Steve Holland II

In his second Masterclass delivered exclusively for The Coaches’ Voice, England's assistant manager Steve Holland gives a fascinating insight into the in-possession principles he and Antonio Conte developed at Chelsea when they won the 2016/17 Premier League title. In particular, he focuses on an attacking line of five comprising high, attacking wing-backs – Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses – and a front three of Eden Hazard, Willian or Pedro and Diego Costa.

He proceeds to explain how subsequent Premier League champions – Manchester City under Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool – have since used the same principle of an attacking line of five. He also details variations on who can play in the front five, as well as how the deeper five players in those teams are structured. Finally, he discusses how he and Gareth Southgate adapted some of the same principles with England in building attacks from their preferred 4-3-3.

Two teams with a five-man attack

Chelsea 2016/17Liverpool 2019/20

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Chelsea 2016/173-2-5

Liverpool 2019/202-3-5

13Thibaut Courtois

1Alisson

28César Azpilicueta

12Joe Gomez

30David Luiz

4Virgil van Dijk

24Gary Cahill

3Fabinho

21Nemanja Matic

14Jordan Henderson

7N'Golo Kanté

5Georginio Wijnaldum

15Victor Moses

66Trent Alexander-Arnold

3Marcos Alonso

26Andy Robertson

22Willian

11Mo Salah

10Eden Hazard

10Sadio Mané

19Diego Costa

9Roberto Firmino

Author: Ali Tweedale