Chelsea’s balanced side have momentum from seven league wins in a row as they visit Manchester City, who boast natural width, pace and aggressionIt would, perhaps, be the defining irony of Arsène Wenger’s uneasy relationship with Chelsea if it turns out that when he finally devised a way of beating them it provoked a tactical shift that won the Blues the title. Since Chelsea switched to a back three when 3-0 down at half-time at the Emirates, they have conceded only once, winning seven Premier League games in a row. They passed one major test by coming from behind to beat Tottenham last week but on Saturday represents an even more severe examination as they go to Manchester City. Related:...
Centre-half David Luiz negated Middlesbrough’s threat by staying tight to Álvaro Negredo while Chelsea then tried to profit down the wingsSix matches into Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 system, and opposition managers are no closer to working out how to defeat Chelsea – or indeed, even score against them. It is now a cumulative score of 17-0 since Conte switched to that formation in the aftermath of the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal, and they have risen from eighth to top in that period. While this was not an overwhelmingly impressive attacking display, Chelsea had very few problems defensively.Whereas other managers have reorganised dramatically in an attempt to cope with Chelsea’s formation, Aitor Karanka stuck to his usual template. This was a narrow,...
Since changing to 3-4-3 system Chelsea have been rampant but Ronald Koeman’s decision to fight fire with fire on Saturday had disastrous consequencesIt is now five consecutive victories for Chelsea since Antonio Conte switched to a 3-4-3 system – 16 goals scored, none conceded – and this was their most impressive attacking display for years, a wonderful demonstration of efficient turnovers, intelligent running and intricate interplay. If there was any doubt about the difficulty of switching from a four-man defence to a back three, you only needed to look at Everton. Related: Chelsea top the Premier League as Eden Hazard inspires Everton thrashing Continue reading...
Chelsea’s Italian manager has demanded a huge effort from his players and been rewarded with a four-game winning run since defeat at Arsenal six weeks agoThose Chelsea players still on extended leave in mid-July after the European Championship need only have spied snippets of Antonio Conte’s inaugural press conference to discern the new head coach’s mantra. He used the word “work”, or one of its derivatives, 32 times in a little under an hour that day, including one response where he insisted he was “a worker who likes to work”. That was followed up with a rat-a-tat “I only know this verb: to work, work, work”, which was less a reflection on his English and more a reminder of the...
Chelsea’s manager initially switched to three at the back to avert a rout at Arsenal but his side have not looked back sinceAt first, the idea was simply to stop the bleeding. Three-nil down at half-time against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium a little over five weeks ago, Antonio Conte switched to a back three. The Chelsea manager had enjoyed success with the approach in his previous jobs with Juventus and the Italy team and, against Arsenal, it restored a measure of stability. Chelsea still lost, 3-0, but Conte could feel the stirrings of something.Look at Chelsea now. This was their fourth Premier League game since Conte’s tactical move and it was also their fourth clean sheet. Even better from...