hazard a break.
He isn’t the only Chelsea player who looks emotionally tired, which is hardly surprising given how rarely Conte rotates his first 11. Having already been so far ahead in the title race at this stage last season it could be argued Conte is yet to learn just how big an impact the hectic winter schedule can have on a squad’s imaginative powers. After playing 120 minutes in midweek against Norwich, this problem will only worsen in the short term.
Conte must change his formation, rotate his players, and look to bring in fresh faces this month, or else a top four finish will most likely elude Chelsea.
