3-5-2 // 3-4-1-2

[Bahumat]

Hi all,

How comes there are no formations with 3 defenders? I've always loved 3 CB's and then eith 2DMF or 2MC or 1DMF+1MC. I've have a little play around but didn't do too well as every computer controlled club play that annoying Chelsea/Barcelona formation :-(

aaaaaaagggggessss ago i remember in one of the game editor programs it told you what formations the club prefer. I don't know if this somehow affects the way your trainers train the players, or if it even matters?

 

[ChrisMorgan]

Where is the problem exactly?

Dont you create your own tactics? :S

 

[Druggan]

people dont use or create these tactics because it makes it sooooo easy to attack your team down the wings...

often teams will just resort to playing down one wing because either way you're weak to it...

 

[Div_Muzza]

3-5-2 is an old tactics used when football was mostly about scoring more that you concede and is rarely used today. However Martin O'Neil used this sucesfully with Celtic.

--------FC--------FC-------
-------------AM-------------
---------CM-----CM---------
---WB-----------------WB---
-------CB----CB----CB-------
--------------GK-------------

 

[Bahumat]

Where is the problem exactly?

Dont you create your own tactics? :S

lol calm down!

Reason I asked was because I did a search and there were no 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 formations and I wanted to know if most people preferred 4 at the back, or if like Druggan mentioned, it leaves you too far exposed down the wings.

Am happy for a mod to close this thread if need be?

 

[Zebedee]

Against teams which play 2 out and out strikers, 3 at the back can work very well. But...

I only tend to manage at the very lower end of the English game to start off with, and players there struggle to play 4-4-2, let alone 3-5-2 as their positional awareness is far too low to play it effectively (in my opinion... although I'm sure given enough time, you can get it working successfully). So for me 3-5-2 is problematic practically. In addition, you need good for level wingbacks and they are rare enough to find at any level. Without those two key players, you'll consistently lack width and also get caught out down the wings.

At the top level, you'll rarely see teams playing 2 out and out strikers. One of the strikers will be dropping deep - if your manmarker follows, then a hole develops down one of the channels which you have to hope the zonal cover gets to before the opposition exploits it. In the English game, that space is one of the first areas a team will look to hit. Equally, at the top level, teams will deploy more flexible tactics than a classical 4-4-2 - 4-2-3-1 is a fairly common example. Do you really want three players marking one striker while your wingbacks are being overlapped?

I still think a good 3-5-2 can be very effective in certain situations or against specific opposition (Benitez trains Liverpool in how to play 3-5-2 in case it is needed - match against Portsmouth away was a good example of how he deployed it when needed), but as a general way of playing it was obselete in the late 90s, let alone in 2009.

 

[glasgowcelticwing]

I use 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 quite alot with my Celtic team cause I like to flood my midfield and control the tempo of the game this way. Although more recently I've found myself use the 3-4-3 tact more and more and have got it down pretty good that I usually score at least 4 goals a game.

 

[Zebedee]

How does 3-5-2 work in Europe for you glasgowcelticwing? Interested but not surprised it works well in Scotland for one of the Old Firm, but is it successful against the better European sides too?

 

[glasgowcelticwing]

How does 3-5-2 work in Europe for you glasgowcelticwing? Interested but not surprised it works well in Scotland for one of the Old Firm, but is it successful against the better European sides too?

It actually works pretty well for me.

Artur Boruc GK

Gary Caldwell RCB
Stephen McManus CB
Darren O'Dea LCB

Davide Santon RW
Aidan McGeady LW
Scott Brown RCM
Mirel Radoi LCM

Stephen Fletcher RCF
Krisztian Nemeth CF
Oscar Cardozo LCF

The way I set my team out is that I play Radoi as a midfielder who tracks back which is pretty easy for him cause he's defensive minded. My defense plays the offside trap so they step up quite alot which seems to work cause I catch alot of teams out like this. I've got Santon as my RW but he covers alot of area down the RW and like the rest of my team I've got them set to man marking so my wingers cover their man. I have McGeady down as my LW but I also have Lewis Stevenson who I signed from Hibs, he's a very good young player who can do the exact same as Santon except down the left. My RCM is a position that I have 3 very good players in which I change around regularly so they don't get tired too fast and this is key cause he is the midfield linchpin in my team who links defense to attack. Scott Brown, Luigi Bruins and James McCarthy are great players doing this job although I seem to be starting mostly with McCarthy mostly because he's playing best outta the 3. Now my 3 fowards. I love playing with 3 forwards. It took me a while to perfect this system cause I used to always sign two little speedy strikers and one big target man which frustrated me alot cause it didn't work all the time so i tried something different and now play with the 2 big guys being centred by the little sppedy player which is working fantastic. Nemeth has scored 8 goals in the past 4 games and Cardozo is a beast and is excellent at bullying the opposing teams defenders (kind of like what John Hartson used to do Irl (H)). I play this system in both the SPL and in the Champions league and it works in both competitions pretty good, the only thing is that I change the teams approach a little more and turn down the teams attack mindedness and put them to time waste a lil more too when playing in Europe.

 

[Zebedee]

3-4-3 is an excellent system for teams able to play it. Thanks for explaining how you set it up to get success - appreciated