Welcome back to another exciting week of quality Soccermanager content lads! We’re on a bit of a posting streak as today will make it 8 days of posting on the bounce! What better way of keeping the momentum going by bringing you lot our new mini series looking into some interesting formations that you’ll be eager to give a try as soon as you can. The beauty about SM23 is that it gives us the freedom to move players around in different areas on the pitch which helps us to be more creative with our formational set up. As the proud producer of quality soccermanager information, I have decided to go over 5 very interesting formations that have the potential to help you on your journey towards becoming the very best manager that you can be!
We will tackle one formation each day, as well as breaking down the important fundamentals of each area on the pitch which includes the player roles that will be necessary to get the most balance from every formation, and the players you have within your Starting X1 and bench.
Let’s start off by looking at our first custom formation:
A very interesting formation indeed, the 3-2-5 is a great set up which provides the possibility for attacking football with the safety of knowing that there is a solid defensive structure which can handle any counter attacks from the opposition. It is normally a formation that is considered “transitional” since most teams start off in one formation (let’s say a 4-2-3-1B for example) and then transition into the 3-2-5 when they are in possession. I am here to show you how to use this formation effectively from minute 1 in order to dominate a match.
Firstly, let’s take a look at the player roles that best suit the 3-2-5:
GOALKEEPER AND DEFENDERS
To start things off on the ball, we’ll need to operate with a Modern Keeper for this formation since we want our quartet to form something like a diamond in order to maintain possession against any opposition press
For the back 3, it is ABSOLUTELY imperative that we have the RCB and LCB operating as either Ball-playing Defenders or as General Defenders who are decent on the ball since these 2 players will be the ones who are actively getting majority of the ball within the deep regions on the pitch( the Central of the 3 can be any role of your choice, but I would suggest that you go with a Stopper). Additionally, it is better that your RCB and LCB have decent pace since they will be taking on opposition wide players when your team is on the defensive transition:
MIDFIELDERS
No matter the formation, the players within the middle of the park will always remain the most important. The double pivot within this formation dosen’t necessarily need to have any legs, therefore they are required to be a good shield for your back 3 as well as being able to take care of the ball whenever it comes their way. This is why I believe that the best role for both players will be a Deep-lying Playmaker and a Ball Winning Midfielder. The Ball Winning Midfielder will primarily be dropping into vacated spaces made by the LCB or RCB when they are in possession , as well as keeping things safe on the ball (in addition to every thing BWM’s do defensively). The Deep-lying Playmaker is the hub of the team and solely plays as central as he can to completely dictate the tempo of the match. He must be a top player who has high positioning and passing attributes:
FORWARDS
Here lies the most entertaining area for this formation as it allows for a lot of players within the attacking area on the pitch. This is especially important when playing against a traditional back 4 since you can overload due to you having an extra attacker.
The player roles for this area is all about your boys out-wide. It is imperative that you play with Wingers (particularly Explosive Wingers) who are comfortable hugging the touch line and staying out there for majority of a match. They are also the first to help in the defensive transition so playing them as Wingers is crucial. The other 3 attackers should be set up in a way that allows the best balance between them, and I personally believe that is done by playing a Floating Advanced Playmaker who can operate in the AM(C), M(C), or F(C) positions. This allows him to float around in pursuit of impacting the game from different areas. The front 2 should be a General Forward paired with either an Explosive Target Man or Robust Target Man. The General Forward will also be floating around slightly to create overloads and assist in defence, while the Explosive or Robust Target Man will stay higher up the pitch looking to make explosive runs in and around the box, or use their strength to ‘pin’ opposition defences and open up space for attacking teammates.
That’s the end of today’s look at the first formation within this mini series of 5. Definitely give this one a look as you’ll be bossing games against teams who’ve never came up against such formations before! 🤞 Catch you back here tomorrow soccermanagerite!
The Soccermanager Experience 