Thomas Tuchel £33m Barcelona call signals Antonio Conte Chelsea repeat must continue

Many reference Antonio Conte's tactical switch away to Arsenal in September 2016 that changed everything for Chelsea's title hopes that season.

Despite losing the game convincingly, it would be the following weekend against Hull when Conte's men would begin a 13-match winning streak that propelled an uncertain season into one of Chelsea's finest.

Thomas Tuchel arguably enacted something similar when he arrived at Stamford Bridge 12 months ago, placing Chelsea into a 3-4-2-1 formation that would see the Blues go from ninth in the Premier League to European Champions in four months time.

Now the German has begun another tactical shift, one that will hopefully begin a process of taking Chelsea back to the top of the Premier League.

The move from the 3-4-2-1 to variations of a four-man defence has slightly been forced by the injuries to Ben Chilwell and Reece James.

But also can be viewed as a move to get more out of Chelsea's faltering attack.

One player that has particularly benefited from the shift is Hakim Ziyech who has scored in his last two Premier League games.

The Moroccan has struggled to find his best form since his 2020 signing from Ajax for £33m but probably put in his best performance for Chelsea in the win over Spurs.

Before Christmas, Ziyech had been linked with a move away to Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund and looked to be on the fringes of Tuchel's plans heading into the January transfer window.

The 28-year-old not getting off the bench in the three league games against Aston Villa, Brighton and Liverpool.

But Ziyech is now on a run of three league starts in a row against Man City, Brighton and Spurs, a run he was unable to achieve in the first 21 league games of this season.

His inconsistent runs