How an old school twist on 3-4-3 caused chaos in Chelsea versus Juventus

Thomas Tuchel has been fairly consistent overall with his Chelsea tactics. 3-4-3, or rather 3-4-2-1, has been the mainstay throughout his now 50 game tenure. Occasionally, the Blues would dip into 3-5-2 variants such as the 3-4-1-2 and 3-1-4-2, but usually only against certain opponents. There has also been a sprinkle of four at the back formations but not enough to really base all that much on.

The 3-4-3 has worked in a pretty standard way not to dissimilar structurally to how Antonio Conte’s worked. The two “wingers” will tuck in to open up lanes for the wingbacks to push forward. One midfielder will drop when building out of the back while the other stays in position on a diagonal. Occasionally, a centerback will push into midfield to provide reinforcements.

Occasionally, Chelsea comes against an opponent that can stop the Blues’ 3-4-3. Against Juventus, Thomas Tuchel added a new twist: the 3-diamond-3.

Now, the 3-diamond-3 is practically the original variation of 3-4-3. Most famously used by Johan Cruyff, three centerbacks would be led by four midfielders in a diamond pattern. Ahead of that diamond would be one striker and the entire formation would be flanked by two, aggressive, attacking wingers. It has fallen out of favor in recent years compared to the flatter midfield of a modern 3-4-3 which will shift into a 3-2-5 in possession.

But Tuchel brought the notion back against Juventus. The three centerbacks remained as they were, but Jorginho would drop far more central than he usually does to form the base of the diamond. Ben Chilwell would invert into the midfield somewhat as N’Golo Kante would maintain his position and Hakim Ziyech would tuck in centrally to complete the diamond. Christian Pulisic served as the player up top with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James providing the width.

The main difference between Tuchel’s 3-diamond-3 against Juventus and the old school 3-diamond-3 of Cruyff was how the team went into a defensive shape. Hudson-Odoi would stay up along with Kante as Chilwell and James fell back into position. This gave Chelsea almost a 5-1-3-1 shape on defense. Juventus was pressed heavily and only had long balls as an outlet. Though there was a huge gap to play through, Juventus was rarely able to take advantage of it.

Chelsea tends to press in a 3-1 formation up top with the wingbacks, centerbacks, and remaining centermid all marking a player if the ball breaks through the press. That was effectively what Chelsea did against Juventus, albeit with a 4-1 press and a much larger gap to the defenders in waiting.

This was likely done for two reasons. The first is Juventus’ tactical style of defending deep and compactly with numbers and then springing forward quickly. By committing so many players on the press, Juventus struggled to build out. By having defenders drop back so much, Juventus was unable to go long effectively. So they were stuck trying to beat a press they rarely could get around or going long and hoping one of their strikers won the ball.

Personnel is the other big reason. With Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku only being fit enough for the bench and Kai Havertz being injured, Chelsea had to get creative with their attacking shape. Ziyech moving central allowed him to see the full view of the pitch for his passing and it allowed Pulisic to press more freely ahead of him. Hudson-Odoi has grown into his role, especially the pressing side, and could maintain width while leading the press. Chilwell was perfectly capable of cutting in and out of midfield in support. And with the form Reece James is on, he can basically do what he wants.

Don’t expect to see this gung ho formation too often, but add it to the bag of tricks Tuchel has at his disposal for big games.