Chelsea still working on the right suit, but at least are avoiding any bad fits

Chelsea may not yet have all the right players for every position, but they at least have the best possible players in each position. More importantly, no one is in the wrong place or playing against their skills.

There wasn’t much to complain about Eden Hazard when Chelsea had the ball. Once the Blues turned over possession, sure, he could have pressed a bit harder. On defensive transition and defence, however, it was like he wasn’t there at all, until the Blues recovered the ball and launched him on a counter, at which point all was forgiven if it was ever begrudged.

For most Chelsea managers, this wasn’t a problem. A player’s unwillingness or inability to do a particular job is only an issue if the manager demands he do that job. In Hazard’s case, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte structured and assigned their defence so it would function with minimal involvement from Hazard. They did this just as assiduously as they would structure their offensive transition and offence to put him on the ball running at or through defenders, building play to unleash him against an isolated defender.

Frank Lampard is still working through the best arrangement and positions for his players. Injuries have curtailed his options and lowered the ceiling more than the transfer ban.

The injury to Emerson likely was the immediate cause of the switch to a 3-4-3, but the players Lampard has are showing that it is more than a temporary option driven by desperation.

Andreas Christensen is playing better as the deep, central centreback than he had been as one of two centrebacks in a four-man defence. The presence of two other centrebacks, both as cover and to reduce the size of his area of responsibility, is helping Kurt Zouma overcome his first few weeks in the side. The width and depth of the centrebacks alleviates the pressure on Cesar Azpilicueta and Jorginho, particularly the latter’s responsibility to screen the back-line, which was one of the weakest parts of his game. .

Lampard’s 3-4-3 does not demand any player fill a task that he is unsuited for, nor play in a way that blunts his best attributes.

Of the players Lampard has used in the last few games, Azpilicueta is the closest to being out of place in his position. He would be more effective as the right centreback or defensive midfielder, but he is a better option than Pedro and a more experienced option than Christian Pulisic as right wing-back.

But Azpilicueta is versatile and hard-working enough that even out of position he is still a highly competent and functional wing-back. The set-up also allows for a better balance of offensive and defensive duties between Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta, unlike when they are paired on the opposite side of a four-man defence.

Only in isolated situations are players jammed into situations that would be better off without them.

Tammy Abraham, for example, is not very effective in marking defensively. He was one of the two players (the other being Jorginho) who lost Rodrigo Moreno’s run on the free kick leading to his winning goal on Tuesday. Chelsea are still growing into knowing how to adjust their marking based on the players on the pitch: it can’t be “striker marks here” – it has to be a squad-wide shift that accounts for whether the striker is Abraham or Olivier Giroud, if the midfielder is Ross Barkley or Mateo Kovacic, and so on.

Building a team around your players – whether stars, youth or utility players – means playing to their strengths and avoiding their weaknesses. Managers want to keep them out of compromising positions just as much as they want to put them in auspicious positions. Avoiding their weaknesses is even simpler than covering and compensation schemes: don’t demand the team rely on them doing what everyone knows they are not good at.

It was easy and obvious for most Chelsea managers to build a team around Eden Hazard. As long as you don’t ask him to defend, you’ll rarely be disappointed in his performance.

Frank Lampard may have only one player at Hazard’s level of quality, but he still has to make the same calculations for all the players in the squad. So far, he is keeping his players out of trouble by not setting them up to fail. The 3-4-3 was a crucial move in this regard.

The return of players from injury and everyone’s continued training will tailor Chelsea’s suit ever more precisely.