yolesthere is a reason why all the major european teams are playing with 4 man back, it's becouse the 3 man diffence isn't effective against 4-3-3. But Mexico, Uruguay, Chile and New Zeland find this formation realy useful against 4-4-2 formation. The man disadvantage of 3-5-2 is that the opposing fullbacks have a lot of space to attack but with 3 man attack there are two wingers cover them. Plus we (the europeans) are observing the formation in horizontal manner. for example our way of seeing the formations on the pic is 3v2 in difence, 4v4 in midfield and 3v4 in attack. But it's obvious that the perception on this teams coaches is vertical. So if you are observing the formation in that way you'll got 3v2 on both side.You could use this to spread your players wide and attack throw the sides.

20.06.2010

nvrI liked your columns. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. If a team intends to play a pure 3-4-3 at the top level, this the picture they'll get.
The thing is all of the so called 3-4-3s are actually 5-4-1s in disguise, in which the flanks push up every now and then.

22.06.2010

FeriAtsI am looking forward to Chile v Spain game to watch how far the 3-4-3 fares against a stronger European team. Bielsa has been getting a lot of praise recently and this will be like a real strest test for him.

24.06.2010

SpaceGhost3-4-3 is great in possession, but it almost has to morph into something else in defense. As NVR points out, this is often 5-4-1, but doesn't have to be.

The way that teams like Barca and Brazil bring a holding mid back to form a back 3 while pushing the fullbacks on to morph from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3 is the ideal way to do it. Not just because you can over man the flanks, but because it breaks down a high press. If an opposing CM follows the dropping holding mid to cut out the passing option, and the wingers are following the fullbacks moving into depth, then a 4-3-3 gets converted to a 4-4-2 and you have the diagram above.

This is what Mexico were doing at times with Marquez.

30.06.2010