BUTCH3R

Perhaps my biggest angst with the tactical framework of the Football Manager series has always been its over adherence to convention and over-emphasis on orthodoxy.

...Grandiose grandiloquence, or is there wisdom behind such weighty words?

..."Its not rocket science" was the colloquial rant from a manager bemoaning his sides inability to pair ball and back of the net. Such a simplicity understates the science behind the beautiful game. Akin to the great tactical minds of past and present, i consider football to be a proxy to tactic and strategy. From the Allardyce's to Joszef Venglos' many managers have written a blueprint boasting numbers, statistic and equations...and it was through the employment of such theories that i was able to begin my quest to disspell the 3-4-3 Myth.

...Ok, thats enough of my JK Rowlin rendition, now for the meat on the bone. I've perused many a forum, and read many a dmaning report regarding the 3-4-3, yet none overpowered the impression forged in my mind through personal experience.

...A few seasons back i went to watch a family friend play for Arsenal under 19's in a youth tournament in Germany. Cruyff turns aplenty, enough lollipos as Big(ot) Ron called them, to put Chup-a-Chups out of business, yet the most resounding image was the efficiency of the 3-4-3 deployed by one of the Swiss teams.

...The defence man-marked their opposite numbers, the midfield was driven and defensive, and the frontline, expansive, using all the width of the park.

...The space down the flanks, so often described as the achilles heel to the 3-4-3 was left claustrophobic through the brilliance of this tactic. The wide midfielders held their positions, switched play and bombarded the front 3 with crosses. As a result the opposing fullbax were pinned back, the midfield was now a 4 vs 4 contest amd the defending 3 had numerical advantage over the 2 centreforwards.

...It was an education to watch, and an inspiration behind my quest to recreate this motif.

http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?i...3resultoo2.png


Shot at 2007-08-18


Shot at 2007-08-18

http://img299.imageshack.us/my.php?i...result2gf1.png



1-nil down at half-time, courtesy of having loaded up the wrong formation,i quickly addressed the issue...The layout was the same, but instructions different and...from that point on, it just a case of sitting back and enjoying the spectacle, as i had done oh so many summers ago in Germany!

Its not yet ready for upload. Though i've had ample success with the likes of Tottenham and Newcastle playing this system, and am currently 14 unbeaten with Liverpool, thats not enough proof of the sweetness of this pudding.

So whats the point of this post? To encourage you guys to reconsider your stance on the 3-4-3, it does require alot of groundwork, but ins't that the joy of simulated management?

LorDJm

i never had a 343 working in my life, i was closest to it working with rashidi's advice but still couldnt create a tactic sound enough at the back.

I couldnt get the settings with the back 3 and the midfielders to work. Im looking forward to you uploading this and hopefully, my plea for the 3-4-3 is finally over. Have you read some of Rashidi's ( he's the master of this formation ) threads bout the 343? It might add some thoughts into your current tactic.

BUTCH3R

Author of Scramjet, i've read many of his posts with interest. Still plugging away with this tactic...still unbeaten, but funnily enough, i designed this tactic with the intention of gettig the most out of Peter Crouch, and he's been far from impressive. Agbonlahor on the other hand, seems to flourish as the target man running on to through-balls!

mitjabarbic

i play similar to u but i play with 3 central defenders and left and right DCs also go forward make passes and crosses when attacking.

my midfield is different from yours as i play with 2 central mids who are good in creating game and in defence(one of them is more defensive).

then i play with 3 very attacking minded AML, AMR and AMC who make chances for strikers and can also score.
my two strikers are both very fast and can also create chances by themselve.

so i play 3-2-3-2 formation..

do u play strikers together or do u have a FL and FR?

LorDJm

The pictures are a wee bit too small though
so teh target man in the middle is an important player to the formation then, how's your defence been doing? Do you find it stands on itself without having a DMC to protect the defence?

Cereal_Dave

i was thinking of trying a 3-4-3 in a game soon. i played a game in Italy a while ago and some teams used it against me, and their attack really annoyed me with the movement and pace! it generally seemed to use the whole pitch and passed it well, defence wasnt too shabby either. thats why i thought id give it a try. probably wait till i start a new game or decide to manage a new team in my current game

moggydave

I'd love to put together a 3-4-3, I just feel it requires very specific types of players, notably:

-"Wingers" (since they can't be in the traditional sense wingers) who will defend also and have good work rate.
-Strikers (the left and right ones) who have good crossing perhaps and can also play like wingers (like Babel, Reyes, Bojinov). These arn't common.
-Excellent Centre backs with good teamwork, pace, anticipation, positioning and the like.

This goes alongside the fact that it is a naturally attacking formation hence you would do it with a big team with good players, and probably a good budget to get the right sorts of players.

I will do it in my next game I think once I get bored with my Blackburn game, or if I do well with Blackburn I may revert to 3-4-3. Maybe even next season....

BUTCH3R

Still plugging away with the 3-4-3. My observations may help those of you who've struggled to impliment such an approach.

...The vulnerability of this system has always been its apparent weakness down the flanks. Wingers often themselves with too much space to know what to do with as a consequence of the 3 centrehalves and no fullbax.

...I've tried to combat this weakness by assigning man-markers to, what is usually 2 opposings strikers. Depending on the quality of the man-marker, that should keep the strikers in check.

...The wingbax/wingers are set to operate in fullback fashion. Crosses are made from deep positions, forward runs are restricted, passing is direct and closing down, set accordingly. In addition to this the arrows insisting they track back to the fullback positions, means they follow the runs of their opposite numbers. Closing down is important in this instance. Set to "Often" and you'll see these guys hurl themslves in, studs up at the first opprtunity, and ultimately go sprawling off the field as the fleet-footed winger jinks past them.

...I've found low-mixed to be useful in this instance. My wingers dont dive into challenges, instead they fall back into a 5-man defensive line, then apply pressure to the opposing wingers. With the strikers man-marked, and a defender covering, i've found this defensive ploy to be particular successful.

...the direct style, fast-tempo has your team rushing the ball forward. The 3 strikers always offer you options in the opponents half of the pitch, whilst the midfield pairing is set so that one collects the ball of the defence, whilst the other makes careful and calcuated runs from deep.

...It still needs tweeking, but the promise is there. Those would be entrepreneurs of the 3-4-3 approach, hopefully the above will assist your efforts. It would be interesting to hear of your own observations with regards to this formation.

LorDJm

Do you find that the opponents pick passes and play through balls right behind your wingers? I always find them happening and I can't combat them.

I see you have a defensive lime of 5, will that help?