What’s the story?
Ex-Arsenal defender and club legend Martin Keown has identified one weakness in Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 system at Chelsea. The Gunners centre-back recently spoke to the Daily Mail about the Italian tactician’s highly praised formation, saying, “I preferred playing in a back four. In that system, everyone is occupying the same amount of space across the pitch. In a three, you are covering a much bigger area and relying on the wing back to get back,” said Keown.
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“The two centre-backs, who play on the left and right of the three can become exposed. When I played in a back three I was asked to run out into the full-back positions and you do not want your centre-halves pulled out there,” he continued. “When Tottenham scored against Chelsea, they pulled Gary Cahill from the middle of the three and left David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta in the box. Victor Moses, the wing-back, had to come all the way back and ended up playing everyone onside,” the former Gunners defender added.
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Chelsea struggled in the beginning of the season with a back four and then won 13 games on the trot, equalling the Premier League record, after switching to a back three. The change in system and subsequent results for the Blues won Conte a number of plaudits from many experts and journalists in England and Europe.
The Italian manager also picked up three consecutive ‘Premier League Manager of the Month’ awards, becoming the first manager in the history of the Premier League to do so. Conte’s famed 3-4-3 and its variants have now been adopted by a variety of managers around the globe.
The heart of the matter
Keown claimed that he knows how teams can exploit Chelsea's system. He instructed clubs to draw their centre-backs out wide and exploit the space behind them. The former Arsenal legend also said that Tottenham are more suited to a back-three because of the players at their disposal.
Keown further suggested that teams must emulate Spurs in order to be effective against Conte’s side.
What’s next?
Whether teams follow the former Arsenal defender’s advice of dragging centre-backs wide and then playing a killer ball in the middle remains to be seen. Jamie Carragher also suggested a similar tactic earlier this month.
However, a number of teams have tried to match Chelsea’s formation this season and have failed miserably, except for Tottenham, who had immense success.
Sportskeeda's Take
While what Keown said is a true assessment, Chelsea have Cesar Azpilicueta, who is primarily a full-back and can make up the ground. Also, David Luiz is a very quick centre-back, who is good in the air and can deal with the danger. N’Golo Kante also patrols those areas, and can cover up ground quickly.Chelsea have surely practiced such situations in training with Conte aware of the chinks in his system. While Keown is correct in theory, whether teams do it in-game, on the counter attack, when the full-backs are high up the pitch, and score, remains to be seen and is something that only Tottenham have managed thus far.
