Can Chelsea roll back to the 4-3-3?

MONACO – AUGUST 31: Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo looks on from the touchline during the UEFA Super Cup match between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid at Louis II Stadium on August 31, 2012 in Monaco, Monaco. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)

After the embarrassing defeat against Atletico Madrid, the European Champions were crying out for a player who would sit in perfectly at the center of the park and smoothly transition the play from defense to attack. A kind of role which Makelele perfected during his time with the blues.

In Di Matteo’s favoured 4-2-3-1, Lampard and John Obi Mikel play the double pivot role, with Lampard recently trying to transform himself into a deep lying playmaker, so that Hazard and Mata can roam around behind Fernando Torres in an attempt to release him.

Frank Lampard is certainly trying his best to fit in at that role but when the club does approach the business end of the season, one could clearly see Raul Meireles getting many more starts. It’s hard to find reasons why Di Matteo let him go when Chelsea needed a player exactly like him. He and Essien would have been perfect replacements option for the present combination of Lampard and Mikel.

Essien was recently loaned to Real Madrid and I still cannot see sense in such a deal. Essien is a brilliant defensive midfielder , who can attack and at the same time remember to cover for his team-mates at the back. Falcao hammered 3 goals into the Chelsea net, where the Atletico players outnumbered the Chelsea defenders and increased the pressure on them. The main reason why Falcao was easily allowed to score those 3 was because Lampard and Ivanovic failed to come back and defend in time.

So if Raul was still at Stamford Bridge, Di Matteo could have switched him with Lampard and seen a considerable improvement in the way Chelsea converted defense into an all out attack. Against Newcastle , Meireles had a brilliant game and was probably the standout player after Torres and Hazard.

But the question is, what happens if Lampard cannot comfortably combine with Mikel in the double pivot role?

Well Chelsea will most probably look into switching back to the infamous 4-3-3. With the 4-3-3 , Chelsea will be able to play Mikel, Lampard and Romeu in the midfield area with Lampard or Oscar playing a more attacking role, right behind Torres. Eden Hazard and Juan Mata will undoubtedly take the wings. So I decided to spend some time in paint and divulged into the art of creating a football tactic which could actually work with Chelsea’s plethora of midfielders !

Basic Formation(4-3-3)- Excuse the horrible paint skills

Assigning the numbers as

1- Petr Cech/ Ross Turnbull / Hilario

2- Ryan Bertrand/ Ashley Cole

3- John Terry/ David Luiz

4- Gary Cahill / David Luiz

5- Branislav Ivanovic / Cezar Azpilicueta / Paulo Ferreira

6 – Oriol Romeu/ John Obi Mikel / Ramires

7 – John Obi Mikel/ Oriol Romeu / Ramires

8 – Oscar/ Frank Lampard / Ramires

9- Juan Mata/ Marko Marin / Florent Malouda

10 – Fernando Torres / Daniel Sturridge / Victor Moses

11 – Eden Hazard/ Victor Moses / Ramires/ Daniel Sturridge

Now as you can probably see, the midfield that Chelsea has happens to be one of the most creative in the Premier League. At this time Chelsea use an effective 4-2-3-1. With two defensive midfielders distributing play, two attacking full backs, 3 players behind the striker who can keep switching positions and a lone striker who feeds on defense splitting passes.

Present formation

This has to be the most effective formation Chelsea use. With Bertrand on the left, Chelsea look much more effective while going forward and at the same time remaining solid at the back. At the end of the game this is what the Chelsea players end up tactically doing on the pitch.

Very strong – Bertrand does brilliantly both as a winger and as a cover for leftback and the defensive midfield position

After watching the Newcastle game again, Ryan Bertrand appeared to be instrumental in the way Chelsea lineup. He took up the position of covering for Ashley Cole when the leftback went leaping forward and covered for Lampard and Mikel when they decided to join in the attack. Hazard and Mata kept exchanging their places which confused Newcastle to such an extent that the Toon players roamed around the pitch to stay with them.

But let’s compare this to the players who played against Athletico. They started with 4-2-3-1 but after every goal it barely looked like that. After watching all the 4 goals carefully this is what commonly happened after every goal.

Messed up – It was like they did not know what they were doing

As you can see Lampard completely forgot to come back, Mikel had a sudden urge to attack which he was actually quite good at and Ivanovic forgot that he was a defender. It was an off day for the boys as you rarely see Ivanovic make a mistake like that. He hasn’t got the fastest of legs and that cost the defense dearly.

If this goes on, Di Matteo could end up in serious trouble and if he has to depend on his other options, he has only one choice.

Enter 4-3-3.

In my opinion with the players we have this could be super effective both defensively and on the attacking side. Lets have a look at how the players could move about in such a formation.

Confusing for the opposition if only the movement can be perfected

Hazard and Mata can once again keep switching. If Oscar is to start he can also switch with two wide play makers and Romeu and Mikel can switch things around. Di Matteo can retain his two attacking full backs and all is well. The biggest downside of such a tactics is it will take time to adapt. The movements on the pitch will have to be memorized and players will have to keep a watchful eye.

It’s still early days and a lot can change for the blues but this is just a suggestion and a possibility if Di Matteo does decide to change things around.

Welcoming any suggestions !