Chelsea: Using the Conte system could be key vs. Tottenham

Frank Lampard has been successful against Jose Mourinho, but the key to winning this London Derby could be the tactics of a former Chelsea boss.

This Sunday will see a titanic clash between two bitter rivals—Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur—at Stamford Bridge. The winner of this game could be crowned as the primary contender to fight with Liverpool for the Premier League title, so both are coming into this game in a rich vein of form. The Blues have lost just one game in all competitions this season, while Spurs have lost two.

Chelsea has scored the most goals in the league while Tottenham is joint second in that respect, trailing by just the odd goal. Spurs boast the best defensive record in the league though—conceding nine goals—whereas Chelsea is joint second in that respect, as well. The Blues have conceded just one goal more than their north London neighbors. Thus, both have identical goal differences in the league. Spurs have needed major contributions from their dynamic duo up front, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane. They have scored 16 goals between them, which makes it a whopping 76 percent of the Lilywhites’ total Premier League goals. On the other hand, the Blues have gotten goal contributions from as many as 10 different players. Timo Werner is Chelsea’s top scorer in the league with four goals.

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So, how does Chelsea nullify the threat that Kane and Son offer in attack? The answer is simple: return to the “Conte system”, as Jose Mourinho mockingly called it, or the 3-4-3 system. Frank Lampard has used this formation on occasion and it was a major reason why Chelsea did the double over Tottenham last season.

Chelsea implementing this system would take advantage of the short turnover for Spurs after their Europa League game on Thursday. Tottenham wouldn’t have sufficient time to prepare for a three-man back line as the Blues have been playing successfully with the 4-3-3 system. Tottenham has also somewhat struggled against teams with three/five man defenses this season. Spurs laboured past West Brom and Brighton, who’ve employed such back lines and also contrived to lose a three-goal lead against West Ham.

There are two danger-men for Spurs, the aforementioned Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. People might be wondering why Son was not mentioned as the other danger player, and that’s because Hojbjerg has been crucial to the solid defense. He can attack with verve between Kane and Son. The Dane breaks down play incredibly well and passes the ball with minimal fuss to the more creative players ahead of him. He also doesn’t turn the ball over very much, which is demonstrated by him completing 619 passes—second in the league league at a rate of 89.1 percent.

Kane has found another gear to his play this season, becoming a certified No. 10. It’s not as if he’s doing this for the first time though. He did this before (rather unsuccessfully) for England, but Mourinho has constructed the team accordingly, which takes advantage of this ability of his. Kane’s passing has taken advantage of Son’s major strengths, which are his runs in behind to take advantage of space in the box. Of Kane’s league-leading nine assists, seven of those have been to Son.

So, if Chelsea was to play this 3-4-3 system, it would feature Edouard Mendy in goal; Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma as the three centrebacks; Reece James and Ben Chilwell as the wingbacks; N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic/Mason Mount in central midfield; Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech as the forwards supporting Tammy Abraham in the attacking phase. This would give Chelsea the spare man in defense to deal with those dangerous runs from Son. If the South Korean plays on the left, the wise head of Azpilicueta could deal with him. If Mourinho were to spring a surprise and play him off the right, the pace of Zouma could match up very well with that of Son’s. They could also collapse back into a five man back line with James and Chilwell dropping deeper to neutralize any counter attacking possibilities.

Kovacic and Mount have their merits to be included in the starting XI, but many would tend to learn towards Mount because he presses a little better than Kovacic. Kovacic can be utilised as his ball progression is the best in the squad in terms of dribbling though. Regardless, the consensus is the Englishman. Mount and Kante should take turns man marking Kane whenever he drops in deeper, and maybe give away those professional fouls away from the danger areas. Whenever Kane is in the box, Silva should use his experience to deal with him and not give the striker enough space to take the shot.

The two wingers will have a two-fold job on their hands. One is to be creative to keep the Tottenham defense honest. This is especially crucial given the one major absentee for Tottenham, Toby Alderweireld. Spurs’ possible centrebacks partnership will now be either Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez or Dier and Joe Rodon. The Dier-Sanchez partnership has the potential to be very error-prone while the Dier-Rodon partnership, despite Rodon being a talented centreback, could be a little inexperienced. After all, it’d be Rodon’s first Premier League start should he be included in the XI.

Chelsea should take advantage of that, especially with Abraham dropping in deep and potentially dragging one of the centrebacks with him. This movement will allow Werner to drive into box and get rid of his possible shooting yips. Werner needs to finish the chances he gets, but with Ziyech playing, he will have ample opportunities to do so. Ziyech has been excellent in the attacking phase, and his work off the ball has also been very good. Werner and Ziyech need to press Hojbjerg very well and not allow him the time or space to pick the pass to the creative players.

Ultimately, Chelsea could be playing with a 4-3-3 system on Sunday. Rightly so as that has been very successful thus far, but if the Blues were to play the 3-4-3 and win, this would rank among Lampard’s best tactical wins in his nascent managerial career.

How do you think Lampard should approach the game tactically? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!