Episode 3…… We waste no time in getting into the nitty gritty, Socermanagerites. Arguably one of the best formations within the entire game, the 3-5-2 formation is one that provides extreme levels of balance no matter if your team is aiming to cause positional triangles within possession or seeking to make themselves a defensive wall out of possession. It is such a balanced formation that it can be played by many different types of players, but I have no intention of short changing any of you Soccermanagerites, as we will be conjuring up a storm of the most balanced team that we can find for this formation! 🙌
Just another reminder, there will be no going over this section within today’s or any of this season’s episodes.
DEFENCE
Starting as per usual from the back, Yann Sommer may not be the most illustrious with the ball at feet but he is very much capable of starting our play (albeit he’s more prone to playing longer balls rather than shorter ones). The back 3 consists of three players whom are all decent on the ball with one being extremeley effective (Schlotterbeck). Rudiger and Akanji are both comfortable in wider areas on the pitch and provide that all too important option on the flanks within the early stages of possession. As the ‘B.P.D’, Nico Schlotterbeck (who is an absolute Rolls Royce) will be tasked with being an extra creative player within the centre of this back 3 as he will have more time on the ball compared to his compatriots on both sides of him.
MIDFIELD
As we venture into the middle of the park, it’s in this region where we get to witness the main advantage of the 3-5-2. It allows any user to completely stack their midfield up thus making it quite difficult to lose the all too important battle within the middle of the park. Frank Anguissa will provide an extra protection to his defence while still being pretty decent on the ball himself; Leon Goreztka is the legs and energy within the team as he will constantly be tasked with getting up and down the pitch in an act of grit and high levels of Stamina which will ensure he can cause a lot of problems and be effective within both boxes. James Maddison will arguably be the star of the show as he has been given the role as the sole creator, and with all of the protection he has behind him (as well as all of the movement he has infront of him), you can be assured that he will rake up a lot of goals and assits coming from this position. As the sole ‘Playmaker’, he will be touching bascially every single blade of grass on the pitch as he attempts to control the tempo of the game in addition to playing those defence splitting passes, but the presence of Schlotterbeck will mean that he won’t always have to drop too deep since Nico will be that playmaker within the more deeper positions. The 3-5-2 also provides one of the most versatile uses of the players outwide, and we’ve chosen to use the trickster Kingsley Coman and the more defensive minded Marc Cucurella. Coman’s main jobs are to provide width as well as attacking his opposition directly using his explosive dribbling capabilities, while Cucurella will be slightly more defensive, holding the width on that side of the pitch with some deep and byline Crosses being his main threat of attack
FORWARDS
Up top, we have two F(C)’s who will cause any defence a whole heap of problems. Jesús has been tasked with being the forward with a lot of freedom to go where ever he wants and make different kinds of runs which will give him a sense of unpredictability. Romelu Lukaku will lead the line using his strength, aerial ability, pace, and explosive dribbling to be as difficult to play against as he possibly can. Ofcourse, both forwards are also very decent infront of goal.
DEFENSIVE TRANSITION
One of the major reasons why I believe that this formation is a top 5 best is due to it not having a lot of weaknesses compared to many 3 at the back formations when it comes to defensive transitioning. The front two will defend from the front, the midfield three will screen the back line as much as they can, while the players outwide will defend based on your tactics. The beauty about the 3-5-2 is that even if you chose to play two ‘Explsoive Wingers’ out wide, as long as they have high levels of Stamina and Workrate they will support the back line and effectively convert the formation into a back 5 when you’re within your defensive third. The one limit to the formation is that the back 3 can become stretched against teams with attackers who are fast, tricky and like to hug the touch line, so be aware of that.
Up next, we have a back 3 formation which is a counter attacking Manager’s dream. Stick around!
The Soccermanager Experience 