A system many Chelsea fans are familiar with is that of the back three.
It is a system which has brought about so much success in recent seasons with protagonists like Antonïo Conte and Thomas Tuchel leading charges of victorious teams like the 2016/2017 Premier league squad and the 2021/2022 UEFA Champions League squad respectively.
The back 3 resonates quite specially with the men from West London.
Now, we ask; Is the back 3 most suitable to this present Chelsea crop of players?
Many would ordinarily argue that the players at your disposal as a manager determines the system you deploy but with recent coaches sticking to their original plans and systems irrespective of players at their disposal, that argument is slowly being phased out.
With recent rumors of Pochettino considering a change of system amid struggles at the start of the year, it was no surprise to see Poch opt for a ‘physical’ 3-man backline today at Brentford, to match Thomas Frank’s men’s physicality and direct nature of play.
That change saw Chelsea switch to a 3-5-2 with Palmer and Jackson leading the line while the usual midfield trio of Enzo, Caicedo and Gallagher all marshaled the middle of the park.
The first half of the game took a ‘quiet’ turn and one bane of the back 3 when not utilising ultra attacking wing-backs is the dull nature of such team’s in-possession game.
Chelsea presently possess two of the best RBs in the world with Reece James and Malo Gusto but the left side isn’t blessed with the same depth as Chilwell seems past his best due to injury while Cucurella is more of a LB than an actual LWB.
The “Wing-back” role is the most crucial when utilising the back 3 system and with a presumably lack of depth due to James’ and Chilwell’s lack of durability at this moment, it remains to be seen if Poch persists with this system.
Just like most of the other parts of life, the back 3 has its pros and cons and one advantage of the back 3 is the occupation of all the zones when attacking in settled possession.
Chelsea presently struggle with having settled possession but the first half against Brentford saw the team possess the ball better than it has in recent games with a 71% possession but such control is expected when coming up against an opponent like Brentford.
Like previously mentioned, the first half took the turn of a drab affair with Nicholas Jackson being at the end of the two clear chances that both teams could muster.
A settled midfield trio of Enzo, Gallagher and Caicedo also means it’s almost impossible to play a back 3 and have enough attacking impetus as there is a lack or insufficient amount of goal threat from that midfield crop.
However, with Chelsea still conceding goals and looking fragile from long balls, it is evident that the switch to a back 3 isn’t going to solve all the problems the team presently face.
What might help though, is players playing with controlled aggression and not bucking at the face of every ‘little’ pressure or fight thrown at them.
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