How Different Managers Use the 3-4-2-1 | 3-4-2-1 Tactics Explained | Strengths & Weaknesses

in a recent video we took an in-depth look at the most used formations in Europe's top five leagues and one formation that stood out from the rest was the 3-4-2-1 so far this season 21 different teams have used this lineup making it one of the most popular choices for managers with a 52 win rate of 1.6 goals per game there's a reason why Antonio Conte Spurs Jose mourinho's Roma and Christopher galtier's PSG are all using this lineup for what makes it so special well in today's video we're going to be taking a look at the main tactics behind this formation and what makes it one of the most versatile lineups a manager can choose thank you so much to everyone who signed up to my patreon if you want access to the formation database with information on all formations used in Europe's top five leagues then click the link in the description down below the 3421 is a slight variation on the 343 whose origin can be placed back to the 1930s with Vittorio pozzo in Italy and Herbert Chapman in England but it wasn't until Johan cruyff's Total Football that the formation started to gain some serious Traction in recent years the 3421 has been used by many successful teams including Thomas tukel's Champions League winning Chelsea side Lucian favors Borussia Dolmen in 2018 or Antonio Conte's inter alternating this lineup with the 352 in their Serie art winning season so with the history out of the way let's take a look at the main structure and player responsibilities in the 3-4-2-1 the 3421 features one goalkeeper three Defenders two Center mids two Wing backs two inside forwards and one Striker as with all modern systems the goalkeeper will need to be great with his feet the 3421 is a formation that can quickly create overloads out wide so he must be able to pick out the wing backs with a dinked pass but also short passes to get the move going psg's Donna rumor is a perfect example of this with great short and long pass accuracy while also being a fantastic shot stopper the three center-backs are the foundation of this formation they will need to be strong physically but will also need to have the ability of breaking pressing lights either by carrying the ball forward into Midfield or with a key pass into the center the middle Center back will need to provide cover if the wide center-backs push up however his more Central position allows him to better dictate play and decide which side to move them an excellent example is Chelsea's back three of kulibali Thiago Silva and fafana Silva sits deeper than the other two allowing them to hold a position in the half space attempting to pick take out the wing back Center mid or inside forward Silver's more Central position means it's his choice which side the team want to move down and can quickly pick out the offensive set of players with a ball over the top all stats in this video are brought to you by soccerman an in-depth player and team analysis platform the link is in the description down below next up the two Center mids are crucial both during build up and for adding support in attack their positioning must be coordinated with one moving forward the other will sit and cover they will need to have excellent link up play especially with the wing backs and inside forwards and will often find themselves on the edge of the box so having a decent shot will also be a huge bonus a perfect example is atalanta's Dutch Midfield Duo of cup Miners and daroon Court miners is currently atalanta's top scorer with a number of goals coming from long range efforts with delayed runs onto the edge of the Box while daroon is used in a slightly more defensive position excellent at stopping the opposition's counter-attacks but also great a dictating build up and breaking the first line next up the wingbacks are the main provider of width for the team they will be required to defend an attack consistently and have excellent delivery into the box against tougher opponents they will shift alongside the back three to form a back five an attempt to cover the space out wide a great example is psg's Hakimi and Mendes with three goals and three assists between them so far this season they rank as some of the highest in League art for Progressive passes and always create an issue for the defense giving width to psg's attack and linking up well with the incredible front 3 of Messi and Bape and Neymar next up the two inside forwards are where this formation creates the most of its chances their positioning is often in between the defense and Midfield lines and so will need to be excellent at receiving the ball on the turn to immediately attack the back line they can be used to add width switching the formation into a 343 or can add Central support and link up with the striker finally the lone Striker is the focal point for this formation he will need to have excellent Hold Up play and the ability ability to control the ball under pressure and Lay It Off to the two inside forwards it's common for the striker in this lineup to act as a false nine link up play in the center with the inside forwards occupying the space he's vacated Tottenham hotspur's front three of son kulusevsky and Kane are players that understand these roles perfectly son and kulusevsky's incredible technical ability and Pace means they can receive the ball in tight spaces and immediately attack the back line to either shoot from distance or feed the ball into King while Kane's heat map shows us how much space he covers on the pitch but is always present in the Box to meet any through balls and Crosses as a whole it's a formation that creates a lot of passing lanes for the whole team with two diamond shapes out wide and a tight triangle between the front three on the attack it can quickly overload the backline with five offensive players with the two Center mids on the edge of the box to shoot or rotate possession transforming the formation into a 3-2-5 while defensively the compact pentagon shape in the center means it often forces play out wide where the wing backs can close down any potential threats and the formation can Retreat into a solid 541 system so it's a formation that can quickly get the upper hand if well executed and the players mentioned earlier are all key players in their respective system with each one doing exactly what is asked of them so what makes this formation so popular well simply by taking a look at the build up patterns we can see the amount of Freedom it gives managers let's take a look when building from the back we can instantly see some important differences between managers that use this system galtier's PSG tend to have only one Center mid help during build up forming an extremely wide diamond shape at the back that allows the team to always have Outlet options this means the other midfielder and Wing backs form another line of three while the front three sit on the back line in a more narrow shape this instantly creates issues for the opposition if the ball moves directly out to the wing backs the opposition fullbacks will need to make a choice as if they move over to cover it could free up space for Messi or Neymar if the opposition presses too high then a dinged pass in Midfield means the team usually has one midfielder completely free however other managers such as Graham Potters Chelsea have a different approach to their first setup with both midfielders staying in support and the wing backs out wide this 3-4 shape means there are triangles across the whole width of the pitch which creates easy passing Lanes but the true Advantage comes when you factor in both inside forwards as well this creates a diamond shape on both flanks giving the wide center-back plenty of options for moving the ball forward the opposition could choose to close down each player and Man mark but this gets tricky with aubameyang also dropping off the back line to create a 5v4 situation to stop this teams often find themselves committing a lot of players to the press and try and force Chelsea into a tight spot but their ability to quickly rotate to the other flanked plays into Chelsea's favor as now they have the extremely dangerous Rhys James able to push up on the flank finally some teams in Italy such as Jose mourinho's Roma or gasparini's Atalanta have an even more unique approach to their build up while they start as a back 3 they will shift into a backfall which can be formed in many different ways with Atalanta It's usually the right wingback hatterboya who pushes up on the flank where the team will try and move the ball into this area and create a quick overload while with Roma Chris Smalling usually steps into the center alongside cristante allowing Matic to pick up a position between the lines and act as support to the front three this means a quick ball over the top could instantly create a lot of issues for the opposition so as we can see the 3421 is an extremely versatile formation and allows managers to freely Express themselves during build up but it's when entering the opposition's half that this formation allows a team to create chances from all over the pitch in the opposition's half the 3421 could quickly gain control of the pitch and box in the opposition having the two wide center-backs in the half space means that there's a lot of channels the opposition need to cover it's also here where we can see the main influence of the two inside forwards their positioning between the lines and in the half spaces is a very tricky one to stop and can lead the opposition in two minds made even worse if the wing backs push up creating a front five that can quickly disrupt the defensive block there's a number of teams that may use a different starting lineup but will often resort to a 3-4-2-1 when in possession a good example is Chavis Barcelona Who start as a 433 but with bus gets dropping between the center-backs the formation is more resemblant of a 3-4-2-1 with the Wingers moving inside and freeing up the flanks for the fullbacks one way this system exploits gaps is with the coordinated movements of the two inside forwards for example let's say the ball is in possession of the right center-back the inside forward could move into this space between the lines freeing up the flank for the wing back the striker moves over to the center-back on the side of the ball allowing the other inside forward to push up if the ball moves into the inside forward the center-back can't step out given the striker then being free and if the fullback pushes up it frees the flank for the wing back to cross into the box where the other inside forward is present it's for this reason that the inside forwards must have the ability to control the ball into space to immediately attack the back line these overloads outwide are one of the main threats of this formation and the 3421 can very quickly create gaps in behind the opposition's fallback one way of creating even more pressure outwired comes through one of the center mids by moving out onto the flank it allows the wing back to gain even more ground and now the team has four players out wide where they can choose to play it down the outside into the inside forward or directly into the striker Now teams that come up against the three four two one are often very aware of these wide overloads and will often switch to a back five to stop any runs into the half space however this means there's more space in Midfield which is often exploited by the striker acting as a false nine dropping off the defensive line receiving the pass and moving the ball forward this is something spurs's Harry Kane does incredibly well dropping off the back line dragging a center-back out of position and freeing up space for son and kulusevski to move centrally with son and kuliseski moving centrally this creates space out wide for the wingbacks that Kane can chip the ball into before making a darting run into the box to finish off the move once the team enters the final third this formation can resemble a 3-2-5 or even a 145 with the two wide center-backs playing in line with the Midfield if well executed it can be incredibly challenging for the opposition to gain ground as the two Center mids and three center-backs mean they can cover any runs outside the box and regain possession now while this formation is an excellent choice for attacking minded teams there's a reason why it has one of the best defensive records in Europe with only 1.23 goals conceded per 90. so let's take a look at some of its defensive principles from opposition goal kicks managers that use the 3421 have a lot of options available to them when starting the play against the back four one of the inside forwards could push up with the striker with the other covering the fullback allowing one of the wing backs to cover the other fullback and One Wing back to form a back four alternatively against the back three the team can quickly match up man for man and immediately apply pressure the inherent structure of the 3421 forms a pentagon shape in the center which is difficult for the opposition to move through and once the first pass is made the striker can close off a back pass and the team can force the opposition into a tight spot near the touchline if the opposition is able to beat the press and moves into the defensive half this formation can quickly cover all the dangerous Spaces by switching into a back five with the inside forwards forming a Midfield four and the striker staying up top for any potential transitions this 541 shape provides plenty of central cover and Forces teams out wide where the team can effectively double up on the Wingers with the wing back and inside forwards closing off the space so on paper this is one of the most dangerous formations a team can choose to play but it does require a lot of talented players and an incredible work rate from every player on the pitch to ensure that there's no gaps the opposition can exploit so let's take a look at some of the main weaknesses of this formation firstly it's a lineup that can often find itself struggling against a low defensive block given the number of players on the back line it often results in teams sitting in a load block and stopping any crosses or passes that come into the center although it has five players on the defensive line it can often find itself rotating the ball on the edge of the box with no player finding space to make the play for this formation to be the most dangerous it requires the team to move quickly and vertically and not allow the team to get set up next up it's a formation that can deal with counter-attacks relatively easily given the three-man defense but where it can struggle is with switches in play as it's a formation that likes to have players in close proximity to have easier passing Lanes if the opposition quickly moves the ball to the other flank it can be exposed as the wingback could find himself in a numerical disadvantage similarly if the wingbacks are not defensive minded enough and struggle to make it back into the defensive line in time teams will often look to exploit the space out wide either side of the center-backs before delivering a ball into the box as with all formations it requires the whole team to constantly work together and a single player not tracking back could leave gaps for the opposition and there you have it the recent success of this formation has meant it's become one of the most popular choices for managers and its popularity seems to be only increasing over the years but what do you think of the 3421 let me know in the comments down below finally now you're up to date on all the main team tactics why not check out this video to improve your individual tactics and make you a better team player as always if you enjoyed this content then please leave a like And subscribe for more thanks for watching

Channel: Football Meta

Views: 134,737

Keywords: 3421 Tactics, 343 tactics, conte 3421, gasperini 3421, mourinho 3421, tuchel 3421, favre 3421, 343 football, soccer 343 formation, 3421 formation advantages, 3421 formation weaknesses

Id: GRXb2GEa1aQ

Length: 13min 57sec (837 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 28 2022