Last season Chelsea manager Antonio Conte switched his team formation to a 3-4-3 and a record setting hot streak began. The Blues saw their season take off after the tactical switch and they never looked back, running way with the Premier League title.
Only will time tell how the formation switch impacts this season’s results in the long term, but Conte is at it again, changing his side to a 3-5-2. So far, it’s been dominant as Chelsea routed West Bromwich Albion 4-0 yesterday, to give the Blues back to back clean sheets for the first time this season (the first result was the 1-0 winner over Manchester United on November 5.
“This season I think we’re changing something to find a new balance, a new solidity, to have a good balance when we are attacking and when we are defending. I hope to continue to improve. This is the second game we finished with a clean sheet and we have to continue in this way,” Conte said.
The Italian is very proud of how his team has responded since the major shellacking they suffered at the hands of AS Roma in UEFA Champions League group play on Halloween.
Obviously, getting the reigning PFA Player of the Year back from injury, and in top form has a lot to do with the improvement, as Antonio Conte has gone with a three man midfield of Cesc Fabregas, N’Golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko in the center to anchor the team.
Usually, if you’re strong the spine of the team, you’ll be solid in general overall. Chelsea’s chances of successfully defending their league title are not good by any means, but they aren’t licked yet. Perhaps this new look will help propel them up a notch.
“In this season we faced a lot of problems from the start,” Conte continued.
“Now we’re trying to solve these problems, to recover the players, to find the right form for players like (Eden) Hazard and also (Alvaro) Morata; this is the first season that he’s playing with regularity. (N’Golo) Kante is recovering good form and you know very well the importance of these players for us. Also (Danny) Drinkwater, now he’s starting to play.”
Up next is a visit to Qarabag FK in Champions League play on Wednesday night, followed by a visit to Liverpool on Saturday.
“We had a lot of problems and also we’re trying to change something in the tactical aspect, to find different solutions. When you concede so many goals it means you have to find a new balance and solidity.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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