Pedro’s injury will likely keep Alvaro Morata on left side of Chelsea’s 3-4-3

Chelsea won the title with the Premier League’s most reliable starting XI. Antonio Conte’s plans are changing almost daily in the run-up to the 2017/18 opener.

Antonio Conte revealed another layer to his injury and selection issues at his Friday press conference. Pedro will miss the season-opener against Burnley due to an ankle injury from the Community Shield against Arsenal, not to be confused with the facial trauma from the pre-season “friendly” against Arsenal.

Pedro’s absence appears to be forcing Antonio Conte to accelerate Alvaro Morata’s entrance to the starting XI. Conte once again stressed the amount of time it takes a new player to adapt to his system. He noted that Morata’s physical conditioning has improved over the last 10 days.

Under normal circumstances, that could imply a longer substitute appearance for Morata’s Premier League debut. Given Pedro’s injury, it could imply a two-striker formation. Now that Chelsea are short two wingers but have two strikers, Conte could opt for a 3-5-2 with Michy Batshuayi and Morata up top. But Conte seemingly closed the door on that option.

"He is starting to understand what I want from him during the game but for sure he needs time to adapt. For me, the striker has a really important role and it’s important for them to understand what positions I want them to take up. This role is more difficult to adapt to than others. – Chelsea FC"

In short, Alvaro Morata is not yet an Antonio Conte striker. Even with the very limited options at his disposal, Antonio Conte will not start a player unless he is fully confident in that player’s ability to execute the plan. Whatever it is Conte expects from his striker, Michy Batshuayi learned enough last season in training. Alvaro Morata is progressing. But for as much as Morata learned at Juventus and Real Madrid, they did not prepare a Conte-ready striker.

With Conte ruling out the 3-5-2, he will likely stay with the 3-4-3. And with Pedro unavailable, he will set Morata on the left-wing. He experimented with Morata there during pre-season. The results were unimpressive given that it is not Morata’s preferred, natural or usual position on top of Morata’s late addition to the squad.

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If Antonio Conte thinks Morata has not had enough time to learn to play striker, he certainly has not had enough time to learn to play left wing. However, Conte apparently thinks that the left-wing can be a stepping stone for his future striker – a way to gain experience in the formation without the demands of leading the line.

The low-probability option is that Antonio Conte will start Jeremie Boga or Charly Musonda on the left of the 3-4-3. Neither have any Premier League experience, although both have senior-level experience in La Liga, and Boga in Ligue 1. Musonda has a half-season of training under Antonio Conte after Chelsea brought him back from loan in January. However, that should not be sufficient to outweigh Morata’s depth experience prior to Chelsea.

Next: Alvaro Morata gives Chelsea fans a wake-up call ahead of opener

Chelsea’s squad was thin enough before losing Pedro. The Blues are nearly at a breaking point. Antonio Conte has the ability to be creative with his tactics and player roles, but he should do so out of ambition and exploration, not necessity. With under three weeks left in the transfer window, Chelsea are running low on options and time.