But this season the double pivot specifically has fallen apart. The Fabregas-Matic patnership that was so reliable last season has seemingly disintegrated. Mourinho showed a deep loyalty to the double pivot, almost to a fault.
Hiddink too has stuck with it since taking over, at least nominally. The game against Arsenal, however, saw Hiddink make something of a departure from the 4-2-3-1, in practice. He lined up Mikel and Matic, both fairly defensive midfielders, in the double pivot, and Fabregas forward, in the no. 10 position. But it was clear that, with Oscar on the left wing and Willian on the right, Fabregas would not spend all of his time sitting in the 10 space. Both Oscar and Willian are centrally focused players, dropping off the wings and into the half-spaces, and even the center.
Fabregas floated around the field, often dropping deep to pick up the ball and control possession. He also pushed the ball up the field, mainly in the half spaces, picking out through balls for the wings and Costa in the center.
Fabregas' positioning meant that Chelsea was effectively playing a 4-3-2-1, or even a 4-2-2-1, with Cesc in a completely free role.
Here you can see Fabregas dropping deep, in between the pivot, to pick up the ball from John Terry.
In the above photo, however, Fabregas has the ball, higher up the field, running at Arsenal's backline.
You can see the midfield triangle above clearly. Matic has been pressing higher up the field, while Mikel sits in front of the backline. Oscar and Willian have both moved onto the wings. This is the 4-3-3 that Chelsea often defended in.
This shift towards a 4-3-3 got me thinking about how a 3 man midfield could work tactically. I have divided the 3 man midfield into three seperate roles, each playing off the other and covering for the others strengths or weaknesses. I will try to both describe what each role would do, and what players on Chelsea's squad could fit into each.
Playmaker
This is the Fabregas role from the Arsenal game. The playmaker would be fairly free positionally. He could come deep and play long balls from the back, or sit in the middle and control possession and slow the game, or float in the half-spaces, picking out passes for the wingers and striker.
This player needs to be comfortable on the ball, but not selfish. He must be able to start attacks and distribute possession, creating chances for others more than for himself. He also needs to have positional awareness, knowing how to be open, and where to be to play a one-two.
There are really only two players on Chelsea's roster (youth and loan system withstanding) that could play this role. The most obvious is Fabregas, and since I discussed his play above, I won't go into it again.
But another interesting option is Eden Hazard. Hazard almost always lines up on the left wing, but, like Oscar and Willian played against Arsenal, rarely stays there. Hazard is a sort of "false 10", a winger who ends up in the 10 position. He is not primarily a scorer, picking up only 14 goals in the Premier League last season.
He does have an uncanny ability to draw defense's attention, creating chances for other by virtue of his own potency. One of the primary features of Chelsea games over the past two seasons have been team's attempts to neutralize Hazard, and thereby Chelsea's offense, by hacking him down. Given his fantastic dribbling ability and good passing, he could also play as a playmaker.
While Fabregas would offer more of a deep lying option, Hazard could provide some flavor and operate as a true no. 10. With his future at the club in doubt, it is unlikely that Hiddink experiment's with his role, but it would be an interesting option.
Box-to-Box Midfielder
This is the role we saw Matic play against Arsenal, although he isn't the only player on Chelsea who could do so.
A box to box midfielder is a player who is tasked with both offensive and defensive duties. It is a role straight out of the 4-4-2, where the two central midfielders had to have the technical and physical ability to defend in their own half and then get back up field to help lead attacks in the opponents half.
Given it's nature, it is a demanding physical role. The player has to have the stamina and endurance to run for 90 minutes, up and down the field, ceaselessly. He also has to be disciplined defensively, and skilled offensively.
The most famous recent examples of this type of player are Yaya Toure, Arturo Vidal, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.
Matic is the most obvious fit. He is a physical specimen, driving up and down the field. His defensive ability is well known: it was his work that protected Chelsea's backline for most of the previous season and a half, and when he fell out of form to start this season, the defense also collapsed.
He is also an underrated offensive player, especially given Fabregas' prominence on offense. But Matic often contributes, especially in terms of retaining possession for us. He also a cannon of a leg, seen clearly here and here.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek is tailor made for this role. He too is physically gifted, and has numerous offensive skills. He has been Matic's understudy for the past year, learning how to play defense, as well, saying that Matic has inspired him to become more well-rounded.
Oscar is also an intriguing option. While he almost always plays as a no. 10, he has all of the qualities to be a box-to-box player. When Mourinho returned to Chelsea three years ago, he decided to make Oscar the starter, over the fan favorite Juan Mata, because Oscar tracked back more often, and was just simply better at defense than Mata, who rarely tried to defend.
He often covers for Fabregas, when the Spaniard roams out of position, and also goes deep to pick up the ball.
He is a proven offensive talent, showing an ability to score and create chances. Since he normally plays in the 10 spot, Hiddink wouldn't need to change formation, on paper, to play more of a 3 man midfield; he could stick to a 4-2-3-1.
Defender
This midfielder simply sits in front of the backline. On occasion he will push out of midfield to regain possession or press a vulnerable player, but he will mostly protect the backline. With Terry, Ivanovic and Cahill all on the wrong side of 30, and their bodies showing it, having a player who can keep the space in front of the backline small, and drop into the backline situationally to be a 5th defender, can be very important.
Mikel is in reality the only player who can naturally do this on the squad right now. He has little attacking interesting, scoring just one goal in for us since his arrival in 2006.
Against Arsenal he was crucial to Hiddink's game plan. He drifted to the right side, helping Ivanovic, who Arsenal were trying to isolate and exploit. He also stopped several of Arsenal's counter, both by successful tackles and by unsuccessful ones that threw off Walcott and Ozil.
Matic could play this on occasion, particularly in situations where Chelsea have gone down a man, or are trying to ice a game. But he simply wouldn't be as effective in this role as he would be elsewhere.
Conclusion
These three positions would be effective playing off each other. The playmaker wouldn't need to worry about defense, since the defensive midfielder and box-to-box would be back. The defender wouldn't need to contribute offensively except on isolated situations, since both of the others will run the offense.
But Hiddink isn't confined to these three. Given the number of players who could potentially be box-to-box midfielders, there isn't a reason why he couldn't line up Oscar, Matic and Fabregas. I think that's actually the most interesting combination, given that all three are strong going forward, and Oscar and Matic could cover Fabregas' lack of defensive skill and positioning.
With the top 4 gone, and the likelihood of losing to PSG in the first round of the Champions League high, Hiddink might be interested in experimenting with lineups. Lets hope that whatever he does includes youths.
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