This time one year ago Antonio Conte was just starting to receive the peak of his praise as manager of the year. His transformation of Chelsea from a team that had played a version of 433 seemingly since time began into a side that played 3 centre backs had just happened, and the press was loving every moment of it.
Over the past few weeks Conte has made another change however, and it’s not getting anything like the same praise. Chelsea now play a 3-5-2, with Eden Hazard partnering Alvaro Morata up front.
It was a decision initially dictated by the personnel available, as in the game against Atletico Madrid for example. But now the coach has effectively his full team available he’s still using it. And yesterday’s comfortable win showed exactly why.
Despite seeming less attacking than a formation with three forwards, the way Cesc Fabregas is freed up by having N’Golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko behind him means that the two up front can be well supplied with the ball in dangerous areas.
And as they showed today, when A&E work together, they can do serious damage.
