Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea 3-5-2 shows promise if not practicality yet

In the near entirety of Thomas Tuchel’s tenure with Chelsea thus far, he has set the team up in a 3-4-2-1 formation. He did this for several reasons but mainly it comes down to the verticality and use of overloads. It has worked a charm for pretty much everything besides putting the ball in the net. Mind, Chelsea is still scoring, it is just somewhat labored at times.

In recent matches, however, Tuchel has been making small tweaks. Tuchel has been deploying Mason Mount deeper for Chelsea. The 3-5-2 that has resulted shows promise, though there are practicality issues to address.

First of all, Mount deeper is on of itself a bit of a half truth. Defensively, Mount is expected to contain deeper. He is still given allowance to press with the front two and on the ball, he is given a near complete license to roam. This takes advantage of Mount’s exceptional positioning and work rate and it shows the trust Tuchel has developed with the young superstar to be.

To help facilitate Mount’s freedom, Chelsea has taken a page out of the playbook of Ralf Rangnick, one of Tuchel’s mentors. If Mount pushes forward to join the forwards, the opposite midfielder is expected to drop back as the most central/deepest midfielder slides over. This turns the shape into the 3-4-3 that Tuchel has been deploying thus far.

The places where the formation struggled came from that motion. Ziyech would often stay too far forward. While that made the attack more threatening, it left poor Billy Gilmour alone in the middle on his big day. Much of his struggles came from having to cover for himself rather than with a partner. Neither Mount nor Ziyech were particularly keen about staying back in case Gilmour might need help. This made the formation more of a 3-3-2-2 but, given the struggles on counters, that seems more like an accident than a design.

The formation did, however, maximize Chelsea ability to build through midfield. When it is the pair in the 3-4-3, their primary job to be a recycling option. They get the ball and they move it back out. The midfield three is able to take more time on the ball and be more considerate in their approach. Furthermore, three midfielders has a similar effect as three centerbacks: the opposition has to commit an extra player to press as effectively. That creates a knock on effect that eventually leaves the two forwards with tons of space to exploit even before Mount (or Ziyech) burst forward in support.

So, the formation has tons of promise against teams willing to press at almost any degree. The issues against Fulham largely came down to the lack of support around Gilmour. The midfield three operated much the same as Frank Lampard’s dual eights did earlier in the season, but the difference then was N’Golo Kante was preferred deeper in front of two centerbacks and the combination of Mount and Kai Havertz rarely both got forward at the same time. This made things more balanced than Gilmour with Mount and Ziyech both leaving him behind.

There is one caveat to that however. With a back three, that midfield can be more aggressive so long as they move to cover one another. So, the likes of Gilmour, Jorginho, or Mateo Kovacic could work in that deeper role because of the added cover behind them. They merely need the cover in front of them. Much of this comes down to be unpracticed in the particulars of the roles but, if trained, the formation could become incredibly fluid and dangerous.

The only point against that is Chelsea doesn’t really have the time to build something new like that this season. It doesn’t matter who is deepest in midfield if Mount and Ziyech were to play the same way against upcoming opponents. Fulham didn’t have the tools to take advantage of the counters or space they created. Others do.

So, Tuchel’s 3-5-2 shows promise and it is probably something to keep an eye on for next season with new transfers. This season, however, it may have already lived out its practicality.