Mateo Kovacic
Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has told manager Graham Potter which formation he feels the club should be adopting moving forward. After missing their previous defeat to Tottenham due to illness, the 28-year-old was reinstated into Potter’s line-up against Leeds United for Saturday’s 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge. Speaking to the club website after the game,
Mateo Kovacic said: “We prepared the goal well in training because we know that Wesley is good in the air. I think the formation worked really well. We prepared it good in training and we’re used to this system since a long time, so it’s a familiar one. We had a good game but the most important is that we continue.”
The incoming Fofana and Badiashile were joined in the heart of Chelsea’s defence by Kalidou Koulibaly, while Ben Chilwell and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were given the wing-back berths. Should Potter opt to continue with this formation for the crunch Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, he should also have Reece James back available, with the 23-year-old having already demonstrated his ability at fulfilling the right wing-back role. Speaking after Saturday’s match, Potter agreed with Kovacic regarding the side’s optimal formation. Admitting the back-three made Chelsea look more assured,
Mateo Kovacic said: “Yeah, I think it would. Obviously it hasn’t been as straightforward as it sounds because we’ve had people dropping off regularly really, which has made it hard to have that consistency that you need, that we want. But in the meantime we have to keep working, which is what we’ve done. But yeah, I thought we had a nice balance about us. We were better in terms of attacking certainly of the first half. And that’s something for us to improve.”
