Chelsea tactics and transfers: Finally some tactics and transfers

Formations

Chelsea have appeared at their best in a 4-3-3 under Potter when they have all their players healthy and that’s an important thing to take note of. A healthy formation with Chelsea’s best players simply playing in their best roles was exactly what we saw against Bournemouth.

With James at RB and able to dominate both defensively and in the attacking third due to his interchanges with Raheem Sterling while protected by Zakaria through the midfield the Blues played their best football under Potter.

4-3-3 being one of the most common formations in both youth and professional football due to its defined roles and widespread usage throughout various footballing cultures makes it a positive choice for the Blues when they have momentum and their full array of weapons at their disposal.

That said when they don’t Chelsea’s defense are too exposed and also too slow to be able to compensate for the lack of physical firepower presented by Chelsea’s midfielders. Now as we discussed previously some of this is a philosophical thing but the Blues midfield is in my personal opinion almost suicidally built for pure possession. Jorginho offers nothing defensively as he’s not a physical presence, not a tackler and also too slow to keep up on the break or offer a Pep Guardiola-style tactical foul in the way that Rodrigo does.

It can work and Jorginho is an excellent player and I suspect that was the reason for the hasty loan signing of Zakaria. The Swiss player at his best before his injury issues slowed his career was one of the best combative midfielders in Europe who also adds a physical and height presence. He’s finding his feet and looks undroppable at the moment.

Zakaria and Chukwuemeka must start together in almost every game until other players work their way back in. It is a shame to say it but Mount appears that he needs some time off to clear his head. Gallagher at least makes the effort and can add steam to the engine room. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is ideally who we’d play in that three but without more news on his injury at the moment that’s a tough call to make.

Then the only attacking player who seemed worth his salt was Datro Fofana the other night. He in his first match even through a Manchester City player to the ground. Had Omari Hutchinson not held onto the ball several hours too long on multiple occasions and just played him through Fofana could have scored on two occasions.

In the case that Chelsea is in at the moment however with Chilwell, James and Fofana injured it behooves them to take a somewhat different approach. In that case, 3-4-1-2 makes the most sense with different players needing to be rotated and dropped for the sake of the team.

The 3-4-1-2 would be Chelsea’s athleticism and power over all else lineup. This is the pragmatic lineup of Kepa-Chalobah/Silva/Badiashile-(Frimpong) or Gallagher/Chukwuemeka/Zakaria/Cucurella-Mount-Datro Fofana/Havertz.

No matter what people seem to believe it is Mount who leads the press for Chelsea with the most discipline and as we saw in the Champions League final actually passes the ball forward. His 10 would be more of an 8 but his engine to support Havertz dovetailing off the more central Fofana would create the sort of athletic and relentless forward movement Chelsea will need to maximize the chances coming in from the right.

This is where Chelsea get the most out of Frimpong who creates chances in the box by volume. They’re not all laid on a platter as they are with James but he makes up for that with quantity. Having forwards capable of getting up and down the pitch with him and able to convert will be important. If not him then at the bare minimum Gallaghers relentless engine and physicality can offer some solidity on that side of the pitch.

Then the final possibility of course and this will shock some of you in it’s simplicity is Chelsea could just play 4-4-2. It would make the most sense and again be in the interest of keeping things as simple as possible.

It would be the most simple way to get the most in-form players in their best positions without compromising or overcomplicating which is so often Chelsea’s issue. Sometimes Chelsea need to put their best lads out their and let them play in positions they’ve been known to play well in. Only a selfish and insecure fool attempts over complication in an attempt to showcase tactical genius to the detriment of accomplishing the team goal which is, you guessed it winning.