Former Blues defender Jason Cundy said he would like to see Chelsea manager Graham Potter stick with the back-three formation ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Borussia Dortmund.
Injury problems, particularly those of the two right-backs; Reece James and Cesar Azpilicueta, likely played a big part in Potter’s decision to deploy a 3-4-3 formation against Leeds United on Saturday.
The formation allowed Potter to use Ruben Loftus-Cheek as a right wing-back, a position he should be familiar enough with, despite the lack of natural options for this role.
It paid off, too, as Chelsea ended their six-match winless run, thanks to what the manager described as a “brave” display from Wesley Fofana and his decisive goal.
Cundy insisted that Chelsea look better with this formation than Potter’s recent back-four structures and would like to see them play with a similar system against Dortmund.
“I would stick with a [back] three, personally,” Cundy told Chelsea’s Matchday Live.
“I don’t know what the situation is, whether Reece [James] would come back… This is the problem when you have one squad for one tournament and a different one on your day job [in training].
“That’s why he [Potter] gets paid the big bucks to make [the decision].
“Personally, I think we’re better with a [back] three.”
Among the starters, Benoit Badiashile is the only player who will not be available for the second leg against Dortmund, while Trevoh Chalobah could slot in, this would leave Chelsea without a backup centre-back for the game.
This would, of course, be risky.
That said, Potter may be able to prepare a Plan B with a back four in case one of the centre-back gets injured during the match.
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