3-4-3

Barcelona now play with a 3-4-3, and this has already been picked up by other teams, like Wigan for instance. Is this something we ought to consider? What exactly does a 3-4-3 involve, and what does it sacrifice? What could our line-up possibly look like with a 3-4-3, and what kind of players would we need to pick-up/offload to play it? Ultimately, is it something we should consider as a Plan B, or a possible Plan A?

Enlighten me chaps.

Think we'd need more hard working wide players, kind of like Benayoun with end product.

In a 3-43 you don't really need a playmaker.. no one 'in the hole'. We would need two wing backs : they should be good both at defending and attacking.
A possible line up would be :

------kos - per - verm -------

sagna - song - arteta - santos

theo -------rvp ----- podolski

I think this formation would work very well agaisnt a 4-4-2, as the 2 striker will be marked by Kos and Verm let's say, thus leaving Per alone. The wingers would be marked by sagna/santos.

I for one would be very happy at that formation...
I also think the days of almost every team in the prem turning out a 4-4-2 are long gone...
When we played in the days of the unbeaten it worked and worked well because every position on the pitch was covered by players that was the perfect position and not only that we had players that were much more then just said positions ie henry used to be on the wing and so on with others...more adaptable so to say...as were now we have players that seam fit for just a said role....hopefully Wenger can bring in some more multi rolled players..

Al this said I believe for one watching us play with 3 at the back we tend to defend better..

Less is more at the moment and so it would seam that as pointed out Wigan have done so and very well....this is due to so many reasons it would take all week to explain but I am sure you all understand....

Our formation hasn't really been a problem, just lack little quality and took a barrage of defensive injuries. No need to change something that isn't broke.

ralph avedikian wrote:In a 3-43 you don't really need a playmaker.. no one 'in the hole'. We would need two wing backs : they should be good both at defending and attacking.
A possible line up would be :

------kos - per - verm -------

sagna - song - arteta - santos

theo -------rvp ----- podolski

I think this formation would work very well agaisnt a 4-4-2, as the 2 striker will be marked by Kos and Verm let's say, thus leaving Per alone. The wingers would be marked by sagna/santos.

come to think of it, it could suit our players very well. Kos and Vermaelen both can play at RB and LB respectively. Hence, if Sagna/Santos are caught upfield when we lose the ball(which will surely happen number of times during a season), they could respectively cover up on the flank with Song dropping in the middle to form a back four. Easier said than done, this requires a lot of communication at the back.

Whats wrong with our formation?

Evan Mullins wrote:Whats wrong with our formation?

good question. But it can't be denied we're too predictable and out numbered inside the opposition box at times with the wide players having more defensive roles than they'd have in a 343 setup.

Scoring goals has not been a huge problem this year

I know. But how does a team concede goals? When the opposition is let off the hook and can go forward in numbers(most of the times). When you have 3 players constantly pinning the opposition backline, the whole team drops back, and when they do finally get the ball, they can't break forward as a compact unit. As they say, attack is the best form of defence, this will hence also minimise the number of opportunities opponents can create against us.

Evan Mullins wrote:Whats wrong with our formation?

It's not that there is something blatantly wrong with it, it's that sometimes players don't suit the position they play in (ramsey in the hole, verm at left back, maybe wilshere in an attacking position in the future). It would be a decent enough plan B if we're stuck in a game, espcially given that we have no plan B.

I think at times we almost already play 3-4-3.

The way Barca do it, is by pushing Alves from right back into midfield.

We do this with Santos, who hardly defends, and leaves Sagna-Kos-TV a the back.

ralph avedikian wrote:In a 3-43 you don't really need a playmaker.. no one 'in the hole'. We would need two wing backs : they should be good both at defending and attacking.
A possible line up would be :

------kos - per - verm -------

sagna - song - arteta - santos

theo -------rvp ----- podolski

I think this formation would work very well agaisnt a 4-4-2, as the 2 striker will be marked by Kos and Verm let's say, thus leaving Per alone. The wingers would be marked by sagna/santos.

This is not entirely true. You are right in that we would need two wingbacks. But i think a playmaker, or at least someone who can operate in the space behind attack and midfield is necessary.

The 3-4-3 you have described in the post is more of the system Napoli play. Arsenal do not have the personnel to carry this out. Napoli play with two outside wingbacks (usually Maggio on the right and either one of Zuniga or some other chap, forgot his name, on the left). they are both hard workers who get up and down the pitch for 90 minutes providing width in possession and dropping into a back 5 without the ball. We have no one on the squad who can play as a wingback with the required workrate. Hamsik isnt a true playmaker, but he does tuck into the 'hole' behind Lavezzi and Cavani to pick up the ball when Napoli break. There are certain nuances to the formation required for it to work in this day and age. In addition, the Premiership would absolutely not be suited to a side playing this way. We would see waaay less of the ball than we are used to. Napoli play on the break almost exclusively.

Barcelona play a 3-4-3 in theory, but the way they do it is beyond conventional. Simply put, they have this guy named Messi on their team, along with Xavi and Iniesta, and another bloke named Fabregas or something like that....anyway their team of CM's with PhD's in total football (Busquets especially is key to their game) allow them to play very Barca like in the 3-4-3. But it wasnt unitl really the latter half of this season Pep began to play the formation away from home. The loss of their only true striker in Villa really forced his hand into it.

In short, no....the 3-4-3 with the team we have now would be a failure in the formation.

roma do play this formation. just that roma's is more 2-5-3. where de rossi will be playing as a deep lying playmaker, and sometimes dropping back as a DC. this formation wouldn't work in BPL i feel. 1 long ball in to the box, and 1 'drogba' bashing through or 'torres' with his pace will break this formation.

even if arsenal play 3-4-3 or something similar, they need a playmaker, who can play the ball from the back, like de rossi, xabi alonso, busquet or even pirlo. while song is important to arsenal, he is nowhere near any of them as a deep lying playmaker.

and if like what you guys suggest, playing 3 df, with kos, mert and verm, mert will be playing as sweeper and the defend line will have to drop deep. usually when teams play 3-4-3(offensive), the df in the middle, will be more of ball player, like de rossi or busquet like i mentioned before with the df line pushing up high and pressing.