Antonio Rudiger: The left (wing)back Chelsea needs right now

One of the main advantages of Chelsea playing three at the back is it has a spare centerback. That spare centerback allows defenders to push forward into midfield as needed and sometimes even further than that. When Antonio Conte was at the club, this was pretty much just Cesar Azpilicueta’s job. For Thomas Tuchel, both centerbacks are expected to join in and no one has taken to this role as well as Rudiger.

Rudiger being able to roam forward allows him to take advantage of his aggressiveness. He can press. He can hunt the opposition down for a tackle. And, he can dribble all the way to goal for his customary long shot.

But, this practice was never meant to be a permanent one. Those wide centerbacks are expected to read the game and pick the right moment to get forward in support. The longer Chelsea’s used the tactic, the more this idea of temporarily getting forward has become a permanent one. There have been several times where Rudiger (and the other wide centerback in fairness) have been too far ahead of things on a counter. That leaves (usually) Thiago Silva all alone to stop the counter.

The Blues switched to the three at the back in part because they were getting wrecked on counters with just two centerbacks left behind to defend. Now, with only one centerback left there, a similar thing is happening. Switching to four at the back may mentally convince the players to leave two back there, but Rudiger shouldn’t be one of those two. Instead, Thomas Tuchel should continue to lean into his desire to get forward and put him in as the left back.

Fundamentally, this wouldn’t change too much on paper. Rudiger at left centerback and left back is not a big departure from what the Blues are currently doing. The main change is a mental one. The current mentality with three at the back is for those wide centerbacks to push up and leave the centermost defender behind to sweep. Four at the back can tweak that mentality in that the team has been conditioned their entire career not to leave just one centerback behind.

For Rudiger, not much would change. He’d still be able to get forward and press in support. He’d be able to stay back and help in possession if the game demanded it. And, so long as Ben Chilwell is out injured, Rudiger the left back could be the temporary solution the Blues require. The only real tweak that would need to be made would be the overall defensive shape (4-4-2 or 4-5-1 instead of 5-3-2 or 5-4-1) and the left winger would need to create the width because Rudiger likely wouldn’t.

Even if Tuchel doesn’t want to change formation, Rudiger as the left wingback wouldn’t really change a great deal. The wingbacks have been inverting so much as of late that Rudiger still wouldn’t be tasked with creating the width, provided the winger ahead of him does. The main question here would be who would play left centerback. Malang Sarr hasn’t really convinced and Tuchel hasn’t tried too many other players there consistently enough to know what they’d be about. Furthermore, whoever lines up there would still need to stay back to support the centerbacks. Otherwise, Rudiger at left wingback would just be shuffling the current issue around.

Managing and tactics is a battle of putting players in a position where their natural tendencies can shine. More and more, Rudiger’s natural tendency has been to get forward and attack. If putting Rudiger at left back or left wingback allows him to be himself more without compromising the team, then so be it. And, him being able to fill the gap left by Chilwell’s injury would only be icing on the cake.