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 being in and out of the lineup reflects a wider issue for several attackers in Chelsea's squad.
A criticism of Tuchel's attacking flaws has been linked to the German's frequent rotation, not aiding his player's ability to form a consistent rhythm and chemistry.
Against Spurs, Tuchel kept eight of the outfield eleven that had started against Brighton five days earlier.
Even though that night at The Amex was disappointing, keeping Romelu Lukaku, Ziyech, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount all in the lineup appeared to help Chelsea achieve that rhythm to produce a big win heading into an international break.
As Liam Twomey of The Athletic pointed out after the defeat to Manchester City, Tuchel has used 11 different attacking combinations this season (12 counting the Brighton game).
Although the likes of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic will be frustrated to miss out, maintaining that quartet for the FIFA Club World Cup and then the next run of Premier League games would be beneficial and give us more insight into how this group connects consistently.
It hasn't been simple for Tuchel to do this.
Given COVID cases, injuries, a congested schedule and the disappointing form of several attackers.
As much as supporters may lambast the constant changing, they would equally be quick to jump on a poor performance by a player, demanding they be benched for the next game.
This break has given Chelsea a desperately needed chance to take a breath, when we return to action, persisting with this recent formation change feels logical.
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