When Thomas Tuchel arrived at Chelsea, the biggest immediate change he made was putting the team into a 3-4-3. Frank Lampard had dabbled in the formation but, towards the end, showed little desire to break away from his preferred 4-3-3 with dual eights. Lampard was very much a “well, just outscore them” sort of guy and when the goals dried up the team had little else to lean on.
Tuchel took the approach that if the club could keep the opponent from scoring, then the Blues would have enough quality to find at least one goal to win. Mostly, he has been correct. Chelsea hasn’t really been blowing teams out of the water under Tuchel and the attack has been outshined by the defenders offensively, but it was a working solution.
But no solution works forever. It is becoming increasingly clear that three at the back has outlived its usefulness. Chelsea can’t stop opponents from scoring and has to change.
Three at the back had a few advantages. The main one was that it left a spare man at the back to deal with attacks. That made Chelsea more counter proof too. Also, three at the back makes it easier to create overloads only where they are really needed. Simply put, it was a better use of the positioning of the players.
But more and more in the past few weeks, momentum is going against Chelsea. The wider centerbacks have been pushing forward and that was good when it created overloads, but more and more lately it is just leaving Thiago Silva as the lone man at the back trying to hold up against counter after counter. The other main issue is that the extra centerback means one less midfielder or forward. That makes attacks harder to come by. If the Blues do not play quickly or create a perfect moment, they will hit a wall.
Really more than anything, if three at the back can’t guarantee the cleansheets it once did, it does not offer enough in attack to justify its use. If the Blues are going to concede anyways, maybe it is time Tuchel goes with the opposite solution that he found upon arriving at Chelsea. Maybe it’s time to outscore rather than outlast opponents.
That wouldn’t even really be against Tuchel’s own philosophy either. At PSG, 4-3-3 and 4-2-2-2 were the order of the day. At Dortmund, it was often a 4-2-3-1. Three at the back only really entered Tuchel’s toolbox consistently in Paris and it only took complete control at Chelsea.
It might also offer ways to work around the current injury issues as well. Players like Kai Havertz, Mason, Mount, and Hakim Ziyech could double as midfielders. Andreas Christensen and Reece James too, in a pinch. It also need not be a radical change. Antonio Rudiger is already basically playing as a fullback, so why not just cut out the middle man and make him the starting left back?
This is very much a return to Lampard’s “just outscore them” strategy, but that makes as much sense as anything else if the Blues can’t stop conceding. It need not be a permanent change either. When Lampard used three at the back, it was to cover for injuries and reverse the form a bit. He ultimately returned to 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 after a few games. Tuchel can do the same and all evidence points towards that being the way to go at the moment.
Chelsea beat Leeds, but it wasn’t through their own ability. That comes after poor games against Zenit, West Ham, Watford, and Manchester United with an interim manager. Hardly a slate of games the Blues should have struggled this much with. Yes, the injuries are a factor, but so is using the same plan over and over again and expecting it to catch the opposition by surprise.