Chelsea are on a bad run at the moment in the league. It all started with a draw at Swansea City. Chelsea looked comfortable for most parts in that game, but a mistake at the back let Swansea equalize. They could have thrown it all away after they went 2-1 down but Costa rescued a point for the Blues.
That game showed the first cracks in a seemingly impenetrable Conte armor. Liverpool exposed Chelsea’s shabbiness in the game at Stamford Bridge a week ago, but a win against Leicester City in the League cup temporarily got things back on track.
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So it was with high spirits the Blues travelled to their favourite hunting ground in recent years, the Emirates. The story that unravelled turned out to be the stuff of nightmares for Chelsea fans as the Gunners ripped them to shreds in a furious opening 45 minutes.
After 3 wins from their 3 opening games, Chelsea have lost their way, and the demons of last season’s woes seem to be resurfacing. So what must Conte do stop the rot at Chelsea? Here are a few options:
5) Drop Matic and play Fabregas
Nemanja Matic’s disappearance seems to be the biggest mystery in a Chelsea team full of escape artists. After having a brilliant season in 2014/15 under the ‘Special One’ his skills seem to desert him in 2015/16.
Jose Mourinho was left in shock and had no choice but to bench one of his standout performers from the season before. But that disease was one that had poisoned several of their first team stars in that forgettable season.
The Blues seemed to have their mojo back at the start of the new campaign but Matic has been found wanting on more than one occasion. It’s true, N’Golo Kante can do the work of two men but even Batman needs Robin to bail him out from time to time.
The Serbian seems to be burdened with contributing in attack as well which might be hampering the defensive side of his game. Kante worked well Danny Drinkwater, a deep-lying playmaker of sorts at Leicester and playing Fabregas alongside the Frenchman might be a good option.
Cesc played in the hole behind Costa aginst Arsenal but it backfired because the Spaniard is much better as a deep lying playmaker. His raking passes from deep have been so effective in the past and there’s no reason why it wouldn’t work now.
4) Implement the 3-5-2 formation
Conte’s back to back defeats against Liverpool and Arsenal is the first time he’s lost two league games in a row in seven years. That is some record to have, and not one he would be happy about losing so easily.
When the Italian landed the Juventus job, the club were off the pace and couldn't compete with the likes of the Milan clubs. When he left, Juve were the kings of Italy and the Milan clubs had lost a huge chunk of their superiority status in Italian football.
His next project was to try and restore the Italian national team to its former glory. They had managed to reach the finals of Euro 2012 but were humiliated in the 2014 World Cup. Once again Conte took up the reigns and built a side that even brought the mighty Spain to its knees and made the World Champions Germany work extremely hard for a win in Euro 2016
The 3-5-2 system he implemented in both cases had a high success rate, with many finding it impossible to break down the formation when playing against his teams. So why not do the same at Chelsea?
Well for starters, he doesn’t have all his defenders fit at the moment. But with Kurt Zouma’s return imminent and John Terry also nearing a comeback, it could be time for him to revert to something he knows best.
Conte is using the 4-1-4-1 formation because he was unsure of the Premier League. It was new territory for him and he decided to go with a formula he thought wasn't broken. But so far os hasn’t reaped rewards.
Sometimes going with something you believe in is better than trying to adapt. Conte should work with what he knows best and that’s the 3-5-2 formation The sooner we see that, the faster Chelsea will return to their normal winning state.
3) Play Eden Hazard in the No 10. Role
Eden Hazard rediscovered his lost form during Euro 2016. The Belgian was on fire and helped his side reach the quarter-finals where they succumbed to a shock defeat against Wales. Chelsea fans rejoiced at the sight of the return of their hero.
But in the last two weeks, he seems to have lost that golden touch he showed in the earlier stages of the season. He also seems to be lazy in doing the defensive work for his team, something that cost Chelsea the second goal against Arsenal.
Maybe Hazard needs a change in role or position to get him going again. It is now his 5th season with the Blues and some Premier League defenders might have learnt how to defend against him.
One of Hazard’s strengths is to work angles in tight spaces. His low centre of gravity gives him the ability to turn and twist his markers into dizziness and play quick one-twos around them.
He could use this to his advantage if he plays in the No 10 role. A role that requires intricacy and quickness of thought. David Silva is a great example of the little playmaker role, who finds pockets of space to work his magic.
Defenders will have something completely different to think about when facing him through the centre. Willian is doing alright on one wing and Pedro could be a good option for pace on the other wing.
2) Play Ivanovic in central defence until Terry is fit
Gary Cahill hasn’t had best of starts to the 2016/17 season. He was responsible for a goal in each of Chelsea’s last four matches. Against Swansea, his mistake let in the equalizer, his half-hearted clearance gave Henderson the chance to put Liverpool 2-0 up and against Arsenal once again lady luck wasn’t on his side as Sanchez capitalized to score the opening goal.
The absence of John Terry hasn't really helped their cause and Conte has to fix this and fix it fast. Ivanovic is a player who hasn’t aged well in that right back role. It would be a wise decision to use him in a central defensive position.
He is also Chelsea’s second most experienced defender, so it makes sense to play him in a role that requires a lot of knowledge and experience. Cahill needs a time -out. Luiz has to learn how to defend better and Ivanovic might be an able mentor him.
Time on the sidelines could do the Englishman a world of good and when Terry returns he could find a place in the side again. Marcos Alonso the other defensive option Conte has could also be deployed in his usual left-back role so Azpilicueta could play in his favoured right back role.
These small tweaks could go a long way in providing stability at the back for Chelsea
1) Promote youth
Chelsea seem to have a bad history with promoting youth despite loaning out several of their youngsters season after season. Previous managers at the Blues did not encourage promoting youth to the extent their rival have.
The reason could be because the club are in search of instant success whenever there is a new manager at the helm, which puts him under the spot, making it difficult to promote youth while keeping title ambitions in mind.
In the game against Arsenal, many of the star names looked off the pace. Willian who had a brilliant season in 2015-16 has been off colour this time around. When we see what the likes of Marcus Rashford and Alex Iwobi have done for their respective clubs Chelsea should try and follow a similar approach.
There are several talented youngsters at Conte’s disposal, with the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Dominic Solanke, Nathaniel Chalobah, and Ola Aina all looking like promising prospects.
But these names will only be fading memories for Chelsea fans if they aren't given the chance to shine. The loaning out of Bertrand Traore was also surprising to many with the talent and skill he showed towards the end of last season.
Maybe youth is the way ahead for Conte but will he be brave enough to make the call?
