Thomas Tuchel has used just two formations since he arrived at Chelsea two months ago. Tuchel’s Blues have conceded just two goals so far, an impressive feat regardless of formation, personnel or strength of team relative to league opponents. The main problem the German faces is getting his team to score regularly. Tuchel has rotated Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and Jorginho in the central midfielder role so far, occasionally bringing in Billy Gilmour during cup games.
The defending load on the central midfielders have been reduced with the introduction of an extra centerback, but this introduction has come at the expense of the attacking bodies. However, Tuchel risks undoing the defensive stability the team has now if he switches to a formation with more attackers. Chelsea has struggled to score goals under Tuchel and that may have a lot to do with the fact that the German deploys seven non-attackers (eight counting Edouard Mendy), leaving just three players tasked with chance creation and goal scoring.
The Blues’ best defensive midfielder is N’Golo Kante, and he’s quite the defensive midfielder, but he just turned 30 years old and is one of three midfielders available to Tuchel for rotation. The other two players don’t offer Tuchel much in terms of versatility or formational flexibility. Each one has strengths and weaknesses that Chelsea simply cannot ignore and therefore, has dictated how Tuchel has lined them up. Kante—who is the only one that Tuchel can use for any system he chooses—is entering the end of his prime, forcing Tuchel to manage his minutes even when fit.
Frank Lampard wanted the board to get Declan Rice from West Ham United, and while Rice will be discussed later in this series, he is not the topic of this piece. Perhaps Lampard’s mistake was refusing to look past Rice. Chelsea needs a very competent defensive midfielder. Part one of this series highlighted the profile of defensive midfielder the Blues need; they should be looking for attributes, not particular names.
Today’s pick for discussion is Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi. Ndidi is a 24-year-old Nigerian defensive midfielder who has played for the Foxes since 2017 and already has 37 caps for his country. Ndidi is a very intelligent midfielder who has been a key figure at Leicester for more than three seasons. He has had some injury issues, but has always come back to contribute for his side.
The Nigerian has led his club in tackles and interceptions for the past two seasons. What’s more impressive is that he often plays as a lone defensive midfielder in a 4-1-4-1 flat formation that includes one defensive midfielder, two more attacking central midfielders and two outright wingers. Ndidi is quite comfortable screening a back four on his own, which is something that could prove very useful should Tuchel decide to switch to a formation that would allow more attacking players to be included in the line-up. He can also play as a central midfielder in a midfield two/double pivot. In both formations, he’ll expertly win the ball back and give more attacking players the freedom to express themselves.