Chelsea manager Antonio Conte’s blueprint for Premier League success has been revealed in the latest report from The Sun. His tactical switch will be a 4-2-4 formation next season.
The Italian boss arrived at Stamford Bridge amid speculations he will adopt the three-man defence which served him well enough during his time in charge of Juventus and Italy.
But Antonio Conte has already planned a new approach to confront the demands of the English football culture and according to his secret plan, he will be going into matches with only two recognised midfielders and four attackers.
SunSport has now published the tactical drawings for Conte’s first game in charge of Chelsea when they were defeated by Rapid Vienna on Saturday.
And they clearly indicate he fielded the Blues in a 4-2-4 formation aimed at being offensive right from the start.
Conte pushed wide-men Willian and Victor Moses into more advanced attacking roles, joining Diego Costa and Rubens Loftus-Cheek in an offensive quartet.
That left Jon Obi Mikel and Nemanja Matic playing as the holding midfielders,
And it confirmed Conte’s plans to play two in the vital central role next season.
When the club announced the £30million signing of N’Golo Kante a few days ago the new Chelsea manager was keen to point out how the France international was able to play as a pair.
Conte said: “We identified him, me and the club together, and I think Kante can give a lot to Chelsea, to enforce a zone which is very important if we want to play with two central midfielders.
“He showed last season he’s able to play with another midfielder. I think with this player we’ve reinforced the squad.”
The Italian has also been quick to draw up plans for set-piece routines for his team, with Willian handed out corner duty already.
all images courtesy: The Sun
And in another offensive move, Conte only wants to keep one defender back at corners as he attempts to pile the pressure on his opponents.
Conte will not even have his full squad available to him for match action for a further week as the players on Euro 2016 duty start to filter back into pre-season following short holidays.