Chelsea: Three lessons learned from four goals in Krasnodar

2. 4-3-3 is still the best formation for Chelsea, but with asterisks

Chelsea half committed to a 4-3-3 long before the triple sub against Krasnodar. Almost immediately after the initial wave of pressure, Kai Havertz dropped into midfield pushing Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic over to form the 4-3-3.

There were several issues with this. First of all, Havertz and Kovacic stayed extremely narrow. This left the fullbacks and wingers outnumbered as they tried to play forward, which they admittedly did well despite their lack of assistance. Second, both Kovacic and Havertz constantly swapped spots with one another seemingly without reason. This might have played a role in them staying narrow but it made midfield a mess and further put the burden on the wide players to move the ball along. Finally, when building from the back, Havertz would return to his 10 role. Krasnodar’s press outnumbered the 2-4 base Chelsea had and they really needed it to be a 2-5 to get through.

That being said, it did have its moments. With Havertz deeper (at times), he was out of Hakim Ziyech’s away. That allowed the two to swap positions as Havertz would go wide and Ziyech would let the play pass him giving him space. It didn’t happen very often, but it was often enough to show that there was a partnership to be formed there.

Regardless, the subs fully solidified the 4-3-3 and made everything click. Kovacic and Jorginho were both quite poor and N’Golo Kante and Mason Mount showed that when they came on. Kante sat in front of the dual eights and did not do anything fancy, but his simple willingness to drop deep (sometimes between the centerbacks) and play it simple proved effective at giving the Blues space on the ball. Mount did not get forward as much as Kovacic had been doing, but that allowed Christian Pulisic more room to attack the box than Callum Hudson-Odoi got having to baby sit the midfield.

The Blues looked their best with this 4-3-3 using dual eights. They did last season two either side of the Covid break when they used it. The main issue is at defensive midfield. Kante can play there and Jorginho can play there, but neither is suited to every opponent. If either goes down injured, the 4-3-3 will be extremely stunted. Furthermore, the formation tends to be more passive than Chelsea’s direct 4-2-3-1, so the attackers have to do a little more to find break throughs.

It remains pretty clear that Chelsea wanted Declan Rice to top off a 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 with dual eights. It is still the Blues’ best option, but it is one that walks the knife edge until the Blues can reinforce the position.