http://www.theoriginalcoach.com/#!the-advantage-of-a-back-three/cmam THE UNFASHIONABLE TACTIC OF PLAYING A BACK THREE is on the brink of becoming very fashionable, indeed. Why is this? In the ever evolving game of football one aspect stays the same; winning the midfield battle gives you the upper hand, and this tactic is ideal for getting more numbers into centre of the park. Teams used to sacrifice a striker to strengthen the midfield, but it's becoming more likely that teams will be sacrificing their specialist player, someone who can only play one position, for a defender. In the 1990s, many Premier League sides went through a fad of playing three at the back, perhaps after seeing the Germans successfully employ a 3-4-1-2 tactic in Euro ’96. The roots of this new wave of three at the back formation once again derive from Germany, this time from the innovative thinker that is Pep Guardiola. The Catalan native had tinkered with the idea during his time at Barcelona, and to devastating effect in one specific game against Villarreal. His Barcelona side at the time lined up in a 3-4-3 diamond formation with Abidal, Busquests and Mascherano, none of whom are centre-backs, making up the back three. This is where the evolution of how the game is played starts having an effect. During the 90s – in England at least - it wasn't very often that you had more than one defender who was comfortable on the ball and confident enough to play out of defence with it. It meant you had two, often three, very limited ball players who felt confident being central; it allowed teams to exploit this by having their wide men pull the outside centre-backs away and into areas they weren't comfortable in. In England with many centre-backs that is still the case, but the Europeans have more ball-playing defenders. As a result, they are capable of initiating attacks from deep. Furthermore, with the rise to prominence of defensive midfielders, it is giving managers the chance to deploy these defensive-minded midfielders in a position not to dissimilar to the one they already play. Indeed many holding midfielders are now operating at centre back with the obvious advantage that their ball skills enable them to distribute effectively and maintain possession key areas. The Dutch used three at the back on their way to the World Cup final. None of the defenders chosen are ones you'd term ‘world-class’ but they all did their part and collectively only conceded four goals during the tournament. Notable uses of the formation in the Premier League include Wigan whilst Roberto Martínez was at the helm; during the current season we've seen teams such as Manchester United and Liverpool both deploy it. Seen by many fans and pundits alike as an overly defensive set up, it’s a smart way to increase possession and shore up a shaky back line. The 3-5-2 can be a defensive formation when full-backs are used as the wing backs, rather than joining the attack high up the field and using their ability to take men on as wingers. This could be a reason why Juventus haven't excelled on the European stage despite their dominance in Serie A. In the Juventus formation, the deepest midfield makes a diamond with the back three, enabling the Italian giants to secure possession in deep areas. The two wider defenders move outwards and enable triangles to play through. At Juventus, this system works perfectly with Andrea Pirlo dropping in, receiving the ball, turning and finding the likes of Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente early. The problem is, it negates the impact of the wide men who come deep and are more comfortable turning over possession than running at their man and allowing the defenders to buy yards. With a similar 3-5-2, Liverpool, too, have adopted the system to great effect of late. An obvious problem with the Reds’ squad was the lack of a dedicated holding midfielder of requisite quality. To counteract this weakness, Brendan Rodgers started to use Mamadou Sakho as the left sided ball-playing defender and Emre Can doing the same job on the right. This allows Liverpool to start attacks from the back. Furthermore, it also enables one or even both of them to push into the defensive midfield area if the midfield is ever exposed. It gives Liverpool invaluable fluidity and ability to maintain possession in deeper areas – something the team deems necessary to exert their own style of play. For Liverpool, having Sakho and Can to keep possession and find their forward colleagues has helped the Reds find their form. Both are intelligent passers, despite the myth that Sakho is poor on the ball (no players with more than 500 passes in the Premier League this season have been as accurate as the Frenchman). Playing this back three also negates the limited football ability of the other centre half, in Liverpool’s case Martin Škrtel. They've already shown how devastating this can be when facing the high pressing of Bournemouth when Raheem Sterling finished off a 52 pass move. Without two ball-playing centre-back, Liverpool would’ve probably given the ball away earlier in the move, a factor that characterised the first half of the season. The move culminated in LazarMarković, the left wing back, cutting inside and chipping the ball to Jordan Henderson, the right wing back, who nodded it back across goal to Sterling. Besides Juventus and Liverpool, Bayern Munich have been supremely effective at playing with three defenders, too. Dante and Jérôme Boateng are the two primary defenders, with Xabi Alonso the ball playing midfielder who often drops deep to make a three. This has similarities to the Juventus tactic, however Alonso has more defensive responsibilities and is expected to drop to become the central defender when the team is defending. In attack, however, Alonso is given the freedom to create and step forward, in turn allowing the other two midfielders to do the same and press high up the field once possession is turned over. It also acts as a mean of ensuring that triangles are always an option for the man in possession. Triangles characterised Guardiola’s successful stint as Barcelona boss and his success at Bayern has been based on retaining the ball. With the full-backs for Bayern providing width but also coming inside to overload in the middle, it’s a system that at times shows few weaknesses. The personnel at the club suit it perfectly. The three variants of playing a defensive trio all have one common goal: retain possession and solidify at the back. There are a number of styles that a manager can deploy within the 3-5-2 which makes the formation one of the most fluid and effective in modern football. As the game continues to be characterised by technique and quality in possession, it’s well suited to the modern game.
Think Rodgers deserves a lot of credit for changing the system and getting the best out of the players.
this one is tenuous at best and funnily.... ignores van gaal playing 3 at the back for some unexplained reason. rodgers systems is classic 3-4-3... the juve system is totally different and frankly bayern's is not even this.
I agree, he seemed lost at one point but kept at it and kept looking for a solution which he evntually found. I'm not a huge fan of the formation but it's working so why change. Also when it didn't work v Palace he changed it which was also good to see.
The so-called 343 we've been playing is technically a 361 (or 3421) since we have been employing two AMs as part of the front three.
technically.... as in depending on whos defending and who's attacking. it could be called 5-4-1 if you want... if you wanna call coutinho an AM not left side forward... whatever. *mito makes dismissive waving gesture*
But ... (and it's a big but!) .. I really doubt he would have used the current set of players had he not been forced through injuries. Nevertheless, it happened and now we have a settled team.
Its never five at the back though. We don't play WBs, they're wide midfielders. If they're meant to be WBs then they've been ****
All managers have to deal with injuries and suspensions, not all cope. Brod deserves credit for how its turned out. Whether he'd have persisted with certain players or not is irrelevant because no one could possibly answer that bar Brod himself and we all know he's full of ****
Ironically, I reckon the best way of getting at your current 3-4-3, is with a traditional 4-4-2 with 2 chalk on their boots wingers and 2 genuine strikers exploiting the space you'd leave in the central defensive area, as a result of the 2 wide CB's being drawn out.
Ah the 3-5-2, a formation so much lauded by Venables and then Hoddle, now is the brainchild of a modern manager. I still like to call it the flat back five, wingers or not.....
The way they're currently playing it, the 2 wide players are pushed right on and don't hold the traditional cautious wing back position. Their 2 wide CB's are filling that space. I still think it's flawed and once someone is brave enough to really take it on, on the front foot, then the reasons why will become obvious.
If I am honest I have only seen tem play that way against us, like you said a little more brave and once lucas went off they were for the taking Would still say Moreneo and Ibe did more in their own half than ours....plus the guy on the left in a LB?
I'm surprised teams haven't tried to punish our FB areas. Only you guys have tried it so far which was effectively with two upfront (both pulling out wide allowing the AM to exploit the space) as you suggest. I think I'd go with a 433 system. Let the front three attack and occupy the defence. Every system and style as a weakness that can be exploited.
Plus it got the best out of McManaman and Fowler too. Loved watching us under Evans, we didn't win much but most games were exciting and had goals.
