Chelsea Football Formation

Lineup (4-3-3)

A return to Mourinho's favored 4-3-3. It differs from the old squad in the role of Hazard, which Lampard used to fill by arriving late into the box. Hazard will instead interchange with Schurrle and/or overlap when Schurrle cuts inside. He is also capable of arriving late a la Lamps, but would be more effective in the buildup in the aforementioned role, which also adds the option of overlapping Mata.

Oscar fills the former Essien/Tiago role. He has shown significant progress in terms of his defensive abilities, but still needs to improve in addition to adding some bulk. However, his abilities as a playmaker surpass both of the aforementioned players.

For me, the question in this lineup lies in Mikel as the only pure defensive midfielder. While I do think he is better than he is given credit for in this role, he lacks to mobility of Makelele or Essien in their primes. This and his occasional concentration lapses could leave us very vulnerable. Fortunately Essien (returning from loan), Luiz, and Romeu are all available options to try here as well.

It has occurred to me that a lot of these characteristics are inherent in our traditional 4-2-3-1. However, I feel that this formation has, for us, played entirely too narrow. Lesser squads are able to play centrally and behind the ball to great effect. The only chances we created in such situations were flashes of brilliance and the occasional product of fast ball movement (I am of the mind that we generally move the ball entirely too slowly). The 4-3-3 adds width and space for Schurrle and Hazard to use their pace, while giving Mata and Oscar more time on the ball to pick passes due to the increased space.