Football Formations: Part 1 – ‘The 4-3-3 formation – Imminent or Flashy?’
Gone are the days when football was merely played in a solid rigid setup. Gone is the period when preaching stability in the form of a 4-4-2 meant an insurance policy against pretty much anything the opposition could throw at a team. These ever changing times require clubs to be quicker, agile, intelligent, and in some cases, even ‘good looking’ – it is the era of the 4-3-3.
The 4-3-3 proves to be a more attacking option. The setup hosts four defenders at the back, three midfielders and three front men to spearhead the attack.
The formation is reputed to encourage a high tempo of play, often seeing the three strikers linking up with the midfield players. Noticeably, teams like Barcelona and Arsenal have seen the dynamics offered by the system to go down well with their ‘one touch’ passing philosophies.
In order to better explain the system, using a team like Arsenal as a model would be a good example. Presently, Arsenal is known to employ a striker in the form of Robin van Persie or Marouane Chamakh in the middle of the front three – the centre forward role to be precise. Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin plays on the left as a left striker or a left sided wing forward. The right side features either the likes of Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Emanuel Eboue or Tomas Rosicky; depending on fitness and tactics. The three central positions are most commonly occupied with Cesc Fabregas taking an advanced position, possibly a central attacking midfield role or as a playmaker. The likes of Abou Diaby play to maintain possession in the centre and Alex Song sits back to shield the back four in a defensive midfielder capacity. The back four features Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny at the heart of the defense while Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna make up the left and right full back positions respectively. Both fullbacks often join up in the attack with their overlapping runs.
For evaluation purposes, a rigid, on paper picture of Arsenal’s 2009-2010 season formation would feature something like this:
Arshavin – Van Persie – Walcott/Nasri
Diaby – Fabregas – Song
Clichy – Vermaelen – Gallas – Sagna
Almunia
The diagrammatic interpretation seems misleading as it is with respect to the on paper specification of a regular 4-3-3. This covers another valid point that while a formation on paper might suggest a one dimensional front, the real world application requires a far flexible approach.
The real world Arsenal formation would appear something a lot similar to this:
--Van Persie--
--Arshavin-- --Walcott/Nasri--
--Fabregas--
--Diaby--
--Song--
Clichy – Vermaelen – Gallas – Sagna
--Almunia--
This system paid dividends as Arsenal were leading goal scorers for the better part of last season. The central striker’s role was to hold the ball up the field, so as to enable link up play thanks to forward runs from midfield. Andrei Arshavin on the left had license to cut in and have a shot on goal. Theo Walcott/Samir Nasri on the right side offered constant penetration in the final third with either intelligent runs or low crosses.
The midfield saw Fabregas in a much more advanced position than the role offered by the previous 4-4-2. The Spaniard reached his highest tally of goals since he joined Arsenal, scoring 15 in the league and 4 in the Champions League; extremely impressive for a midfield player.
To ensure ample freedom of Fabregas, the likes of Abou Diaby or Denilson are employed to hold the midfield line and to be available whenever a counterattack is on the horizon. Alex Song not only adds more steel to the midfield, but also looks after the back four. Following runs from full back positions, the defensive midfield player is quick to slot in and retain a solid structure at the back. Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna are often called up to bomb on in advanced wide positions and cross the ball in for forward players in the box to attack.
To be continued
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