Wolverhampton 2-5 Chelsea: 3 reasons why the 3-man defence is the best formation for Lampard's squad

It's a brand new start to another era for Chelsea Football Club as most of the players from the past decade have either retired or departed the Blues resulting in a total revamp of the squad, led by legendary player-turned-coach Frank Lampard.

While Chelsea's attack has been absolutely brilliant in this season's first five games, the defence has not been at its best every weekend.

Chelsea currently have their academy players in both the attacking and defensive areas of the pitch, with Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori breaking into the first team this season. It is also the result of the transfer ban that the Londoners were hit with over the summer window.

There has been no shortage of goals scored in the Chelsea books this season, but on the other hand, the squad has been conceding goals which has led to them dropping points in some must-win games.

To tackle this situation, Lampard switched to a three-man defence this past weekend, and it proved to be successful as his men clinched a 5-2 away victory against Wolves at the Molineux.

Though both goals conceded in the fixture were sloppy too, Chelsea looked very much better than the previous matches for almost 80% of the game on Saturday. Lampard and his backroom staff must have definitely come out with a lot of positives from the game.

Analyzing the current breed of players in the team, the options as well as squad depth available to Lampard, we take a look at the three reasons why the 3-man defence may just be the answer to all of the problems that Chelsea are going through right now.

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#3 Best use of ageing full-backs

Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso have not been at their best since last season.

In a league where most of the top 6 teams have the best full-back duos in the whole of Europe, Chelsea may be a little unfortunate in that part of the pitch.

Both of Chelsea's first team full-backs for the past 3-4 seasons - Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso - have had a downfall in their performances since November of last year, and that has led to the Blues conceding a lot of goals being set up by the opposition from the flanks.

Academy graduate Reece James, who is recovering from an injury for his Premier League debut, might be the answer to Azpiliceuta's dipping form. But the youngster lacks experience and as Lampard said over the weekend, Chelsea cannot survive just on the youth's shoulders this season.

The three-man defence allows Alonso and Azpilicueta to contribute more to the attacking part of the game and takes off some defensive responsibilities. This is a great switch of profile for these players who are still one of the best attacking full-back pairings in the league especially with their overlapping style of play.

#2 Accommodate many defensive options in the starting lineup

Kurt Zouma might be fearing the loss of his place in the starting lineup due to the arrival of Tomori

Chelsea have no dearth of defensive options in their squad, but they lack experience. This means that the more the number of players Lampard can accommodate at the back, the better the quality of the defence.

Andreas Christensen has found his much deserved place in the squad since the arrival of Lampard and the departure of David Luiz and Gary Cahill. The Danish centre-back was not favoured by the ex-Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri.

Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori and Reece James return to their home club after successful stints on loan. Meanwhile, Antonio Rudiger who has been Chelsea's main defender for the past two seasons is returning from injury to play his first game this season.

With the quality and number of defenders in the squad, the Blues can field two different formations with two different sets of players.

The only way to accommodate all this talent is to play a three-man defence with two full-backs playing as wingers, which instantly impacts the defensive. Considering the defensive form of Chelsea right now, they need as many players at the back as possible.

#1 Chelsea has midfielders who are suited to this formation

Chelsea's midfield - Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic.

Needless to say, when N'Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic are playing together for Chelsea, the club probably has one of the top three midfields in the league.

The most important factor while judging this midfield trio is the fact that apart from their play-making capabilities, these three players have great defending abilities in them, which helps a lot when the team is defending.

Holding midfielders are like another wall of defense in the center of the field, and these three midfielders prove the same.

If Chelsea continue to play a three-man defence as per their last match, the midfield is going to provide a helping hand to the three defenders at the back, as the positioning will be compact at the back.

On the contrary, it is also true that if Chelsea play three defenders at the back with two full-backs taking up a pseudo-winger role, the Europa League winners will be forced to choose only two of the three midfielders between Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic. This is because Lampard will not drop his forwards due to their bolstering form.

Frank Lampard has mentioned that his team will play many formations throughout the season according to the need and the opposition, but it is highly unlikely that the Englishman will change his tactics soon considering the last result.