Antonio Conte is re-tailoring Chelsea from a 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2

Antonio Conte has now set a club record with eleven consecutive victories. In that time, Chelsea have outscored the opposition 25 – 2. This outstanding run goes back to Chelsea’s low-point: the match against Arsenal.

Chelsea played a 4-1-4-1 formation against Arsenal as they had in their previous games. Chelsea had lost to Liverpool the week before, but that was nothing compared to what Arsenal did. Arsenal torched Chelsea’s back line in the first 45 minutes, and after that rode the wave.

Antonio Conte took advantage of Arsenal coasting to try out a new plan. He switched players and formation to set up a 3-4-3 for the remainder of the match. Though it did not propel Chelsea to a historic comeback, it did prevent Arsenal from embarrassing Chelsea any further.

It was hard to tell at the time, but the change would prove to be one of the masterstrokes of the season. Conte went from a manager rumored (foolishly, of course) to be facing the sack to being the best manager in the league. Conte truly tailored Chelsea as he said a good manager must, creafting the formation that brought the best out of his players.

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Now, after 11 games and just over two months, Conte is evolving the formation to the one he favored most at Juventus: the 3-5-2. The players are staying the same as Chelsea gradually drop a forward into midfield for a 3-5-2.

The 3-4-3 formation that started against Hull peaked against Everton. The Blues so completely crushed the Toffees that day. The formation had to have been perfect. An international break followed the Everton match. With the extra training time, the shape began to change upon the Premier League’s return.

The first signs of the switch were against Middlesbrough. This strange game saw Victor Moses with plenty of room to run forward. Pedro – nominally the winger in front of Moses – dropped deep to receive the ball and facilitate Moses’ runs. This could be more of an unusual circumstance that Boro allowed, but signs of it continued in the following games.

Against both Spurs and Manchester City, Chelsea had opponents that favored aggressive presses. This cut off the supply to the front three from midfield. In response, Pedro dropped deep and central. This put him on the ball more often, creating the opportunity to get it forward to Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.

The pattern of Pedro dropping deep and central continued against West Brom and Sunderland. Pedro’s average position has become more and more like that of a center-midfielder or an attacking midfielder. So is this just a Pedro peculiarity, or the next Chelsea suit from Il Sarto?

The Crystal Palace game is the greatest example of it being Conte’s masterplan and not Pedro flitting about. Namely, because Pedro did not play Willian got the start over the Spaniard, and did the exact same thing. He dropped deep and central while Hazard stayed forward. Two players with very different skillsets and tendencies have now both done the same thing. This reveals the hand of Antonio Conte.

Formations are fluid, by nature. A 4-1-4-1 easily becomes a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1. But formations are also a great way to explain player instructions. If a player is instructed to be in the middle and receive the ball, they cannot be called a winger. Conte has slowly been moving Chelsea into this direction.

3-5-2 is the most “balanced” formation Chelsea play. 3-4-3 is set up to attack, and 5-4-1 is set up to defend. The 3-5-2 is the middle ground. It makes Chelsea a squad capable of handling virtually any situation. It also gives Chelsea some unpredictability. The third center-midfielder can take a variety of forms. It could be a playmaker such as Cesc Fabregas, a highly mobile and technical player such as Pedro or a defensively sound option such as Chalobah.

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Antonio Conte is showing that even on the back of 11 consecutive wins, he is still tailoring the formation to get the best out of the squad. Such changes have taken Chelsea to the top on Christmas, something that seemed like a long shot months ago. If such changes continue to propel Chelsea, it will see Conte taking the Blues to very lofty heights in the coming months.