Chelsea switched to a back 3 at the weekend, ostensibly to counter Wolves’ use of a similar setup, and to protect a defence that had been leaking goals.
It ended up working better in attack than in defence, with another brace let in but an impressive five scored. The formation shift did more than just allow Fikayo Tomori to step out and score a beauty. It put Mason Mount into new positions, where he was able to show off new parts of his game.
The attacking midfielder pulled off 5 dribbles during the game, according to WhoScored.
That was by far the most on the team. Willian, a winger playing on the other side, managed just 3. Mason had Marcos Alonso getting into great space on the overlap down the left, drawing Wolves players out and allowing him to pick up the ball and attack the space.
Mateo Kovacic has done this earlier in the season for us, but this setup saw him deeper with Jorginho. In his place, Mason arrived to do the job of carrying the ball between the lines, and he did it perfectly.
His future is probably still in a deeper midfield role, but while he’s young and full of running, this inside forward role is ideal for him.
