My 3-5-2 Tactic
I decided to go over an idea that came to my mind a few months ago and I believe I have found a new tactic. Of course, it should not be forgotten that tactics and lineups can change according to many factors, especially the players we have, and therefore tactics and lineups can be applied if certain conditions are appropriate.
I used 3-5-2 formation for my tactic. Let’s say we have a midfielder with regista (like Brozovic), and a physically better midfielder without feet as good as him (like Zakaria) and two high tempo midfielders. Wing backs should have great finishing (like Hakimi and Marcos Alonso) and whichever wing they play, they should have feet with the dominant feet. And finally, centre forwards play in false 9 role.
Centre stopper is a midfielder (physique is better) and in midfield we have two midfielders with a high tempo and one midfield has regista abilities.
In the set attack we are changing shape and transform to 2-2-6 formation. Centre stopper comes to other midfield. And two midfielders have high tempo abilities are going to wings and wing backs are running to false 9’s backs or half-space’s. The left foot of the midfielder who jogs the left wing must be the dominant foot and the right foot of the midfielder who jogs the right wing must be the dominant foot. Because when they are running to sides they should cross the ball quickly. If one of the two hasn’t right foot in the right side, they should change among their sides. Let’s say left centre midfielder’s crossing ability is better than other midfielder and both of them use right foot. If this is the case, they should change their positions. So, midfielder with better crossing ability can use his talent.
If left wing back’s dominant foot is his right foot and right wing back’s dominant foot is his left foot they can more easily run behind in half-space and centre area. Because they are using diagonal run to go half-space and centre area and for diagonal run from left wing your dominant foot should be your right foot. Because your right foot is more inside than your left foot so you can comfortably use diagonal run. It’s something we do automatically. Our mind says: ‘It’s your dominant foot. So, you can run inside.’
When centre forwards come to midfield to take ball, we have 6 players in the midfield area. Two defensive midfielders, two centre midfielders and two centre forwards. So, we have more players in the midfield than the opposing team. Centre forwards came to midfield and opponent teams stoppers couldn’t follow. Because if they want to follow they break the defense line and we can easily run behind the defense line.
I am using two false 9’s because opponent team can control one but opponent team can’t control two false 9’s. They should have two defensive midfielders for taking man marking but if they do this, opponent teams midfield is too unbalanced. Let’s think. We want to make play but opponent can have great pressing abilities and we can’t do what we want. In this problem we need extra players for making play and unbalancing opponent team. This players are false 9’s because when they come to midfield we have two more players in midfield area and they are free. Defense players can’t follow and midfielders can’t see because false 9’s are coming behind them. So, false 9’s come to midfield and when they take the ball they pass midfield line. Now, we have big advantage to score goal.
When false 9’s come to midfield, they pull opponent teams centre backs and in the side areas we have 2 vs 1 advantage because two midfielders run to the side areas. And we confuse opponent team’s full backs. If they cover midfielders, wing backs have free area and they can easily run behind defense in the half-spaces and centre. If they cover wing backs, side areas are free for midfielders and they can cross easily.
Opponent team can’t stop easily this tactic because firstly opponent team’s winger can mark wing back, opponent team’s midfielder can mark midfielder and opponent team’s other midfielder or centre back can mark centre forward. But then wing back transforms to a centre forward, midfielder transforms a wing back and centre forward transforms a midfielder. Firstly they could cover by using man marking but then we changed positions and they should change their positions too. They should transform to zone defense in the same time and it’s too difficult.
That’s why wing backs are running behind opponent team’s defense line in half-space and centre. Normally midfielders can run behind opponent team’s defense line in half-space and centre but if they are running diagonal (like wing backs) nobody can mark easily.
And now let’s think how we should move in crossing. Let’s think of basic attack. In midfield we want to make play. Regista takes the ball. He is looking who has free area. And left centre midfield is moving slowly to left wing back. Wing back sees his teammate and runs to regista. Wing back has marking with opponent team’s right winger and he is still marking left wing back because he has no idea about centre midfielders move. So now left centre midfield has free in the left side. And regista sees left centre midfielder. When he takes the ball left false 9 comes close to midfield and wants to take the ball. Now opponent team’s mind is confused because we have changed three positions in midfield. Left centre midfielder passes ball to left false 9 in the left side and runs to opponent team’s right defense line. And left wing back starts his run in the midfield and comes close to left false 9. Left false 9 gives the ball to left wing back as soon as he receives it and left wing back passes ball to left centre midfielder by running behind opponent team’s right back. Now left centre midfielder is free for crossing ball in the left wing. Left wing back starts his run before passing the ball to left centre midfielder. So, he should continue his run and go to near post. Left false 9 should go to penalty spot or penalty arc because his position isn’t close to penalty area. So, he shouldn’t lose time by running to penalty area. Right false 9 has time for running to penalty area because he is still waiting in front of opponent team’s defense line. Right wing back should run to right half-space and right centre midfielder should run to opponent team’s left back’s behind. When right wing back runs to right half-space, opponent team’s left back should follow him because if he doesn’t follow, right wing back has free area in the penalty area. So opponent team’s left back is close to right wing back and right centre midfielder can easily run behind opponent team’s left back. Now we have advantage against opponent team’s left back, he must mark both of them.
Also we should think how we can retrieve the ball. In forward line we should do that but in behind regista and other defensive midfielder should be close to forward line but not too much. Because we should protect our midfield and defense line distance. And we should pull the defense line forward as much as we can. Of course we should be careful about opponent team’s forwards because if our defense line is too close midfield line, opponent team’s forwards can easily run behind our defense line. I said we have two high tempo midfielders. So, they can easily come back to defense and we can prevent opponent team’s counter attack.
I don’t like watching forwards running behind defense line because when they start to run, opponent team’s defense player (marking him) can run to stop him at the same time. So, forward players chance to escape opponent team’s defender is not much.
If we want to use anybody for running behind opponent team’s defense line, this player should start to run in the midfield, I mean before going to defense line. Because any footballer can’t reach his top speed when he begins to run. To reach his top speed, he needs a few seconds. If he starts running in the midfield when he comes to defense line, he is a threat for opponent team’s defender. Then opponent team’s defender starts running but when opponent team’s defender starts running, as he reaches his top speed, opponent team’s defender can’t catch him.
I said in the set attack centre back comes to midfield to help other centre midfield for making play. Because opponent team can mark centre midfield and if they can mark, we can’t make play easily. To solve this problem centre back comes to midfield and helps him. In Manchester City Pep Guardiola uses two full backs to solve this problem. Walker and Zinchenko come to help Rodri for making game. So, It’s my solution.
In goal kick we want to make play by using short passes. Right and left centre backs take positions on the left and right in the penalty area. Centre back should be close to our regista. And two centre midfielders should use sides. Because firstly I want to save our centre midfielders from opponent team’s crowded midfield, secondly if our midfielders go to sides, our wing backs should go to midfield. The point is confusing opponent team’s mind. They can’t use marking easily. We will force them to make choices. If they choose defending side, midfield is free for our team and wing backs can use their dribbling talents, if they choose defending midfield we have two midfield players in the sides and they are free, as the third I said left centre midfielder’s dominant foot is his left foot and left wing back’s dominant foot is his right foot and these rules are true for the other side as well in my game plan. So, why would I want to use wing backs for expanding game to sides? Left wing back’s dominant foot is his right foot and right wing back’s dominant foot is his left foot so they can’t use sides very well.
We have two false 9’s and in goal kick they can be very functional. Defense players (especially centre backs) can’t follow false 9’s because if they follow, their defense line is broken and we can easily go behind opponent team’s defense line. So, now we have extra two free footballers in the midfield. We can esaily make play because we have a lot of footballers in the same area now.
Lastly, I would like to point out that my thinking about the striker’s behind the- back-defenses is not misunderstood. Of course forward players can run behind opponent team’s defense line. If he can move firstly little back and then starts to run he can escape opponent team’s defense player. Or if he can run behind opponent team’s defense player, defense player can’t see him and when forward player runs behind him, he has no idea about forward players’ position.
That’s my tactic and I hope I can explain my ideas. Finally, I want to say all tactics, systems and line ups can work if certain conditions can be met. And line ups can change because line ups are not important. The important thing is ideas and know how to apply them. If you know how you can narrow the area and expand the area, if you want to use 10-0-0 formation you can win any match.