Why Antonio Conte is wedded to his 3-4-3 formation at Chelsea

The Italian manager is a fan of three at the back and will stick with it

Eden Hazard has benefited from Chelsea's change of formation (Getty)

Antonio Conte won’t be switching from his 3-4-3 formation anytime soon despite the setback his Chelsea team suffered in midweek where the set-up looked shaky as they lost to West Ham United in the EFL Cup.

Prior to that Chelsea had won three games on the bounce with three at the back, beating Hull City 2-0, Leicester City 3-0 and, of course, humping Manchester United 4-0 last weekend. This after he had started the season with a flat back four and suffered humiliating defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal. In fact, it was at 3-0 down to the Gunners that the manager first switched to the new formation and it stemmed the flow – although the damage had been done at The Emirates.

Conte is a three at the back fan. He was at Juventus where he won three Scudettos in three seasons and with the Italian national team where his unfancied side reached the quarter-finals beating Spain along the way and only losing to Germany on penalties.

The Italian manager claims the formation suits the personnel he has at his disposal but his history suggests he was always likely to make it work. Prior to the West Ham match he has used David Luiz at the centre of his back three with Gary Cahill to his left and Cesar Azpilicueta to his right and Victor Moses and Marcus Alonso down the flanks.

The return of John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic from injury gives Conte further options at the back but he is likely to stick to the players that kept three consecutive clean sheets in the league. Kurt Zouma is nearing fitness too. He may stake a claim when he is up and running.

Pedro looks like a player reborn (Getty)

But it is not just at the back that the formation has revolutionised Chelsea. Three in attack has provided support for Diego Costa that he wasn’t previously getting. In the early part of the season, the Spanish striker cut an isolated figure. With three in attack – Eden Hazard and Pedro cutting in from the flanks with the width provided by Moses and Alonso – Chelsea are much more dangerous and difficult to mark down the middle.

Against Leicester Hazard scored the second goal from the No 9 position. Pedro, who was a peripheral figure under Jose Mourinho, suddenly looks like a player reborn and scored the opener against United after cutting in from the wing into the centre-forward spot.

It is a work in progress. Against West Ham Conte tried Pedro at wing-back. “I have more solutions because I have tested things,” he said. And the Italian has the luxury of no Champions League football giving him time to hone his tactics.

“I think that is not a win or a defeat that can change my idea or the confidence of the players in the system,” Conte said on Friday. “After two defeats against Arsenal and Liverpool we never must play with 4-2-4 or a 4-3-3.

“I think this is the right way for the players,” he added. “It is a good fit for the team. We have found a good balance. We are good offensively – we have scored in every game. But we must continue to work, to memorize some movements. It’s not easy. It is completely different to defend with four rather than three. But I have seen lots of positives. We must continue like this and work very hard. We have understood that this is the right way.

Diego Costa has more support (Getty)

“We started [the season] with 4-2-4 then 4-2-3-1. We changed at different times of the season. But we found a solution for the team, for the squad. We are still working to improve – we can repeat the same things, we can memorize the situations both defensively and offensively. When you change system, you change the situations both offensively and defensively. We can improve a lot but I see the players for this situation.”

The formation also appears to suit the dynamic central midfielder N’Golo Kante who was much more of a holding midfielder last season with Leicester City – albeit a very successful one. In recent weeks he has been more liberated – with Nemanja Matic sitting in front of the back three - and is popping up in goalscoring positions. He found the net last weekend against United and should have scored against his former club only to see Wes Morgan produce an incredible block on the line.

Southampton will test Chelsea’s new look to the limit on Sunday. The Saints are on an excellent run of form, having lost just once in 10 games. But they also on occasion play three in attack which will test Conte’s back three.

“When they attack, they attack with many payers and sometimes they remain with three players in an offensive situation when they are without the ball. We must pay attention in this situation. We are working on it. If you want to win you have look at the details and prepare our team to deal with it.”