Mauricio Pochettino ‘considering change to Chelsea formation’

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino may reportedly look to change Chelsea’s formation in a bid to respond to their recent defeats in the Premier League.

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino is allegedly giving consideration to making a change to his Chelsea formation.
Although the Blues recently won five of seven matches in all competitions, they are now on a three-game streak without posting a victory.

A goalless draw at home to Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round has been followed by 4-1 and 4-2 defeats at the hands of Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

As a result, Chelsea have now conceded 39 goals in 23 Premier League fixtures, as well as sitting down in 11th position in the standings.

Reports have indicated that Pochettino is far from safe in the dugout, even with the Argentine currently possessing a win ratio of 45%, which is six percent better than that of Graham Potter’s return over the same amount of games.

Chelsea have been poor away from home during 2023-24 and they now face a daunting triple-header of Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Manchester City all on their travels.

According to the Evening Standard, Pochettino is open to a switch to a back three in an attempt to improve their stability at the back.

During the early stages of the season, there were times when Pochettino used a 3-4-2-1 formation, although that was sometimes interpreted to be a back four depending on whether Levi Colwill spent more time at left-back and Ben Chilwell further forward.

Chilwell has recently returned to left-back after a long stint out with a hamstring injury, starting three times with Colwill recently missing out with a tendon injury.

With Chelsea having looked increasingly open since Chilwell has been back in the team, reverting to a back three with wing-backs could help Chelsea defensively and giving Chilwell greater licence to attack.

The same applies to Malo Gusto on the opposite flank, with Pochettino able to use either of Benoit Badiashile, Colwill or Trevoh Chalobah in the centre.

At his post-match press conference on Sunday, Pochettino acknowledged that he may “take some decisions to find a different way”, a hint that he could instigate a change of tactics.

Chelsea travel to Villa Park on Wednesday night to face a team that recorded a 5-0 victory over Sheffield United on Saturday evening, and who Chelsea have failed to net against in two meetings in 2023-24.

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