Dec 22

Dec 22 Antonio Conte and Three at the Back: A love affair

The love affair between Antonio Conte and a formation with 3 at the back

When Antonio Conte left his role as the national coach of Italy and came to Stamford Bridge in 2016, he had a big job on his hands. In 2016, Chelsea had just broken a record, but not one to be proud of- they finished the lowest a team had finished in the year after they had won the league in Premier League history (Luckily for them, the record didn’t last long, being broken by Leicester the following year). Chelsea were in the mud, the players having lost faith during The Special One’s second spell at the club.

What they needed was a change in system, something that would revolutionise the game and bring them back to the fore of British football. And that’s exactly what happened.

Antonio Conte grew up in the 70s and 80s when the three at the back formations were taking over the game. Sweepers were becoming more popular as a way of further protecting the defences against the increase in attacking intelligence. The three at the back system fitted perfectly, enabling five men to defend in the backline, while also allowing seven to go forward when necessary. But why did Antonio Conte want to use this tactic himself? Rather than listen to me, you might as well listen to the great man himself:

"I did not have Zinedine Zidane or Roberto Baggio's talent as a player, and I have played with both, that even when they were circled they could try to break through or create interesting situations with the ball. When I was a player, my efforts and work-rate, my willingness to sacrifice fitness and humility made up for my lack of pure talent but sometimes, if I didn't find a teammate next to me, I might lose the ball. As a manager, my first thought from day one was that I wanted to find solutions for my players when the ball reached them, as I could not. If my players don't understand something, I force the player to ask me why we are doing such movement or working on certain tactics in training both offensively or defensively. I always want my players to be fully understanding of the problem. I want them to understand why we are doing certain things and why those things are useful."

But what did the three at the back formation involve exactly?

Ultimately, a three at the back formation is very rarely just three players at the back while defending, but more often involves five or even seven players across the backline, with the remaining five or three outfield players free for a quick counter. Either quick counters or possession can be utilised in the system, with one brilliant passer in the middle of midfield who can dictate the play. A must for the system to work. But to look a bit closer at how this worked, let’s use Juventus as an example.

Juventus and the back three

Juventus lined up regularly in the 3-5-2 format, with wingbacks and two box-to-box midfielders in the 3 man midfield. The back-line needed to be excellent defensively, but one of the players had to be able to play as a great ball-playing centre-back, and for Juventus that was Leonardo Bonucci, who would often drift into the midfield. Pirlo sat just in front, in the modern regista role, with the presence of his two close centre midfielders and two very wide wing-backs giving him the space and time he needed to control the tempo of the match.

A high press was extremely important at the start of games, with the result being that Juventus dominated possession from early on, meaning that Pirlo could relax on the ball and dictate the play. The front line at Juventus didn’t need to score many goals between them, knowing how strong the defence was, but by holding the ball up, more goals came from all over the field, with the strikers Matri and Vucinic finishing level with midfielder Marchisio on 10 goals in the 2011/12 season.

Juventus went unbeaten for Conte’s first season in the Serie A, the first team to do so in the current 38-game format. But after three titles in a row, Conte resigned as coach, to be remembered forever as one of the Bianconceri’s best. And for Conte, the chance to takeover his country’s national team, with whom he had had great success as a player, was where he was able to bring his iconic 3-5-2 to the world stage.

Amazingly, Conte, who had had so much success at Juventus, was repeatedly criticised in the media for his tactics and team choices whilst the Italy manager. Despite a rather successful (and heavily praised) run in the 2016 European Championships, in which he reached the quarter-finals, just before the tournament began Conte had announced he would step down, wanting to return to the type of football he loved the most, club football. It’s as though the Italian press realised they should have kept the three at the back to themselves.

The revolving door of Chelsea offered him his next opportunity, and with the Premier League being the biggest in the world, it was time for his newly worked 3-5-2, soon to become the 3-4-3, to take centre stage.

Or was it? The back three at Chelsea

Everything was set up for it, with the signing of Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina, a player with the potential to become the best left-wing back in the world. The return of David Luiz meant Chelsea now also had the ball-playing centre-back that Conte’s system needed, with Luiz’ passing range being similar to that of Leonardo Bonucci, a mainstay in his two previous teams.

However, for the first four games of the season, the 4-1-4-1 system that Conte chose to employ was working well-enough, with Chelsea starting unbeaten with three wins and a draw. But after a 2-1 loss to Liverpool and seeing his side fall 3-0 down to Arsenal inside the first half a week later, the ultimate catalyst for Conte’s change in tactics being a brilliant counter-attacking goal by Mesut Ozil, Chelsea’s lacklustre defence was exposed. Then in the 55th minute, the system changed to one that had evidently ben worked on in training. Marcos Alonso made an appearance from the bench, forcing Azpilicueta into a left centre-back role, one that he would make his own throughout the rest of the season.

Despite still losing 3-0, the second half of the game was considered to be a great success, with Chelsea holding out comfortably for the last 35 minutes. Clearly, the system that had been worked on in training, and the fear of the revolving door had forced Conte’s hand into its early deployment.

A 3-4-3 formation was put in place for the remainder of the season, slightly different to his 3-5-2 utilised at Juventus, with Victor Moses, a player who usually only ever featured in the cup matches, taking the place of right wingback. He thrived, using his brilliant dribbling and pace to start quick counters, defensively improving every game. The arrival of Ngolo Kante enabled better defensive stability, with one less man now in the middle of the park, meaning more men could be kept forward, and Cesc Fabregas could play with even more freedom, knowing that even if he misplaced a pass, Kante would be there to clean up after him.

This resulted in the little man winning PFA POTY at the season’s end. The ability to be defensively solid by shifting into a 5-4-1, and then hitting teams on the counter in the lethal 3-4-3 working a treat. Thirteen consecutive wins followed the defeat at Arsenal, equalling the record at the time for wins in a row, going from 8th to 1st in the time period. But what was most impressive was the teams Chelsea faced during the period, with wins over both Manchester clubs, reigning Champions Leicester, and Spurs.

It was the 3-4-3 formation that had revolutionised the play. With Diego Costa on fire up front and a defence working seamlessly together as well as Cesc Fabregas being given the same role that Pirlo had at Juventus, where he could ping passes over the top and in behind for Eden Hazard and Costa to enjoy, Chelsea were the most enviable team in the country. The game that sticks in the memory for that season was the one against Manchester City during the winning run, which really showed the counter-attacking ability of the 3-4-3.

Throughout the season Chelsea dominated, but most interestingly was Tottenham’s shift to match Chelsea’s three at the back formation, in many ways outperforming Chelsea, including a memorabale 2-1 victory at White Hart Lane, ending the Blues thirteen match unbeaten run. For Spurs fans, it was one of their best chances to win the title, and weirdly, despite not managing them, it was down to Conte’s ingenuity. Whilst his following season wasn’t anything special, Conte’s system had revolutionised Premier League Football forever.

Having taken a couple of years out of football after the Chelsea job, Conte took over at Inter Milan and worked again on rebuilding a side into something that he wanted. He amusingly signed his old friend Victor Moses on loan in an attempt to get him back to his high-flying right wingback days, as well as acquiring a multitude of rejected Premier League players, including Ashley Young and Alexis Sanchez. But in a journey that has only just begun at Inter Milan, there are signs that Conte is back to show what a team working under his formation can do, reaching the final of the Europa League in his first year in charge.

Whilst under pressure at the moment, Antonio Conte will go down in history as not just a great manager, but as one who forever will stick by a system he truly believes in.

I’m lucky enough that the system is one that benefitted my club, but also recognise that it has completely changed the game for world football. Nowadays no-one is now shocked at the 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 being utilised week in, week out across the world.