Chelsea’s formations vs. Everton defy easy labels: A tactical turning point?

When Antonio Conte came to Chelsea, he said he had to find the right “suit” for the team. Chelsea played every formation at some point against Everton, harking back to Conte’s description of his Italy team as a chameleon.

Unlike most managers, Conte is not tied down to a particular formation. Yes, he has made a name for himself since his Juventus days for playing three at the back, but ultimately he is a manager that uses a formation that best fits his team.

This has changed at various times throughout his Chelsea tenure. His earliest days brought a 4-4-2 formation. During that same preseason he moved towards a 4-1-4-1 / 4-3-3 formation. That lasted until back-to-back defeats early in his first season saw Chelsea roll out the 3-4-3.

The 3-4-3 took Chelsea on a record winning run and took them easily to the title. But it was not perfect, and occasionally was not enough to get things done. During these circumstances Conte would make a sub and go to a 3-5-2: a formation perfected at Juventus and one many believed he would use at Chelsea immediately.

Must Read: Young and old shine for Chelsea in cup win over Everton: Player ratings

The 3-4-3 worked because it was simple and complicated at the same time. On offense, the wingbacks would push up and make it look like a 3-2-5 with the forwards interchanging. If Chelsea maintained possession, a center-back would move forward to offer further passing options as the formation became a 2-3-5, like the earliest days of the sport.

On defense, one winger (usually Pedro) would drop into midfield as the wingbacks dropped into defense. This made the formation into a 5-3-2. If the opposition sustained their pressure, the other winger would drop and make it a 5-4-1

This season, Conte has gone back and forth between 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 with various degrees of success. But losses to Manchester City, Crystal Palace, and dropped points to Roma saw him begin to make subtle changes.

Against Roma and Watford, Chelsea would situationally defend in a 4-4-2. This allowed a more even distribution of players along the two defensive lines, and helped with the overload Chelsea would see when they defended in a 5-3-2. It also allowed for a break-away presence that was absent when they defended in the 5-4-1.

Must Read: Chelsea's positive winning mentality will prevent a repeat of 2015/16

But most importantly, it closed a hole that was often exploited in the 3-4-3 and 3-5-2. Next to the center-back and behind the wingback was an area the opponent could play a ball and go virtually uncontested. City, Palace, and Roma exploited this and simply waited for a center back to get drawn out. Once they did, a space would open for another forward to have a shot on goal.

When Chelsea defended with four in the back in these matches, the opponent would try to play the ball more centrally. When this happened, another player would drop in and they would once again take on the 5-3-2 shape with the benefit of getting everyone in position early.

It was still an imperfect solution to a difficult problem as shown by the five goals conceded to Roma and Watford. Conte tweaked it once more against Everton in a sign of things to come.

In the first half, Conte did not play the 3-4-3. Nor did he play a 3-5-2, 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1, 4-4-2 or 4-2-4. He had Chelsea play every single one of them at the exact same time.

The base formation could have been anyone of those formations. It all started with a spine that stayed in place in the center. That spine was Andreas Christensen, Gary Cahill, Danny Drinkwater, Ethan Ampadu, Willian, and Michy Batshuayi. Those six players stayed in their respective lines except for overlapping one another.

That leaves Antonio Rudiger, Davide Zappacosta, Kenedy, and Charly Musonda to do the shifting work. While the spine stayed in place, those four flowed with one another to keep the formation fluid.

Musonda and Zappacosta were the farthest forward wide players, and when Chelsea had the ball they dictated the shape. If both went forward, then Rudiger and Kenedy would stay back (making the formation into a 4-4-2 or 4-2-4).

If the wingback started the move forward, the closest winger had two options. Option one was they go forward themselves. When this happened, the far wide players would drop deep. One would go into the defensive line, the other into the midfield line (making the formation a 3-4-3).

Option two occurred when Chelsea needed help getting out of midfield. The near side winger would drop deep as the wingback moved into the center, while the far side players dropped into midfield and defense. This allowed for bodies in the center to maintain possession (making the formation a 3-5-2).

And if the ball was won while in transition, one winger would push forward while the other joined midfield. Both of the wingbacks would stay back, giving Chelsea a solid base if they lost the ball again while also allowing for numbers forward to counter (making the formation a 4-3-3).

This fluid system continued on defense. Because the center remained mostly the same, Chelsea was able to reshape quickly into a 4-4-2 for the initial pressure. If the pressure continued, one of the more offensive wide players would drop into defense and return the shape to the familiar 5-3-2 used previously.

For the most part, the left sided players (Musonda and Kenedy) moved forward, with Rudiger remaining back for all but a handful of attacks. But the possibility of both sides creating the fluid movement is present, and add a layer of unpredictability to Chelsea.

In the second half, perhaps as an experiment or perhaps because they took their foot off the gas, Chelsea returned to the more rigid 3-4-3 of last year. As the match progressed, this lack of movement allowed Everton to more easily snuff out their attacks while also allowing them to find consistent spaces to attack. Generally under Antonio Conte Chelsea have performed better in the second half than the first, so he is sure to look at the tape to diagnose what happened.

Going forward, Conte is likely to continue this experiment with a shifting flank. Chelsea is still unable to keep a clean sheet, and have not been able to since early 2017. This super-hybrid formation could be the answer and could have been the plan all along.

Chelsea’s formation could still look like a 3-4-3 on paper while playing out more like a 4-2-4, Conte’s supposed preferred formation. The tactics that worked in the first half against Everton could work again with the likes of Pedro, Willian, Zappacosta, Victor Moses, Alonso, and Cesar Azpilicueta. With a spine of Cahill, David Luiz, Tiemoue Bakayoko, N’Golo Kante, Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata, Chelsea will be able to stay strong and fluid.

Everton in the League Cup, after they sacked their manager and with a heavily-rotated lineup, is not the perfect place to see this system’s potential. It remains to be seen how it will hold up to a flowing team like Manchester City, who will be able to exploit spaces and moments of positional confusion. Or how it will work against a solid Manchester United, who will not allow themselves to be pulled from position.

Next: Four Chelsea FC legends who deserved more England caps

Antonio Conte is a deep thinking manager always looking for solutions. Given enough time and the right players and he will be able to find them. This hybrid system may just be Chelsea’s new suit.