Last week’s match against Leicester City saw Enzo Maresca break up his usual defensive line to accommodate the injuries to Malo Gusto and Reece James.
Regular centre back Wesley Fofana was moved to right back, with Benoit Badiashile coming into the team in the middle in Fofana’s usual spot. It played out more like a back 3 however, with Levi Colwill, Badiashile and Fofana forming a unit while left back Marc Cucurella pushed ahead in possession.
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A flag waves at Stamford Bridge by night.
Chelsea in a team huddle ahead of EFL Cup game. (Photo by Ed Sykes/Getty Images)
Chelsea in a team huddle ahead of EFL Cup game. (Photo by Ed Sykes/Getty Images)
Leicester were pretty terrible, but the system worked well. In fact it worked so well that at Football.London, one of their writers is calling for the system to be repeated again, even with Gusto fit and ready to return to the team:
“There is a temptation to bring Malo Gusto back into the team but I have been impressed with Badiashile in recent matches, so would keep Fofana at full-back for this one,” Sam Truelove wrote in his predicted lineup.
Benoit Badiashile in a press conference.
Benoit Badiashile in a press conference.
Badiashile pushing hard for first team place
We’re not sure that would be a universally popular move with Chelsea fans, most of whom have little to no faith in Badiashile. However the fact that it’s on the cards at all shows the good progress he’s making in restoring his reputation.
Game by game he’s recovering his best form, and he seems to have usurped Tosin as Enzo Maresca’s preferred defender beyond the usual two. While we suspect Maresca will restore his favoured back 4, Badiashile is closer than ever to forcing his way into it.
Fofana has said he has no problem playing on the right, and if Maresca likes the pseudo-3 man setup at the back, we could well see it repeated soon – especially with Reece James facing a month or more on the sidelines following his latest hamstring issue.