Nick Wright’s column for Sky Sports this week has a section all about Malo Gusto and the full back’s changing role this season.
It was clear from very early on that Enzo Maresca intended to use him not as as a traditional full back down his favoured right hand side, but instead as a player who comes inside into midfield when Chelsea are on the ball and pushing forward.
He’s even played as a left back at times, doing the same thing from the other side. It’s an ongoing process, and we’ve seen Maresca tweak the lineup and formation from game to game. But the change to Gusto’s game is unquestionable.
You can see the graphic illustrating that in Wright’s piece embedded here:
Gusto has to sacrifice his game to help the team
There are a lot of question marks among Chelsea fans about whether this really gets the best out of Gusto. In fact, many would argue that it certainly doesn’t. He’d rather be bombing down the right, one on one with his opposite number.
But sometimes players have to sacrifice their best position for the good of the team, and that seems to be what’s happening here. In order to allow Noni Madueke to stay high and wide, Gusto comes centrally to block up counters and to find spaces, drawing double teams off Madueke rather than overlapping outside him.
For all his qualities, Gusto doesn’t look the most comfortable when in the tight confines of a Premier League midfield. Even worse is when the ball drops to him on the edge of the box in a shooting position. You’ve never seen him look more like a right back than when he skies shots over from 18 yards out.
Still, these inverting full backs are leading to good results, so nobody is complaining.
