Chelsea: 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3 and the hunt for balance with an edge

Frank Lampard has used a few formations at Chelsea in search of the right balance while maintaining an edge. Is now another one of those times?

Antonio Conte was perhaps Chelsea’s greatest ever spokesperson for “balance”. Tactics cannot be only attacking or only defensive. If the former, the team is sure to give up more goals than they can score. If the latter, the team simply can’t win without at least one goal. Conte understood this and built his teams around finding the right line between the two.

Frank Lampard has spent most of his Chelsea career trying to find that same balance. This season has been a microcosm of that. The Blues started very attacking, scoring plenty of goals but conceding just as many if not more. Hakim Ziyech’s return and the switch to 4-3-3 allowed the Blues to have the best of both worlds. But when Ziyech got hurt, the 4-3-3 became too much about control at the expense of penetration up top.

In previous moments where the balance was lost, Lampard changed formations. The 4-2-3-1 became the 3-4-3 and back again. 4-3-3 came about before giving way to 4-2-3-1 and back to 4-3-3 once more. These three have been his primary formations. With the Blues in a rough patch where the goals aren’t flowing, it might be time to switch things up once again. But how?

It is best to start with the current 4-3-3. Unlike Maurizio Sarri’s 4-3-3 or even Lampard’s at times last season, this 4-3-3 features a ball winner in N’Golo Kante behind two eights. The eights are supposed to rotate in and out with the inverted wingers as needed. This is a tricky job as, in the full attacking shape of 2-3-5, they have to be able to perform both in the three to recycle possession as well as up in the five.

With Ziyech, this flowed very well with Reece James and Ben Chilwell providing the width. With his injury, however, Lampard has had to use either Timo Werner or Christian Pulisic on the right. Neither player is as capable of rotating with the eight on that side. Speaking of that eight on that side, it isn’t Kai Havertz due to Covid. The alternatives, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic, both prefer to stay central. All of that has blunted the Chelsea attack, though the control of the formation defensively remains.

That leaves one of two alternatives in Lampard’s mind, should he be willing to change. The 4-2-3-1 seems the most likely while also being Lampard’s preference overall. In all three years of his time managing, Lampard has immediately or almost immediately gone to the 4-2-3-1. He did so for the majority of the match against Aston Villa as well. The shape is much more direct and capable of attacking, but it sacrifices the control and defense as a result.

One reason for this is that it is less of a natural transition to the 2-3-5 attacking shape. Either one fullback needs to stay in the midfield three or the midfield three has to stay put with one player offset in the 10 position. That would work if Chelsea had a creative 10 to play the role, but the Blues don’t. Mount isn’t the player for the final pass (yet) and Havertz is more of a goal scorer. The issue with either is the shape tends to look more like a 2-2-6 which leaves it very open to counters. It also makes it harder to progress the ball because so many are committed forward and likely marked.

Lampard’s most common alternative last season was the 3-4-3. Unlike Conte’s 3-4-3, Lampard’s tended to be more possession based. The main reason for it last season was because of how leaky the Blues were at the back. Instead of a 2-3-5 attacking shape, the shape became a 3-2-5 which was better suited for counters but had a harder time of progressing forward. That might be why Lampard preferred to have Chelsea play safer in the formation.

The choice now is about what to do to find the right balance in the side. Can Chelsea simply wait for Ziyech to return? Will that work if Havertz isn’t on that side? Or James for that matter? Or will Lampard opt to go to the 3-4-3 against Manchester City like in other big matches last season. If he does so, who drops for the extra center back? Who would even be the extra centerback?

Overall, though, Lampard keeps returning to 4-2-3-1 when starting on square one. He is likely waiting for the potential signing of Declan Rice to do so but that will raise other questions such as what to do with Mount. Does Mount line up next to Rice or as a 10? If Mount is the 10, is Havertz on the wing? What then of Ziyech?

One thing is for sure; Chelsea has lost their balance in the past month. Something has to change to find it again. There are no perfect solutions but there are certainly better ones than continuing with something that has stagnated. It simply remains to be seen as to how Lampard will adapt to fix the issues.