A match made in hell at Stamford Bridge

Carlo Ancelotti can now be forgiven for not being as enthusiastic as his fellow Chelsea colleagues on the arrival of a certain £50 million Spanish forward. Fernando Torres’ arrival has created a tactical nightmare for the experienced Italian, a nightmare that Ancelotti can’t seem to wake from.

I’m sure the likes of Ian Holloway would love such a dilemma: how to accommodate two world class strikers in a starting eleven, but with each fixture that passes, Torres is looking more likely to become John Terry’s next love interest than to open his goalscoring account for his new club. With no goal return on such a major transfer fee, numerous tactical changes from a formation that won the double only the season before and ever increasing pressure on Ancelotti, has Torres’ acquisition come at too high a cost?

Before ‘El Níño’ joined Chelsea, they played a very successful 4-3-3 formation with Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda playing as attacking wingers supporting Didier Drogba. The Ivorian’s presence, physicality and goals have been instrumental in Chelsea’s recent successes and the three pronged attack scored 52 goals between them last season in the league. Was Torres’ purchase even a necessary one? It has clearly interrupted the ebb and flow of the trio that was a dominant force in the final third of the pitch.

The dictum “too many cooks spoil the broth” springs to mind when tackling the problem of playing Drogba and Torres, due to the fact that the duo both like to occupy the same position on the pitch (very central) and are comfortable being tightly marked by the opposition’s defence. Ancelotti could go for the 4-4-2 formation to solve this conundrum, but although using this formation allows the Spaniard and the Ivorian to be central figures, it perhaps poses too many problems for Chelsea. Salomon Kalou appears to be the only player who could play the right midfield position, but in previous formations the wingers have had fewer defensive responsibilities, where as in a 4-4-2, tracking back to cover your right back is a must; would Kalou really be up for the defensive responsibilities?

As well as the issue of defensive cover, sacrificing one out of Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel by breaking up the three man midfield that has been so pivotal for Chelsea in recent years doesn’t seem worth it; although Essien and Lampard would be the majority’s first choice, it is Mikel who offers the greatest defensive cover and Chelsea would need this, as you couldn’t have Lampard and Essien bombing forward constantly, despite how well they do this. Playing just two central midfielders overall takes away a steel and air of dominance from the Blues in the middle of park, surely too huge a sacrifice to accommodate even a World Cup winner, especially when you consider the previous situation at Liverpool after Robbie Keane’s arrival; Rafael Benitez opted for a 4-4-2 to use both the Spaniard and the Irishman and they were far from prolific, failed to develop an understanding and eventually were broken up, with Torres preferred in the 4-2-3-1 formation that once again pitted him as a lone and central figure. The 4-4-2 ideology seems like it has too many repercussions to Chelsea’s offensive potential and creates an aura of trying to get square pegs into round holds.

Another approach that could be deployed is the 3-4-1-2 formation, a very popular system in the South American leagues, especially so in Argentina. Obviously no formation can include every player, and although this formation would remove the use of full backs and one from Alex, John Terry, David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic, it is a formation that accommodates more or less every attacking outlet that Chelsea have at their disposal. With a defensive midfielder to provide additional cover, this would allow Lampard to be his usual free scoring and free roaming self. I view this as the only successful formation Chelsea could adopt in allowing Torres and Drogba to be successful together at the same time.

I don’t know about you, but all this tinkering just seems a bit too much and over the top to fit in any player, even Fernando Torres. No team should change for one player, but despite this old adage the pressure is on Ancelotti to successfully utilise Torres, while keeping the likes of Didier Drogba scoring but, more importantly, happy.

Will Torres end his Chelsea goal drought against Birmingham?