The emphasis is on full-backs to provide attacking width this season and on Saturday they began smashing in goals too.
Ashley Cole became the first Chelsea defender to find the net this season with a fine move and finish for the third goal of an entertaining game. Following scoring success away at West Ham and Sunderland in past seasons, this was his first in front of the home fans at Stamford Bridge and continued a good start to the season for the left back and for the team.
'The other goals have been quite easy so this one felt a little bit special to score here and I am glad the way it went in,' acknowledged Cole after the 3-0 win over Burnley.
'When you play with people like Lamps he always knows where you are so I gave him the ball and carried on my run. I don't normally hit them as good as that, they normally go over, so I am very pleased that I hit the target and it is my aim this season to score more goals.
'The performance was up there with our game at Sunderland this season but this was our best home game,' he continued. 'We moved the ball very quickly and we had a lot of movement which always kills teams. We had a lot of chances and if we had scored in the first five or ten minutes then there would have been a lot more goals.'
Missing early opportunities was the one flaw in the display also highlighted by John Terry, who saw a shot of his own saved by keeper Brian Jensen.
'First half we had a lot of chances and maybe should have scored a couple earlier on,' the captain said, 'but they are a tough team and they made it difficult. They had a chance first half as well, which we are a little disappointed with, but overall I thought our football and the chances we made were fantastic.
'Their goalie is very good. We came up against him in the Carling Cup last season and he did very well then. He did very well again and kept them in it the first half because we could have been three or four up, but we kept our patience and kept going and it paid off.'
'When a lot of teams come here they seem to sit back,' added Cole, who was preceded in scoring by Michael Ballack and first Nicolas Anelka, 'but Burnley came at us a bit and it helped us and to get the goal just before half time gave us confidence. They had to come out a little bit more and create chances and spaces for us.
'This is my fourth season here now and it feels as if we are getting more close and more of a family and the spirit is better than I have ever seen it here. We are hungry to win, we didn't like losing last season and hopefully this season can be our year.'
With the side moving to the top of the table this weekend, Terry echoes that sentiment.
'We go away with the national sides now and four wins out of four is important. When you look at the overall performance, the midfielders are doing a lot of work for the team, Ash and José Bosingwa can bomb on and create chances, and I think all over the pitch we are working hard for each other because we are desperate to win the Premier League.'
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