Lampard says he’s ‘trying to find the balance’ by trying different formations

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Frank Lampard says being tactically versatile is vital, and necessary, with so many new signings and such a short close season.

The Chelsea head coach switched systems to a 4-3-3 from a 4-2-3-1 to great effect in the 4-0 Champions League win over Russian side FK Krasnodar on Wednesday, with the late introduction of Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic bringing three goals.


Lampard says changing tactics regularly and having players who can adapt to different systems served him very well last season as he guided the club to a Champions League place and the FA Cup final.

“It’s nothing new,” Lampard said. “I love having players with versatility but you also then, in the early stages of the season, are trying to find the balance to the whole team, the thing that brings out the best in all the players.

“Normally you have a month or six weeks but we are actually doing them in real time so it’s very normal we’ve had to find different solutions for different games.

“Three at the back against Manchester United meant we were a lot more solid. The 4-3-3 against Krasnodar gave us different angles of pass and maybe an idea that we can press higher up.

“There were a lot of things that gave me a lot of answers to things I had my own questions on. And there were a lot of positives.”