Is 3-5-2/3-4-3 the new 4-3-3 in football?
In the past season or so, there has been a new trend around multiple clubs in Europe and in the Premier League. The new trend is line up in a 3-5-2 formation, especially with two high-flying full backs and a defensive midfielder effectively act as a fourth centre-back. It’s fascinating watching clubs try and adapt to this new system, like they did with 4-3-3 when the Netherlands and Ajax perfected it using Total Football and more recently with Spain and Barcelona with Tika-Taka football in the late 2000s – early 2010s.
Those two formations were trendy when they were played and are still quite popular and effective now, but the 3-4-3/3-5-2 systems are all the rage now, and why shouldn’t they be?
For this article I will focus particularly on the top two clubs in the English Premier League last season and two teams who used the 3-5-2/3-4-3 formation to good effect, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. The two teams at some point in the season changed their system to accommodate the three-at-the-back system and it paid off, with Chelsea starting much further in time ahead of Spurs.
Chelsea’s manager Antonio Conte had used the formation previously during his successful spell with Italian giants, Juventus (who still use the formation as well, too much success) and just needed the right time to implement it into his new Chelsea side. All it took was an embarrassing defeat away at Arsenal to push Conte into changing things.
The change in system was a breath of fresh air from the team as it brought the best out of everyone. The back three allowed David Luiz to play with a bit more freedom, preventing him making defensive mistakes, which made him so famous during his first spell at the club. The two wingbacks, Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses, may not be the most glorious on paper, but the 3-5-2/3-4-3 system allowed them to affectively play as wingers, hiding their defensive frailties.
As for the midfielders, the duo of N’Golo Kanté and Nemanja Matic gave the wingbacks license to roam forward, as well as freeing up the likes of Pedro and Eden Hazard further forward.
In a nutshell, the 3-5-2/3-4-3 formation is trendy now because it works. At least, it works when you have a manager who understands it and players who can play well in it. Chelsea had a manager who perfected it and he re-laid his ideas to his squad. Much like Mauricio Pochettino did with his Tottenham side.
Like Chelsea, Spurs had the perfect players for the system but some would argue that they actually played better than the Blues using it. Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Eric Dier were perfect as a back three as well as Kyle Walker and Danny Rose being arguably the two most affective wing backs/ full backs in the league. Victor Wanyama and Moussa Dembele gave them the solidity and creativity in a deeper position, and Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Heung-Min Son having incredible, fluid movement behind the prolific Harry Kane.
All of this meant that with a 3-4-3/3-5-2 formation, Tottenham were a handful. At times, they were unplayable and it all fed the trend that is 3-5-2/3-4-3. Clubs wanted a slice of the pie that Spurs and Chelsea were eating from, even playing it when they didn’t have the players to suit it.
Having two up top now is so effective because defenders are no longer trained for dealing with two strikers, just the solitary front man. Also, with a back three, that issue of how many strikers to deal with is irrelevant because two can pick up a man each, leaving one to pick up on second balls or anyone who is around. It’s perfect!
However, you do get the feeling that with time the trend will move away from the 3-5-2/3-4-3 and on to something else because that’s what football is like. Maybe the next trend will be a false nine, a 4-5-1 formation or even a traditional 4-3-3?
We will now start to see more and more managers adopting this system. Even the notoriously stubborn Arsene Wenger has changed to 3-4-3 and it just happened to coincide with an upturn in fortunes that saw the Gunners lift the FA Cup against, ironically, Chelsea. It’s a fast system, a clever and effective one, so why wouldn’t more managers use it?
Just look at how the Dutch revolutionised football from the 1970s even until this day. You can see the Dutch influence in Conte’s and Pochettino’s sides and maybe this is why 3-4-3/3-5-2 works so well.
Is it becoming the new 4-3-3? Of course, because it has worked with teams using it to great success. The sport of football is fickle enough to complete overhaul a system or way of thinking simply because it’s trendy and worked for one or two sides. Nevertheless, 3-5-2/3-4-3 is the way forward…for now.