Into the depths part 5: Chelsea’s forwards fluid and eventually frustrated

No other position at Chelsea is as deep as the forward role. A large part of this is the shift away from Frank Lampard’s dual eights 4-3-3 to Thomas Tuchel’s double pivot, two 10s 3-4-3/3-4-2-1. Players such as Mason Mount and Kai Havertz who were formerly used deeper started to compete with other players, creating quite a log jam for Tuchel to keep clear. While in the short term, this is a great problem to have, in the long term it will become a question of who gets frustrated first. Even if Tuchel rotates heavily, don’t be surprised if one or two or even more players are looking for moves due to lack of playing time.

One final note before diving in. For the most part, Tuchel’s front three is interchangeable. Sometimes, however, he opts to field a striker instead of just three forwards. For the purposes of this depth chart, the strikers will be kept separate and given their own article. This one, about the forwards, will be exclusively about the two players that play wide/below the striker and occasionally in their place as a false nine.

1. Mason Mount

Mount was the first name on the team sheet for Frank Lampard. Mount is the first name on the team sheet for Thomas Tuchel. And though he might not be first, Mount is almost always included near the start when Gareth Southgate makes a team sheet. The reason for all of this is pretty easier to understand if one watches Mount with an unbiased eye. On the ball and off it, he leads the charge.

Mount’s often the first player to press and the first to track back in support. He makes sure he’s almost always open for a pass and his positioning might be second only to Kai Havertz’s in the squad. Where the confusion mostly comes is his lack of both goals and assists, which is ironic given the people bringing up that point will often praise Jorginho for almost anything. The truth of the matter is that these two “sons” of managers are very much alike with the only difference being one plays high and one plays low. They connect the play together. They set the tempo, not just with passing, but with positioning and movement. They are there to move the story along, not to add the final twist or closure.

These types of players can be invaluable in the right set up and every manager Mount has had sees it. Any “best XI” without him is immediately dismissible because there isn’t a manager that doesn’t have him in their best XI. He’s simply too important.